Timber Drying
Significant advances have recently been made by our research group in optimising drying conditions for the production of hardwood lumber. We are using model predictive control techniques to minimise drying times subject to constraints on stresses which develop during drying. Several Australian hardwood timbers have been assessed using this technique, including ironbark (Eucalyptus paniculata) and blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis) timbers for which our optimised drying schedule dries the timber 10% faster than conventional schedules, and gives less than 25% of the amount of cracking. Collaborative research is being carried out in association with Boral Timber (Boral Ltd) to apply these schedules on an industrial scale. Boral Timber is one of the largest hardwood timber processors in Australia. The effects of variability in timber on the optimised schedules generated by our technique is being assessed, together with better mechanical property measurements for the timber.
Work is also being carried out in association with the University of Canterbury in New Zealand to improve modelling approaches for softwood timber, specifically radiata pine with the ultimate aim of applying the same optimised technique to improve the quality of timber. In future further collaboration would be made with Forest Research, New Zealand in this area.
Solar kilns and intermittent drying are being used, in an ARC Linkage project with Australian Choice Timber Supplies P/L (Greg Weir), to improve the quality of dried timber with low energy usage.
Members of the timber drying group
Research Topics
Improving the Modelling of Wood/Water Relationships during Kiln Drying and Reconditioning of Softwoods
Mr Sam Smith, Mr Richard Northway (CSIRO) and Associate Professor Tim Langrish
Solar Kilns, Intermittent Drying and Improving Timber Quality
Mr Ashok Ganguli, Mr Greg Weir (Australian Choice Timber Supplies) and Associate Professor Tim Langrish
Useful Links
Australasia
- Forestry in Queensland
NSW State Forests Boral
CSIRO Forest Products Laboratory
Forest Research New Zealand
Australian Choice Timbers, Greg Weir
Overseas