Azeotropic Drying of Hardwood Lumber

Lumber can be dried more rapidly by heating it in a liquid, because of the better heat conductivity of the liquid. This principle has been used as a preliminary step in preservative treatment, and recently a method of drying lumber by immersion in chlorinated hydrocarbon with distillation of the solvent and moisture as an azeotrope has been patented. Solvent recovery is good and drying is rapid. Several northern hardwood species were dried from green condition to about 7 percent moisture content, using the azeotropic process in a pilot-plant operation. Results were similar to those which would be expected in accelerated kiln schedules, with refractory species developing serious degrade by checking and honeycombing due to stresses generated by steep moisture gradients during drying.

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