The release of hydrocarbons from softwood drying: Measurement and modeling

Abstract

The release of volatile organic compounds (VOC) during the drying of Norway spruce and Scots pine was experimentally studied. Heartwood and sapwood were separately dried at 60 ºC. The Flame Ion Detector (FID) was used to measure the total amount of hydrocarbons (THC) released during the drying process. A large difference of the emissions course between heartwood and sapwood were found. For heartwood, a release maximum of hydrocarbons followed by a typical negative exponential course was found. When drying sapwood, the released amount of hydrocarbons was evidently more fluctuating before reducing to zero. A model describing the release of hydrocarbons during the drying with only diffusion as transport mechanism was applied. The aim was to obtain a suitable explanation of the characteristic release behavior from sapwood and develop a model describing the process.