Accelerated conventional temperature drying of 30mm thick rubberwood lumber

Lumber drying is the most energy and time consuming process within the rubberwood lumber industry. The aim ofthis study was to develop an effective drying schedule for rubberwood lumber by accelerating the moisture movement out oflumber without degrading the lumber during drying. The study explored the effect of dry bulb temperature (60oC, 75oC and90oC), steaming at the beginning of drying, predrying of lumber prior to drying, and top loading of lumber on the dryingcharacteristics and lumber quality (bow, crook, twist, end splitting and color) of 30mm thick rubberwood lumber under thetarget EMC at 4% and air velocity of 4m/s. Accelerated conventional temperature drying of lumber at 90oC reduced thedrying time by ~50% from 117 hours to 54 hours but increased the energy consumption by 22% with respect to the conventionaltemperature drying at 60oC. The average activation energy for drying was 26 kJ/mol. Drying temperature had verylittle effect on quality of lumber after drying (bow, crook, twist, end splitting and color). Steaming at the beginning of dryingand predrying of lumber prior to drying reduced and increased the percentage of end splitting, respectively. A top load ofabout 300 kg/m2 slightly decreased twist. Drying at higher temperatures produced more casehardening within the lumber butconditioning at higher temperatures was more effective in releasing the residual stress generated by drying. After conditioningat high temperatures prong of less than 0.5° casehardening was obtained.