WEIGHT-BASED TECHNOLOGY FOR MONITORING THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF LUMBER

MORE THAN ONE-HALF OF ALL LUMBER MUST BE KILN DRIED BEFORE IT CAN BE USED, IN 1987, THE TOTAL COST TO U.S. INDUSTRIES OF LUMBER DRYING ACTIVITIES WAS APPROXIMATELY $1 BILLION. EXPERIENCE AND RESEARCH INDICATE THAT LUMBER DRIERS COULD AVOID A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF THOSE COSTS IF THEY HAD THE MEANS TO DIRECTLY MONITOR THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF LUMBER FROM THE START TO THE FINISH OF DRYING. DRIERS WOULD WILL BE ABLE TO DRY LUMBER FASTER, AND THUS REDUCE DRYING-ENERGY COSTS AND BE ABLE TO TURN OVER THEIR INVENTORY FASTER. LESSLUMBER WOULD BE DEGRADED DUE TO DEFECTS THAT OCCUR DURING DRYING, AND THUS IT WOULD MAINTAIN A HIGHER VALUE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF DIRECTLY MONITORING THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF LUMBER, FROM THE START TO THE FINISH OF DRYING, BY SENSING THE WEIGHT OF THE LUMBER AND CONTROLLING DRYING BASED ON THAT INFORMATION. THE FEASIBILITY WILL BE DETERMINED BY BUILDINGAND TESTING DEVICES TO SENSE LUMBER WEIGHT OVER THE RANGE OFTEMPERATURES LIKELY TO BE ENCOUNTERED, AND OVER THE RANGE OF WEIGHT CAPACITY OF THE SENSORS.