Increased valorisation of domestic timber by a novel wood modification system

ValorWood-prosjektet har utviklet holdbare og bærekraftige treprodukter med lavt klimaavtrykk til lave kostnader ved bruk av norsk tømmer og fornybare kjemikalier. Et nytt tremodifiseringssystem bestående av en kombinasjon av sorbitol og sitronsyre, har vist en forbedring i relevante egenskaper til treprodukter, - slik som økt dimensjonsstabilitet og økt holdbarhet mot råtesopp. I tillegg ble bruk av liming eller selv-laminering av modifisert finér analysert og kan utvide applikasjonsporteføljen. Sponplater ble produsert fra høvelspon til behandlede heltreprøver. Utvikling av et nytt tremodifiseringssystem fra lab nivå til pilotskala var vellykket, og produktet er på veien til kommersialisering av Ciol AS via PolySorb prosjektet med ValorWood som kooperasjonspartner.

A new water-based wood treatment methods was developed, based on bio-derived chemicals. The treatment significantly improved the resistance against decay fungi, termites and marine borers and increased dimensional stability. New engineered products were also produced using the same technology. In addition, wood-based panels were manufactured from shavings of treated solid wood. The mechanism controlling decay resistance in modified wood has been identified, which has immediate and substantial impact on the wood protection community. Efficient utilisation of national wood resources as long-lived building materials will play an important role in mitigating climate change by extending carbon storage. The use of local timber also reduces environmental impact. The research contributed to the registration of the trademark Ciol® and the founding of Ciol AS. The company will scale-up and commercialize this technology further, which will benefit the Norwegian wood industry and the environment by substituting wood products with end-of-life issues due to biocides or more energy/carbon-intensive materials.

Increasingly stringent environmental regulation is restricting the use of biocides for wood protection. At the same time, climate change is altering the environment and exposing exterior wood products to more and more severe decay environment. The risk is that as a consequence, less timber will be used in construction. However, increasing the use of wood in the built environment provides climate change mitigation opportunities, by substituting more energy/carbon-intensive materials and also by the storage of sequestered atmospheric carbon in buildings. ValorWood addresses these multiple challenges through the development of a new wood impregnation-modification system that will provide non-biocidal wood protection by using low-cost reagents derived from renewable resources. Commercially-available wood impregnation-modification processes usually rely on the use of highly permeable radiata pine sapwood imported from New Zealand, or to a lesser extent Scots pine. Use of the Norwegian forest resource for impregnation-modification processes is very limited. ValorWood will examine the potential for using Norway spruce, Scots pine and birch grown in Norway as feedstock for the new wood modification process. This will add considerable value to these species and open up markets which have not been previously available. The ValorWood process will be low-cost, low environmental impact and add value to the Norwegian forest sector and harvested wood products value chain. Adoption of the process by industry will create jobs in and increase activity in the rural economy.