Preservative Treatment. Pole decay is due to a fungus which requires air, moisture, warmth, and food for its subsistence; the wood of the pole constitutes its food. The conditions most favorable to the growth of the fungus are found at the ground line.
The preservative has toxic or antiseptic properties which make the wood either poisonous or unfit food for the fungus. Preservatives and preserving methods conforming to the standards of the American Wood Preservers Association (AWPA)85 should be used in the treatment of poles.
There are many wood preservatives, including those using poisonous salts such as copper, mercury, zinc, and arsenic compounds. However, only two are included in AWPA recommendations for poles, Standard C-4-74-C:
1. Coal-tar creosote, AWPA Standard P1-65
2. A 5% solution of pentachlorophenol in a petroleum distillate, AWPA Standard P8 (commonly called “penta”)
By AWPA Standard M1-70, pentachlorophenol is not recommended for use in coastal waters. Coastal waters are defined as salty waters. One other preservative is increasing in popularity.
This is AWPA Standard P11-70, a creosote-pentachlorophenol mixture in which pentachlorophenol is not less than 2% of the mixture. All of these preservatives are applied by the following methods:
1. The open-tank method, applied to cedar poles, consists in boiling the butts of the poles in a tank of creosote oil, after which the oil is allowed to cool or the poles are transferred to a cold tank of oil. The duration of the hot and cold treatment, usually 8 h or more, depends on several factors, the most important of which is the degree of seasoning.
The treatment is based on the fact that the wood cells expand with heat and on cooling draw the creosote into the wood under atmospheric pressure. The sapwood of unseasoned poles has annular rings of a nearly impervious fiber which prevent penetration of the oil.
In seasoning, this fiber dries and breaks open. To ensure penetration of the greater part of the sapwood, which is usually less than 1 in in depth, an incision process has been developed and is almost universally used.
Narrow cuts, parallel with the wood fibers, are made to a depth of about 1/2 in at frequent intervals around the circumference of the pole for a distance above and below the ground line. Complete penetration is obtained to a depth somewhat greater than the depth of the incisions even on unseasoned poles.
2. Pressure treatment is applied to pine and fir. The poles, on a truck, are run into a steel cylinder and subjected to a steam treatment for a period of several hours at a temperature which will not damage the wood cells, usually specified at not more than 259 F (126 C).
The pressure is then removed and a vacuum applied. The steam treatment opens up the wood cells and allows the preservative to penetrate. The length of time required for the steam and vacuum treatment depends on the condition of the wood, the amount of oil that is to be injected, and the depth of penetration desired.
From this point in the process, one of two methods may be followed. The full-cell, or Bethel, process allows all the preservative injected to remain in the wood. This process is generally used for piling and underwater work when it is desired to exclude water from the wood and to resist the attack of marine borers.
The empty-cell process draws off excess oil and secures protection from decay by the coating of oil left on the walls of the wood cells. The empty-cell process is adequate and preferable for usual structures and is used almost exclusively for poles and arms.
The empty-cell treatment is obtained by either the Rueping or the Lowry process. The Rueping process seems to be in more general use, although the Lowry process is equally successful.
In the Rueping process, following the steam treatment, an air pressure is applied. While still under pressure, hot oil is forced into the cylinder. The oil is held under this pressure and maintained at a temperature of about 200 F (93.5 C) by steam coils within the cylinder, for a period of several hours.
Upon removing the oil and reducing the pressure, the compressed air within the wood cells forces out the surplus oil. The amount of oil retained depends on the pressures applied and the time of treatment, although it is possible to remove only a part of the oil that has been injected.
The Lowry process is similar to the Rueping process except that no compressed air is used. After the preservative has been forced into the wood under pressure, a high vacuum is quickly created, causing a sudden expansion of the air within the wood cells and thus driving out surplus preservative.
The preservative has toxic or antiseptic properties which make the wood either poisonous or unfit food for the fungus. Preservatives and preserving methods conforming to the standards of the American Wood Preservers Association (AWPA)85 should be used in the treatment of poles.
There are many wood preservatives, including those using poisonous salts such as copper, mercury, zinc, and arsenic compounds. However, only two are included in AWPA recommendations for poles, Standard C-4-74-C:
1. Coal-tar creosote, AWPA Standard P1-65
2. A 5% solution of pentachlorophenol in a petroleum distillate, AWPA Standard P8 (commonly called “penta”)
By AWPA Standard M1-70, pentachlorophenol is not recommended for use in coastal waters. Coastal waters are defined as salty waters. One other preservative is increasing in popularity.
This is AWPA Standard P11-70, a creosote-pentachlorophenol mixture in which pentachlorophenol is not less than 2% of the mixture. All of these preservatives are applied by the following methods:
1. The open-tank method, applied to cedar poles, consists in boiling the butts of the poles in a tank of creosote oil, after which the oil is allowed to cool or the poles are transferred to a cold tank of oil. The duration of the hot and cold treatment, usually 8 h or more, depends on several factors, the most important of which is the degree of seasoning.
The treatment is based on the fact that the wood cells expand with heat and on cooling draw the creosote into the wood under atmospheric pressure. The sapwood of unseasoned poles has annular rings of a nearly impervious fiber which prevent penetration of the oil.
In seasoning, this fiber dries and breaks open. To ensure penetration of the greater part of the sapwood, which is usually less than 1 in in depth, an incision process has been developed and is almost universally used.
Narrow cuts, parallel with the wood fibers, are made to a depth of about 1/2 in at frequent intervals around the circumference of the pole for a distance above and below the ground line. Complete penetration is obtained to a depth somewhat greater than the depth of the incisions even on unseasoned poles.
2. Pressure treatment is applied to pine and fir. The poles, on a truck, are run into a steel cylinder and subjected to a steam treatment for a period of several hours at a temperature which will not damage the wood cells, usually specified at not more than 259 F (126 C).
The pressure is then removed and a vacuum applied. The steam treatment opens up the wood cells and allows the preservative to penetrate. The length of time required for the steam and vacuum treatment depends on the condition of the wood, the amount of oil that is to be injected, and the depth of penetration desired.
From this point in the process, one of two methods may be followed. The full-cell, or Bethel, process allows all the preservative injected to remain in the wood. This process is generally used for piling and underwater work when it is desired to exclude water from the wood and to resist the attack of marine borers.
The empty-cell process draws off excess oil and secures protection from decay by the coating of oil left on the walls of the wood cells. The empty-cell process is adequate and preferable for usual structures and is used almost exclusively for poles and arms.
The empty-cell treatment is obtained by either the Rueping or the Lowry process. The Rueping process seems to be in more general use, although the Lowry process is equally successful.
In the Rueping process, following the steam treatment, an air pressure is applied. While still under pressure, hot oil is forced into the cylinder. The oil is held under this pressure and maintained at a temperature of about 200 F (93.5 C) by steam coils within the cylinder, for a period of several hours.
Upon removing the oil and reducing the pressure, the compressed air within the wood cells forces out the surplus oil. The amount of oil retained depends on the pressures applied and the time of treatment, although it is possible to remove only a part of the oil that has been injected.
The Lowry process is similar to the Rueping process except that no compressed air is used. After the preservative has been forced into the wood under pressure, a high vacuum is quickly created, causing a sudden expansion of the air within the wood cells and thus driving out surplus preservative.
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