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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2004

Abstract

Tall oil is a by-product in pulping of resinous wood by the sulphate process. Tall oil contains a complex mixture of wood extractives. Some of these extractives act as natural protection against wood decaying fungi while other serve as nutrition for the fungi. This report describes a screening of the efficacy of four refined tall oils with different chemical composition on wood decaying fungi.Testing was performed as filter paper assay and mini-block assay. In the filter paper assay growth rates of the white rot fungus Coriolus versicolor and the brown rot fungus Poria placenta were inhibited by the tall oils. None of the oils caused total inhibition of the fungi but there was a clear pattern towards increased efficacy with increased portion of resin acids in the oils.Impregnated mini-blocks with approximately 200 kg/m3 retention of tall oil after leaching showed an evident effect against Coniophora puteana and Poria placenta compared to untreated control samples. However, using the criteria from EN 113 requiring less than 3% mass loss, tall oil failed.The results indicate that decay resistance of tall oil impregnated Scots pine sapwood to the retention level used in this study is comparable with the decay resistance of Scots pine heartwood. It was expected that the efficacy of the tall oils was related to chemical composition of the oils. This was confirmed for the filter paper assay where the efficacy increased with increasing amount of resin acids. However, this pattern was not found for the mini-block assay.The protective effect of the tall oils in wood seems therefore to be more related to their hydrophobic properties than to their fungicidal properties.

Abstract

Chitosan, a derivate of the natural amino polysaccharide chitin, has proven effective as a potential environmentally benign antimicrobial component. Few studies have focused on chitosan applied to wood against wood inhabiting and decaying fungi.In these screening studies several mycological experiments were performed to screen chitosan as a potential wood protecting agent. Growth studies on chitosan-amended media showed total inhibition of Poria placenta, Coriolus versicolor and Aspergillus niger using 1% w/v concentration.Chitosan with high average molecular weight (MW) was more efficient against mould and staining fungi than chitosan with low MW. Agar plate leaching tests showed only a small leaching effect using a 5% concentration on A. niger and P. placenta. Decay testing with P. placenta demonstrated efficacy using 5% and 2.5% concentrations in unleached samples. Leaching decreased the efficacy of chitosan and further investigations are needed to improve the fixation in wood.

2003

Abstract

The report is investigating the current state of forestry, forest industries and the bioenergy sector in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The main task of the research is to illustrate the current supply and use of wood based fuels in the Baltic and Nordic countries. Additionally the present use of forest fuels in the different countries in the private and industrial sector is analyzed and bottlenecks in the current supply of forest fuels are identified. The focus on energy policy has been on energy systems with less CO2 emissions in order to meet requirement of international agreements. Therefore, forest fuels offer great potential as a source of renewable energy. There has been a steady increase in the growing stock of European forests. Large amounts of residues are left unutilised both in Nordic and Baltic forests, especially in first thinnings and intermediate cuttings. They offer large potential to further increase the share of wood fuels in total energy consumption. Forest industries utilize a great share of wood residues at present but especially in Baltic regions there is potential to intensify the use of wood residues. An additional increase in wood biomass utilization is also dependent on future expansion of the district heating networks in Nordic and Baltic countries. Potential is available especially in the Baltic countries and Norway. The situation in regards to utilization of wood biomass in private dwellings is similar in all seven countries. Large amounts of fuelwood are consumed annually but new furnace and burner technology is necessary to use resources more efficiently. In regards to energy policy a lot has been done to improve the use of biomass utilization, but more has to be done to strengthen the position of forest fuels in the future. The main bottlenecks for the larger use of forest biomass were found to be a lack of utilisation of available technology for harvesting and transport operations and a lack of district heating. An improved use of technology would decrease the price of forest fuels, necessary to compete with fossil fuel prices on international markets.

2001

2000

Abstract

The present investigation deals with the properties of resonance wood destined for the production of musical instruments and with the methods for the determination of resonance wood quality. At the same time there are stated the range of values for the dynamic modulus of elasticity, for the speed of sound transmission and for the density of wood. The demands regarding dimension and growth characteristics of resonance wood are explained insisting first of all on pure subjective and visual criteria. The grading rules, existing only in a few regions in Germany, show that forestry is sensitized to this high value timber assortment only to a very small extent. With the Lucchimeter measuring method (elasticity tester) and the stress wave nondestructive evaluation technique spruce (Picea abies) and fir (Abies alba) wood panels are investigated which are destined for the production of guitars. The methods used as well as the results of measurement are compared with another. Furthermore the quantity of sales of resonance wood is presented after survey at the state owned forest management in Germany. The established small quantity of existing resonance wood is attributed to the sales of resonance wood not mentioned explicitly or described in detail. All in all the amount of resonance wood is supposed to be higher.

1999

Abstract

This article describes in brief the chemical analytical program at The Norwegian Forest Research Institute in 2000. Due to a continuous effort to develop and to improve analytical methods to meet the demands of forest research in Norway, the four earlier summaries of our methods (Ogner et al. 1975, 1977, 1984, 1991) are now outdated. This article replaces the previous ones and describes only those procedures currently being used for the analysis of water, plant and soil samples