The effect of synthetic and natural fire-retardants on burning and chemical characteristics of thermally modified teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) wood

Abstract

This article deals with the effect of various temperatures of thermal modification and fire retardants on selected burning characteristics and chemical wood components of teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) wood. The thermal modification was carried out at temperatures 160 °C, 180 °C and 210 °C. Subsequently, thermally modified wood was treated by natural (arabinogalactan) and synthetic (ammonium phosphate) fire retardants. The effect of thermal modification as well as fire retardant was detected by burning characteristics such as weight loss, burning rate, maximum burning rate, ratio of the maximum burning rate and time to reach maximum burning rate. The chemical changes caused by the influence of these factors were determined by changing the content of cellulose, hemicelluloses, holocellulose, lignin and extractives. The relationship between burning characteristics and chemical changes in the thermally modified wood was analyzed using Spearman’s correlation. The results showed that the thermal modification of teak wood had a negative effect on its ignition and burning properties. Synthetic fire retardant had the highest retardation effect in all cases. The natural fire retardant caused a better retardation effect on thermally modified wood at temperature 180 and 210 °C. The relative content of lignin, extractives and cellulose increased, while the amount of holocellulose and particularly hemicelluloses decreased.