A study on timber preservation in Malaysia / Syed Mohd Azman Caliph

Project paper (Bachelor of Civil Engineering) -- Universiti Malaysia Pahang - 2007

The timber preservation is important in tropical countries because the rate of timber consumption in these countries is expected to expand at a rate more than three times that in the rest of the world. The frequent insect that usually attack timber structure in tropical countries like Malaysia is termites. Termites are classified into two categories which are upper ground termite and underground termites. Therefore the chemical use such as copper chromium arsenate (CCA), creosote, Zinc naphthenate, Chlorothalonil (CTL) (tetrachloroisophthalonitrile], tributyl tin oxide (TBTO), and so on to preserve the wood. These preservative were divided into two categories which is oil bourne preservative and water bourne preservative. The amount used is given a rating HI to H6, which the larger the number of the preservative used, the more durable the timber is. Due to the environmental issue, the high concentration and the large amount usage of the preservatives, the more pollution will be occurring because all the preservative are hazardous and pollutant. To avoid pollution occurs, we must be control the consumptions of the preservative use in the process. Wood preservation methods are of two general types which are pressure processes, in which the wood is impregnated in closed vessels under pressures considerably above atmospheric, and nonpressure processes, which vary widely in the procedures and equipment used. The main objective of all the method and preservative use in the preservation process is to increase the strength and the durability of the wood. With rapid changes taking place in the treating industry, it is more important than ever to ensure that wood is being treated to standard specifications. From the study, CCA is the most common use preservative in Malaysia because of the termites attack. -Author