Abstract
Ultrasound pretreatment of wood prior to drying was examined as a method to increase the effective water diffusivity, reduce drying time, and improve product quality of Chinese Catalpa wood. Pretreatment tests were carried out at three pretreatment durations, three absolute pressure levels, and three ultrasonic intensities. All specimens were then dried at 60°C and the absolute pressure level of 0.02 MPa to determine the effects of pretreatment parameters on vacuum drying characteristics. A microscopic analysis was carried out to visualize the formation of microchannels and view any other changes to wood tissue structure that occurred. Results showed that ultrasound pretreatment prior to vacuum drying enhances the effective water diffusivity; the higher the ultrasound power level, the longer the pretreatment time, and the lower the absolute pressure, the shorter is the drying time. Ultrasound creates micro channels within the tissue of wood during pretreatment. However, the pretreatment time should not be too long when the ultrasound is high.
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