Solar and air lumber drying during winter in Virginia
A greenhouse-type solar lumber dryer with a transparent south wall and transparent 45 degrees sloped roof was used to dry 4/4 oak lumber in the winter in Virginia. A pile of end-matched samples was also air-dried during the same time period. The solar-dried lumber reached 20 percent moisture content (MC) in 80 days and 6 percent MC in 125 days; the air-dried pile reached 20 percent MC in 105 days and 14 percent MC in 162 days. Solar-dried lumber at 6 percent MC was without end checks and free of casehardening stresses. In order to permit comparisons of this dryer with other dryers or after modification of the existing dryer, a method of calculating an efficiency factor using standard meteorological data is explained. (Refs. 17).
- Research Organization:
- Inst. de Pesquisas Tech. do Estado de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Dept. of Forest Products, Virginia Tech., Blacksburg, VA 24061
- OSTI ID:
- 7034814
- Journal Information:
- For. Prod. J.; (United States), Vol. 32:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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