The project proposal have the purpose to promote advanced eco-friendly treatment methods for wood and wood products, which allow better performances and low environmental impact, to enhance the availability of new products and the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SME).
The current needs of enhancing wood properties, e.g. wood stability, durability and more generally aesthetics is typically achieved with some chemical answers. Different kinds of chemical treatments can give the expected results, but with the added high environmental impacts in terms of non-renewable resources consumption (petroleum and derivatives), end-of-life disposal costs, negative environmental impacts.
The heat treatment of wood is a method offering some quality solutions, alternative to those ones using chemicals; through some low impact technologies, by means of the accurate use of high temperature, in combination with controlled humidity and pressure it is possible to treat full size timber (e.g. plank and lumber) to enhance wood stability (reducing the hygroscopic properties of wood), its durability (removing any susceptibility to Insect attack, highly reducing the sensibility to decay by fungi) and aesthetics (reducing the color variability, due to the tint homogenizing, shifting the color darker as to use European wood instead of exotic one).
The laboratories of the research units involved in this project are already basically equipped to test some innovative heat treatment processes to be implemented on different most used wooden species (e.g. beech – Fagus sylvatica, white fir – Abies alba, sweet chestnut – Castanea sativa) and extended to other species also for the improvement of low-quality raw-timber for the production of innovative and added-value products.
Deadline 31/12/2020
Programme ACCORDI BILATERALI CNR/MOES biennio 2018-2019 2018-2020
Institute IBE – Institute of Bioeconomy
Contact Marco Togni togni.marco@unifi.it
Link https://www.cnr.it/it/accordi-bilaterali/progetto/3111/processi-e-tecniche-di-trattamento-eco-compatibili-per-il-miglioramento-delle-proprieta-legno
Role Partner