Hydraulic conductivity of some perishable wood species in Southeastern Nigeria: A quantitative approach to determine their treatability

ABSTRACT

Wood is a biological material that is readily degraded by bacteria, fungi, and insects, as a result, enormous economic losses are incurred annually. The potentials of perishable wood species would be dependent on their treatability to increase their service life. This study reports on the treatability of wood by testing the hydraulic conductances as estimated by Hagen Poiseuille equation on four perishable wood species (Artocarpus heterophyllus, Canarium schweinfurthii, Pycanthus angolensis and Treculia Africana) commonly grown in the Southeastern Nigeria using five preservatives chemicals (No-pest^® Strip₂, solignium, DD-force, spent-oil from petrol engine and spent-oil from diesel engine). The vessel lumen radius of P. angolensis was significantly (P < 0.05) wider as compared to those of A. heterophyllus and T. Africana, while C. schweinfurthii had the longest vessel- members with an average radius of 0.390 ± 0.019 mm. Water-based preservatives (No-pest^® Strip₂ and DD-Force) and Solignium were less viscous and showed higher penetrating ability. P. angolensis was highly responsive to treatments with less viscous preservatives, however, A. heterophyllus and C. schweinfurthii were also found to be moderately responsive to treatments, therefore, appear promising for protective treatment and could be used as a substitute to highly priced commercial timber species.

KEYWORDS:

• Hagen Poiseuille equation
• hydraulic conductance
• penetratability
• permeability
• preservatives
• wood quality
• wood protection

Disclosure statement

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