An engineering approach for calculating the energy required for defrosting and subsequent heating of frozen wood during thermal treatment

ABSTRACT

An approach for calculating the energy required for defrosting and subsequent heating of frozen wood during thermal treatment in the production of veneer has been presented. Using two own unsteady models the duration of regimes for steaming of prisms in an autoclave and for boiling of logs in a pit, and also the average mass temperature of the prisms and logs and the energy accumulated by them at the end of heat carrier introduction in these regimes was determined. The obtained values of average temperature were introduced in third own model for engineering calculation of the energy considered in the approach. Computer simulations were carried out for beech prisms with a cross section of 0.4 × 0.4 m and beech logs with a diameter of 0.4 m at an initial wood temperature of −10°C, −20°C, and −30°C and moisture content of 0.6 kg·kg⁻¹. The operating temperature of the prism steaming regimes was equal to 130°C, and that of the log boiling regimes was 80°C. The approach can be applied using Excel for computing the energy and its components needed for defrosting and heating of different frozen capillary-porous materials subjected to multiple types of thermal treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Frozen wood
• defrosting
• heating
• energy
• simulation study
• veneer production

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).