ABSTRACT
Wood drying is a key operation in sawmill production, affecting the product quality and value, and wood material suitability to different end-user products. The lumber drying process aims at a compromise among high quality, low lead time and low energy usage. The selection of wood drying process and equipment represents a compromise between the initial capital and operating costs. The choice is also dependent on production throughput, flexibility, and energy cost. In practice, natural and accelerated yard air drying and kiln drying are usually combined for drying hardwood and softwood species, at low, medium, and high temperatures. The kiln drying method is well suited to dry timbers provided to construction and furniture industries of varied species and thickness, including refractory hardwoods that are more liable than other species to check and split.
