Treesearch

Wood is an important natural resource, one of the few that are renewable. It is prevalent in our everyday lives and the economy; in wood-frame houses and furniture; newspapers, books, and magazines; bridges and railroad ties; fence posts and utility poles; fuelwood; textile fabrics; and organic chemicals. Wood and wood products are also a store for carbon, thus, helping to minimize carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Wood supplies the solid raw material for products, eg, lumber, poles, piles, ties, and wood pallets, the veneer for plywood or laminated veneer lumber, or fiber–flakes–particles...

Determining adhesive bond performance for chemically modified wood is important not only in relation to its commercial utility but also because this information helps in understanding wood bond durability. Although wood modification is usually used to improve anti-swell efficiency, the modification can alter adhesive bond performance. Generally, modification is expected to diminish adhesion by making the wood surface less polar and less porous, resulting in poorer adhesive wetting of the wood and fewer chemical bonds between the two surfaces. On the other hand, chemical modification can...

This study evaluated the ability of a borax-copper(BC) preservative to protect wood exposed in ground contact. Southern pine sapwood stakes were pressure-treated with 0.9%, 1.4%, 2.3%, and 4.7% BC solution concentrations and placed into the ground at test sites near Mississippi, or Madison, Wisconsin. Untreated stakes and stakes treated with 1% chromated copper arsenate (CCA-C) or 1.1% disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) were included for comparison. Stakes were inspected annually for decay (Wisconsin test site) or decay and termites (Mississippi test site) and assigned a visual rating....

This chapter describes the development and structure of the NAPAP model and compares it to other forest sector models. The NAPAP model was based on PELPS and adapted to describe paper and paperboard product demand, pulpwood and recovered paper supply, and production capacity and technology, with spatially dynamic market equilibria. We describe how the model predicts paper and paperboard product demands and trade flows over time, concurrently with regional capacity changes and corresponding shifts in process technology based on Tobin's q theory of capital investment. We describe how the...

This chapter discusses economic globalization and world trade in relation to forest sector modeling for the US/North American region. It discusses drivers of economic globalization and related structural changes in US forest product markets, including currency exchange rates and differences in manufacturing costs that have contributed to the displacement of global manufacturing capacity. It includes detailed discussion of paper and paperboard trends. Bilateral trade flows between the USA and Canada for all wood products, were modeled within the Timber Assessment Projection System, with...

Improving efficiency in the use of both wood and nonwood inputs has characterized the US forest sector over the last 50 years. This chapter explores methods used to reflect this pattern of technological change and others in the Timber Assessment Projection System models. The development and use of three types of technology projection methods are explained: (1) decomposition of technology into several processes and projection of future mixes of processes to make exogenous projections of technology change for harvesting costs and for solidwood products recovery and processing costs in TAMM;...

Timber material repair and replacement cost for timber bridges is a considerable expense to highway agencies in Iowa, especially to county road departments. To address these needs, the objectives of this investigation was to study the field effectiveness of various treatment alternatives used on Iowa roadway projects and to determine if the current specifications and testing are adequate for providing proper wood preservation. To satisfy the research needs, the project scope involved a literature review, identification of metrics, questionnaire survey of Iowa counties, onsite inspections,...

In the context of other recent years, 2006 turned out to be a relatively "normal" year for the U.S. hardwood chip market in terms of factors that influence supply and demand; such as prevailing weather conditions, energy price trends, and pulp and paper production. Gulf Coast hurricanes and rising energy prices drove hardwood chip and pulpwood markets in 2005, but weather was not a driving factor in 2006, and energy prices were subsiding by the second half of the year. With few local exceptions, rainfall across the South was below normal through the summer and fall (according to region-wide...

Using sustainable building materials is gaining a significant presence in the United States therefore proving sustainability claims are becoming increasingly more important. Showing wood products as green building materials is vital for the long-term productivity of the wood building industry. This study examined hardwood lumber manufacturing using Life-Cycle Inventory methodology. Material flow and energy type and use were identified for hardwood sawmills in the northeastern United States. A hardwood log volume conversion of 43.7% to planed dry lumber was found. Values of 608 MJ of...

Promising results from the selective oxidative delignification of kraft pulp with polyoxometalates (POMs) prompted interest in elucidating the lignin oxidation mechanism. The degradation of lignin model compounds and residual lignin in kraft pulps, upon treatment with POMs was studied and differences in the reaction mechanisms between guaiacyl (G-) and syringyl (S-) units were found. Our studies are aimed at comparing soluble lignin products resulting from POM treatment of softwood and hardwood kraft pulps to further explore the behavior of G/GS units of lignin incorporated in the pulp...