ABSTRACT
In the present study, the behaviour of Eucalyptus dunnii wood drying in a conventional pilot kiln was evaluated, using three drying schedules. Each drying schedule had an initial vaporization (presteaming) of 3 hours after one hour of initial warming and an intermediate vaporization of 5 hours for the collapse recovery when the wood was at 17% of humidity. The results show that among the used drying schedule only the schedule regarded as the mildest presented a good result in terms of dry wood quality. Among the discovered defects, there were 37,5% of collapse, 35% of cupping and 10% of split. Hoviever, though from this total only 15% of the collapse and cupping were regarded as strong defects.
Key words:
Eucaliptus dunnii; presteaming; conventional drying