Objective
A. BACKGROUND
Efficient processing and utilization of wood to its full potential are essential for the competitiveness of the forest industries. It is equally important for the economics of forestry and forest operations and thus for the rural communities relying upon forests and forestry for their existence.
While in earlier times the users of wood would go to the forest and pick the proper trees for their use, this is since long not so. Trees are cut in the forest as efficiently as possible. In order to achieve efficient transportation the stems or logs are massed together and transported to the industry site. The individual trees or logs and their inherent properties are thus reduced to being part of a statistical group. Whatever information that may be had from the individual tree is lost in the process. At the industrial site much effort is devoted to trying to judge what the properties of the wood are, relative to the requirements of the intended end product. It is however, very difficult to judge the inner properties of a log based on external characteristics solely.
Wood as a raw material differs immensely in properties from species to species, from tree to tree within the species as well as within the tree, from root to top and from the inner core to the outer periphery. These different properties are related both to tree genetics as well as to forestry management practice.
The large wood user groups: the sawmilling industry, the wood based panel and composite industries, and the pulp and paper industry, have specific wood property requirements. A common denominator is evenness of quality within each of the numerous quality classes that may be defined. Because both the industrial processes and the resulting products are very different, the properties of interest differ. They also change with time because of product and technological development. The sawmilling industry is mainly interested in what may be termed macro characteristics: size, log shape, modulus of elasticity, bending strength, knot types and sizes, grain angles and so forth. The wood product industries are mainly interested in various combinations of macro and micro characteristics influencing the end product quality. The pulp and paper industry, breaking down the wood into individual fibres, is mainly interested in the micro characteristics, like fibre length, cell wall thickness, etc.
In recent years an increasing number of methods to characterize wood properties have been investigated. Several techniques are being investigated or tried out in parallel.
(a) Site characteristics, silvicultural regimes and tree characteristics are being analysed and modelled, and the relationship between these and the properties of the wood are used to judge the best use for each stem part. Attempts are under way to develop methods for letting the data follow the individual stem or stem part (log) as an electronically readable message. In the pulping industry the influence of forest characteristics (species, average age, soil type, etc.) and tree characteristics (age, dimensions, etc.) on processability and pulp properties, including fibre properties, are studied rather intensively.
(b) Correlations between the outer characteristics (shape, knots, bumps, annual ring pattern, etc.) and inner properties (density, knot sizes, heartwood volume, bending strength, etc.) of each log are being studied. Methods for measuring different visible characteristics are being developed.
(c) Techniques for internal scanning of logs and stems are being tested. In use are X-ray tomography, nuclear radiation sources, and ultrasound, while more academically oriented studies also try out microwaves and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Rather recently laboratory methods for automatic microscopic imaging/determination of fibril angle, fibre dimensions and structural dimensions and structural modifications of fibre, have become available.
(d) Of particular interest to the pulp and paper industry is the characterization of wood with focus on fibre properties with the goal of achieving specific paper properties. In addition to sorting by density solely, a growing interest in a more efficient use of wood is emerging, such as the use of selected fibres to obtain specific product properties. As examples, the following approaches can be noted:
- The use of fresh wood for mechanical pulp.
- The exclusive use of non-decayed wood for bleached chemical pulp.
The structure of the research community mirrors that of industry. Forestry, solid wood products, and pulp and paper have traditionally operated in isolation from one another, and display significant differences in educational background, research interests, and culture. The potential benefits of bringing these groups together are substantial in terms of synergies to the wood chain as a whole. As of yet, however, such integration is rare, even at the national level.
B. OBJECTIVES AND BENEFITS
The main objective of this Action is to improve the methods for characterization of wood properties of important tree species (both softwoods and hardwoods) in relation to the functional demands of the intended end products, so as better to channel each class of wood to that use for which its properties are best suited, to the benefit of both forestry and the forest industries.
Detailed objectives are:
- to create a platform for interaction between the forest products and the forestry sector by bringing together scientists from the sectors to provide good interdisciplinary transfer of knowledge,
- to define present knowledge of the functional demands of end products and the possibilities of influencing wood raw material properties, including relationships between site characteristics, silviculture, wood and fibre properties at different scales (tree, stand, forest, region, country), and further to document existing research work and capabilities of relevance for the area,
- to identify knowledge gaps and suggest relevant research needs,
- to create a common framework for the structuring of knowledge, including modelling, in the problem area,
- to stimulate collection and use of data in accordance with a common framework.
The following are the expected benefits for the wood chain:
- improved raw material utilization for higher value added products and process efficiency,
- forestry will be able to better judge the value of different silvicultural regimes and tree genotypes for industrial usage,
- improved ability to judge forest development and best time and location for cutting,
- information on national research programmes and possibilities,
- improved competitiveness of wood and wood products from European forests,
- effective and rapid sharing of research results,
- better targeting of future research investments,
- initiation of collaborative national and European research programmes,
- development of interdisciplinary research activities,
- improved interaction between forestry and forest industries.
C. SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME
This programme is intended to encourage and facilitate cooperation of ongoing and future research work regarding the characterization of wood properties in relation to their intended industrial use, as well as to result in a common framework of principles and methods for the benefit of ongoing and future research. Research into more specific problems, however, is expected to largely occur outside the scope of the Action.
The starting point is the functional demands of forest products in the market place.
As the objectives are of an interdisciplinary nature and cover various fields of specific research work, it is necessary to subdivide the Action into four working areas (WA), each concentrating on a specific problem sphere:
WA 1 - Cross sectoral modelling
The development of models linking micro- and macro-characteristics of wood is the focal point of the Action, requiring the interaction and support from the three other working areas.
WA 2 - Forest and tree quality
Analysis and modelling of the relationships between site characteristics, genotype, silviculture and attributes of standing trees at different levels of aggregation on the one hand, and wood properties on the other hand.
WA 3 - Wood products quality
Analysis and modelling of the correlation between tree characteristics and wood properties, and the macro and micro characteristics required for the production and use of timber, solid wood, veneer, and wood based panels/composites.
WA 4 - Pulp and paper quality
Analysis and modelling of the relationships between tree characteristics and wood properties, and the macro and micro characteristics required for production and use of pulp and paper products.
All working areas are to establish close links with research groups in related areas inside and outside of the COST system.
Type of activities:
- organization of annual workshops and subgroup activities, seminars, visits at laboratories and enterprises,
- the drawing up of state of the art reports and/or studies,
- exchange of research workers and post-graduate students through short-term scientific missions or other methods,
- exchange of publications, activity reports, etc.,
- short-term exchange of information via INTERNET networking,
- production of an inventory of specific capabilities, facilities and research capacity at a European level,
- dissemination of results from the Action.
D. ORGANIZATION AND TIMETABLE
The cooperative process will be led by a Management Committee, which should ideally possess, in a balanced way, the expertise from all three sectors involved. Under the Management Committee, a Working Group will be established for each working area.
The work of the Action is expected to proceed in three phases:
- Phase 1: Start and state of the art (12 months). This phase commences by one or several (as needed) Management Committee meetings in which objectives are refined and operationalized, and working groups are established. The end of this phase is a workshop on the state of the art in the field, organized jointly for all working groups. The conclusions from this phase will guide the process through the remainder of the Action.
- Phase 2: Work in the different working groups (30 months). Each working group is expected to organize an electronic network and to meet every 6 months. Reports to Management Committee. A combined workshop is envisioned for the mid-term of this phase, and yet another one at its end.
- Phase 3: Dissemination, evaluation and elaboration of conclusions for further work (6 months). Final conference, discussion and adoption of final report.
E. ECONOMIC DIMENSION
The following COST countries have actively participated in the preparation of the Action or otherwise indicated their interest: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
On the basis of national estimates provided by representatives of these countries and taking into account the coordination costs to be covered over the COST budget of the European Commission, the overall cost of the activities to be carried out under the Action has been estimated, in 1996 prices, at roughly ECU 21 million.
This estimate is valid under the assumption that all the countries mentioned above but no other countries will participate in the Action. Any departure from this will change the total cost accordingly.
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Coordinator
Norway
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