Just as human beings and plants need moisture to stay healthy, the same principle applies to organic materials such as paper, wood and textiles. With an ever-growing demand for increased productivity and the expectation of uniform product quality within the secondary wood manufacturing sector, natural materials such as wood require a climate in which processes and storage occur at a certain air humidity. As indoor climate and humidity constantly change with heating, ventilation and exhaust systems, humidification systems can help ensure uniform quality throughout production.
L’humidité relative de l’environnement influe non seulement sur la santé des êtres humains et des plantes, mais aussi sur la performance de matériaux organiques comme le papier, le bois et les textiles. Face à la pression constante en vue d’accroître la productivité et aux attentes sur le plan de la qualité uniforme des produits, l’industrie de la transformation secondaire des produits du bois doit prendre les mesures nécessaires pour assurer un certain taux d'humidité dans ses installations de transformation et d’entreposage du bois. Étant donné que les systèmes de chauffage, de ventilation et d’échappement entraînent une variation constante du climat intérieur, les systèmes d’humidification peuvent favoriser l’uniformité de la qualité à toutes les étapes des procédés de fabrication.
This study involved the on-site evaluation of commonly employed equipment and procedures for evaluation of moisture content in solid-wood products. Specifically, a DC-resistance and two RF-based moisture meters were evaluated. The main overall objective was to identify procedures or develop information to allow more accurate final MC estimates to be determined. Lodgepole pine lumber of 25 and 40 mm thicknesses was employed for the test Material was tested at three time intervals spanning from the completion of drying to approximately 30 hours after drying. Meter readings were compared against oven-dry moisture contents. In most situations the moisture meters employed tended to underestimate final moisture content with the error varying from close to zero up to about 3 percent. The errors observed seemed to be consistent for a given test. This opens the possibility of employing site-specific correction factors to obtain better estimates of oven-dry moisture content. Problems may still arise when comparing mill results of moisture tests against those performed elsewhere by customers and end users.
