Organic acid for wood protection

Important results from the project

The aim of the project was to investigate the potential of a selection of weak, organic acids in wood protection. Four acids were investigated for their rot resistant effect by wood impregnation with respective acid and subsequent brown rot decay test. The two most promising acids (citric acid, pH=6.4 and acetic acid) were chosen for fixation trials and after a two step impregnation with the acid and the fixator a leaching test was performed.

Expected long term effects

The results of the study shows that weak, organic acids possess the ability to protect wood from brown rot decay. However, the concentration of the acid is cruical; too much and the acid degrades the wood, too little and there will not be sufficient decay protection. Through the experiments carried out in this project, we have been able to successfully pinpoint the concentration of citric acid, pH=6.4, that is needed for full protection against brown rot degradation without causing degradation of the wood .

Approach and implementation

The project was divided into the following activities: formulation of imp. liquid and impregnation, decay test, fixation and evaluation and market evaluation. The planned activities were adequate and gave the information that was sought. The need to evaluate more concentrations of the most promising acid was discovered and therefore performed. Unfortunately, this meant that evaluation of the iron chelating ability of the acids after impregnation could not be carried out, due to lack of time.