Characterisation of pore size distributions in variously dried Pinus radiata: analysis by thermoporosimetry

Abstract

The pore size distribution and networks within the wood cell wall tend to decrease on drying wood from its green state having implications for water ingress and further processing such as in preservative treatment. Thermoporosity measurements using differential scanning calorimetry have been applied to determine the pore size distribution of green Pinus radiata wood and how well this pore network is retained on supercritical fluid (SCF) dewatering compared with kiln drying. Generally, in green sapwood, the majority of bound water was distributed in pore sizes less than 50 nm diameter with only a small proportion present in pore sizes between 50 and 200 nm. On SCF dewatering, most bound water was found to reside in pore sizes <20 nm, consistent with dewatered wood being at fibre saturation point (FSP). Generally, on rewetting dewatered, kiln- or oven-dried wood, proportionately less bound water was present compared with green wood, consistent with reduced pore sizes and network accessibility for water ingress. Furthermore, on rewetting, there were distinctions between earlywood and latewood (LW) sections with the LW sections having a statistically greater proportion of water occupying smaller-sized pores (<20 nm). There was also greater variability of pore size distributions on sample rewetting, inferring drying does not uniformly reduce pore size volumes. Analysis suggests the extent of variability was generally less in the rewetted dewatered wood sample compared to kiln- or oven-dried samples, which may be a consequence of SCF drying only to FSP.