Lumber Complex of the Future–Part VII: The Drying Process

The typical drying process for hardwood lumber is a combination of air-drying and kiln-drying. In the future, we will continue to dry lumber, not pieces or parts; each board will have an identity; value and volume assessment will be made on green lumber with consideration to the cutting sizes needed; and continuous predrying will be used followed by final batch drying. Lumber is surfaced by a coated abrasive and moves to the acquisition scanner. All information concerning the dimensions, defects, and characteristics of each piece are stored in a computer memory. Various software packages operate on these data to “quality classify” and assess the volume of each piece. Decisions can be made on the optimum cut-up pattern. The lumber is branded with a permanent identification code. The “through-feed predrying system is a five-stage, electronic dryer with each stage programed to dry to a pre-determined moisture content. Each stage will lower the moisture content of the lumber by 8 to 16 percent. When the lumber has traversed the five stages, the moisture content will be 22 percent. Lumber from this storage area is loaded into small, package dry kilns for rapid 48-hour drying to 7 percent moisture content.

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