Thermal treatment of electrical poles

Thermal treatment is used to preserve the wood without any addition of any toxic chemicals. This process increases the dimensional stability and darkens the color of the wood. The improvement of the resistance to decay of wood by thermal treatment is also often suggested in the literature. However, some latest works contested if the durability of heat-treated wood is improved when it is used in contact with ground. The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of thermally treating electrical poles which are larger compared to the standard wood lumber. One of the applications for thermally treated wood poles could be their use in environmental sensitive areas (along rivers, for example) as a replacement for untreated western red cedar (WRC) poles which are more expensive. Green and pre-dried red pine (Pinus resinosa) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) poles, both with circular and square cross-sections, were heated to high temperatures under humid and inert atmosphere. Operating parameters such as maximum treatment temperature, maintenance time at this temperature, heating rate and gas humidity were varied in order to find most suitable treatment conditions for the poles. The tests showed that most of the cracks are formed during the drying process while thermal treatment only widened already existing cracks. The circular shape seems to promote crack formation during the drying period since the directional dependence of shrinking creates more stresses in circular poles compared to the square poles. A slight decrease in flexibility of the wood with increasing temperatures was observed. The protecting effect of gas humidity against oxidation of wood and the importance of the application of a moderate heating rate for poles with large cross-sections are also demonstrated in this article. The impact of the heat treatment on the resistance to decay of electrical wood pole will be presented in a future publication.