Drying Curves and Wood Quality of Silver Maple Jet-Dried At High Temperature

Silver maple of 4/4 and 8/4 thickness was jet-dried over a range of operating conditions from 225? to 400?F temperature and 1,000 to 9,000 feet per minute air velocity. Drying time, wood quality, and moisture distribution of jet-dried wood was compared to conventional kiln-dried wood. Although 8/4 silver maple could not be high-temperature jet-dried without severe honeycomb, 4/4 silver maple could be dried at 300?F with moderate degrade 25 times faster than conventional kiln-drying. Drying rates did not improve above air velocities of 3,000 feet per minute. Shrinkage of jet-dried wood was less than kiln-dried wood, whereas warpage was comparable for both types of drying. Mineral streaked areas of silver maple were more subject to checking and honeycombing when dried at higher temperatures.

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