Estudio del proceso de difusión de sales de boro en especies de reforestación de Costa Rica, para promover el uso de madera preservada en el país

An increase in use of wood from fast-growing plantations and agroforestry systems, which is characterized by a higher percentage of juvenile wood and a higher proportion of sapwood, has increased wood preservation development. The use of boron salts, as a wood preservative, dates back to the 1960s. This chemical element is a fire retardant, has good insecticidal properties against wood biodeterioration agents such as termites and wood borers, and has also shown partial resistance against fungal attack. One of the most used preservation methods, with this type of preservatives, is the immersion-diffusion method. This method is inexpensive, does not change the natural color of the wood, and does not require a high level of infrastructure for its implementation. However, it has some disadvantages such as high levels of leaching in the presence of moisture, the treated wood should not be in direct contact with the ground, and it is not an effective method when the wood is dry. In Costa Rica this method has been used commercially by some companies, in addition to experimental tests have been carried out with the main reforestation species, for which important differences have been found in the boron diffusion time between species, due to the differences in anatomical characteristics of each type of wood. This proposal aims to generate relevant information that promotes the use of preserved wood with boron salts, under the immersion-diffusion method in the main reforestation woods used in Costa Rica. The general objective of this project is: Optimize the wood preservation process with boron salts through the immersion-diffusion method in reforestation species in Costa Rica. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to determine the diffusion coefficients of boron salts into the wood of main reforestation species used in Costa Rica, to propose a novel method of fixing boron salts in wood and to validate the efficiency of this method using analyzes such as TGA, FTIR, SEM, preserved wood durability tests, fire resistance test, changes in dimensional stability and moisture absorption. The main product of this proposal would be the development of an optimized preservation system with boron salts under the immersion-diffusion method, which considers the differences between species and reduces the leaching of this chemical element in high humidity environments, which can be applied to the wood industry and adjusted to the reforestation species of Costa Rica.

Optimizar el proceso de preservación de madera con sales de boro mediante el método de inmersión-difusión en especies de reforestación en Costa Rica.

Tecnología de productos forestales, biomasa y bioenergía