TIMBER SEASONED BY OZONE AND HEAT.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3138, 9 October 1922, Page 7

TIMBER SEASONED BY OZONE AND HEAT.

A novel method of quickly seasoning timber and at the same time a new use for ozone has been invented by a French army officer, Captain Otto. To season timber in the open air takes usually from four to ten years, according to the nature of the wood. Timber has long been dried artificially, but drying is only a small part of the seasoning process. This involves also the oxidation and resiniti.ca.tion of the substances of the sap, and the chemical change of the starch, sugar and albuminous matters in the Vood. Mere

drying hehydrates the wood but leaves the starch and other matter unchanged'. Captain Otto's invention is now in practical use in a sawmill near Paris and in an even larger one at Seregno, near Milan, Italy. Its principle is the oxidation of the resins in the sap by means of ozonised air. It seasons freshly cut' timber in two or three weeks.

Sawn logs are piled up on carriages in great tunnels, where they undergo a treatment with hot dry air and air that has been ozonised" by passing through batteries of Otto ozonisers, similar to those used' at so many places in France for sterilising drinking water. The air is pumped over and among the logs. The ozone provokes rapid oxidation or resinification of the starchy, saccharine or albuminoid substances and the wood' is seasoned as if it had b<*en kept in the open air for many years.