WOOD DRYING EXPLAINED
Why the need to understand wood drying?
Wood drying is an essential part of value adding as current markets demand
dimensionally stable products. However, it is often viewed as a less precise
process that can be comparatively difficult to control.
Managers and operational staff need to understand the wood drying process
to prevent substantial cost increases caused by degraded timber. A good
drying process and attention to quality can provide significant advantages
in the market place.
The cost of drying will vary considerably among operations according to
such variables as throughput, species and products. It is harder to monitor
and control than other milling processes but some broad principles apply.
Green mill recovery is the first step towards achieving good returns. For that potential income to be realised, subsequent processes must also be tuned to maximise recovery. If any element of the process is not working optimally then costs are increased after each processing step by an amount that is proportional to the unrecovered or lost volume.
