Influence of steam pressure on chemical changes of heat-treated Mongolian pine wood

Abstract

Properties of heat-treated wood have been studied extensively in recent years. However, study on wood that has been treated in pressurized steam is limited, as most wood heat treatments are carried out in atmospheric steam. The main purpose of this study was to explore the influence of steam pressure on chemical changes of heat-treated wood. Wet chemical analysis, elemental analysis, and FTIR analysis were performed to investigate the changes of cell wall components of Mongolian pine wood. Samples treated in pressurized steam had lower percentages of polysaccharides and higher percentages of lignin compared to those treated in atmospheric steam, indicating greater chemical changes during the treatment. It was also found that thermal degradation of both samples was modest at the treatment temperature of 205 °C. These results help to explain the better dimensional stability and limited strength deterioration of wood treated in pressurized steam.