Grant: Alliance Grants

Proper wood treatment is essential for extending the service life of wood products, particularly for outdoor applications. The most common approach for preservation is a pressure treatment process, in which wood preservative chemicals are forced to penetrate the cellular structure of the wood, forming a barrier against weathering and bio-deterioration. Due to the growing environmental concerns and increasingly strict governmental regulations, Stella-Jones Inc., a leading North American manufacturer of treated wood products, is pursuing to develop less hazardous preservatives to replace currently used ones to minimize the impact of the treatment processes on the environment. The objective of the project is to implement two new environmentally friendly preservatives, iso-thiazolone, 4,5-dichloro-2-n-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one (DCOI) and micronized copper azole (MCA) at commercial scale. All issues associated with the application of the two preservatives will be addressed, including new formulation development, treating process optimization, efficacy test of DCOI and MCA against wood decay fungi on Canadian wood species as well as the stability of two preservatives in both treating and storage vessels. The anticipated outcomes will fill the knowledge gaps in the commercialization of DCOI and MCA' applications in wood treatment, and provide a greener and optimized treating processes with minimum leaching and odor releasing. These new knowledge and protocols will help Stella-Jones develop and implement new and more environmentally friendly preservatives, extend the application of such preservatives to the whole wood treatment industry, most importantly help government establish new guidelines and policies, all of which are extremely important to Canada. Achieving such goals will also position Canada as a leader in the world for mindful environment protection.