Solar and Air Lumber Drying During Winter in Virginia

A greenhouse-type solar lumber dryer with a transparent south wall and transparent 45? sloped roof was used to dry 4/4 oak lumber in the winter in Virginia. A pile of end-matched samples was also air-dried during the same time period. The solar-dried lumber reached 20 percent moisture content (MC) in 80 days and 6 percent MC in 125 days; the air-dried pile reached 20 percent MC in 105 days and 14 percent MC in 162 days. Solar-dried lumber at 6 percent MC was without end checks and free of casehardening stresses. In order to permit comparisons of this dryer with other dryers or after modification of the existing dryer, a method of calculating an efficiency factor using standard meteorological data is explained.

You must be logged in to download any documents. Please login (login accounts are free) or learn how to Become a Member