Lumber Complex of the Future–Part IX: The Incredible Wood-Eating Scorpion

The Wood Eating Scorpion concept on the scale projected by the Lumber Complex awaits a forest management system like the agribusiness farms of today. Trees must grow like rows of corn, with growth rates exceeding those currently realized. Highly productive species will be cloned in breeding centers and planted in cultivated fields. Crops will be harvested annually. Wood will lack strength. The “Scorpion” will reconstitute the low grade fiber into a homogeneous isotropic or orthotropic material. Mature clones can be sheared or pulled from the ground. The entire stem is fed into a chipper which reduces it to chips. The chips are then reduced to fiber thermomechanically and classified as low grade fiber for fuel and high grade fiber for furnish. The furnish is dried. Ligneous products of the pulping process are chemically modified to enhance bonding. Furnish fiber is oriented, placed in molds, and formed into boards by a continuous press. Packages are loaded for transportation directly from the field. Low grade fiber not used as board furnish supplies the energy needs of the entire mobile factory. With an average of 350 board feet per tree and a yield of 85 percent, about 300,000 board feet per 8-hour shift or 900,000 board feet per day are possible. A planting machine follows the mobile factory replanting clones. The Scorpion, producing reconstituted lumber, yields 85 percent of the original fiber.

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