AIR1-CT92-0574 Harmonization of Ongoing European Research in the Field of Development and Optimization of Methods for Assessing Drying Quality of Timber

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AIR Cluster VIII - Wood Products : Wood (Lignocellulose)

	Proposal No:	AIR1-CT92-0574
	Date Prepared:	November 1999
	Source:	Final Report 1995

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Final Report 1995

Introduction

In most sectors of the woodworking industry quality control and standardised methods for quality assessment are well established and accepted. However, quality control of the kiln drying process and of kiln dried timber, which is essential for further processing of sawn timber to high quality products, and specification of drying quality requirements of sawn timber has been neglected. This Concerted Action aimed to address this deficiency.

Objectives

The following objectives were established:

• Harmonisation of ongoing European research in the field of drying quality assessment
• Production of a code of practice for specification and assessment of drying quality of sawn timber
• Production of a multi-lingual glossary of terms related to drying quality
• Initiation of a new CEN standard on drying quality assessment

Results

Harmonisation of ongoing European research in the field of drying quality assessment Testing procedures, presentation and evaluation of results of national research projects dealing with assessment of drying quality have been harmonised and adapted to the needs of the international EDG working group. Drying quality control results of more than 100 industrial kiln runs or consignments of kiln dried timber have been collected. The data were used to adjust drying quality limitations in the pilot version of the EDG recommendation on assessment of drying quality. The practicability and applicability of the testing methods and sampling strategies proposed in the EDG recommendation could thus be improved and tested under industrial conditions. The harmonised approach and the evaluation of the results led to an alteration of the testing method for determination of case hardening. The modified case hardening test described in the EDG recommendation has already been adopted by many European woodworking companies, because it is very easy to use and delivers results which reflect the behaviour of the material during further processing and/or end use conditions.

Code of practice for specification and assessment of drying quality of sawn timber The most important result of the concerted action is the production of a draft version of the EDG recommendation for assessment of drying quality of sawn timber. The pilot version was presented to the European woodworking industry during the 6th International EDG Drying Conference that was held in Hamburg in October 1994. At least 10 publications in European journals and additional presentations of the content on national and international conferences followed. After the publication of the EDG recommendation quite a number of industrialists expressed their view that part of the content of the EDG recommendation should be transformed into a CEN standard on assessment of drying quality. EDG took the initiative to propose the creation of a new working group under CEN CT 175 that should deal with the production of such a standard. Based on the results of the concerted action work, the content of a draft CEN standard on determination of moisture content was criticised and proposals for an alteration of the draft standard were presented to the national standardisation bodies and to CEN.

Production of a multilingual glossary of terms related to drying quality Within the scope of the concerted action, the production of a multilingual glossary of terms made good progress, but came to a temporary end. With additional funding from EUROFORTECH a computer version of the glossary was produced. The program, that can easily be used on conventional PCs under Windows™, contains approx. 130 keywords with definitions and cross references in seven European languages (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish and Finnish).

Initiation of a CEN standard on drying quality assessment As indicated above the production of the EDG recommendation for assessment of drying quality led to an initiative for the production of a new CEN standard. A proposal to CEN was made, and although the production of a future CEN standard may take some years, the output from the concerted action will be used by the European woodworking industry. The EDG recommendation currently is the only existing code of practice related to specification and assessment of drying quality. It already is, and will be used in the future, to establish quality management systems according to ISO 9000 with respect to kiln drying operations.

Dissemination

The results of the concerted action have been disseminated through the publication of the pilot version of the EDG recommendation, as well as a number of publications and presentations covering the topic in addition to publication of the EDG glossary of terms related to drying quality. Within the scope of the project an international EDG drying conference was organised. All information resulting from the concerted action is readily available to the European woodworking industry and to European timber trading companies.

Conclusion

In addition to publication of the recommendation on assessment of drying quality and the multilingual glossary of terms a very successful and effective network was created. Based on limited funding, research activities in seven European countries was harmonised, evaluated, and concentrated. This resulted in the introduction of new tools, that in the future will enable the European Woodworking industry to meet the growing requirements in the field of drying quality.