The use of sensor array technology for rapid differentiation of the sapwood and heartwood of Eastern Canadian spruce, fir and pine

Abstract

The quality of the pulp and paper produced in eastern Canada is affected by the proportions of black spruce (Picea mariana), balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) present in the wood chips used. A rapid analytical method capable of differentiating the wood of these three species of conifer is a prerequisite to developing a procedure to determine these proportions. This differentiation was achieved through the use of an electronic nose made up of an array of conductive polymer-carbon black composites-based sensors. The procedure is rapid and involves training and validation of the e-nose using reference wood samples followed by identification of unknown samples. Principal Component Analysis is performed on the smell-prints obtained during the training phase. Complete discrimination of the sapwood and heartwood of the three conifers was achieved. The reference and the unknown samples must be measured under identical conditions.