Experimental study of electrode effects of resistance type electrodes for monitoring wood drying process above fibre saturation point / Elektroodefektide uurimine puidu kuivatamisel niiskussisaldustel üle kiu küllastuspunkti

Abstract Due to practical need to improve the accuracy of measurement of wood electrical resistance via creating multivariate calibration models the study of electrode effects was carried out. The experiments were made in DC mode and five types of electrode effects were measured: electrical resistance of the galvanic contact between the measuring electrode and wood, corrosion of measuring electrodes in wet wood, polarization and depolarization of the double layer forming on the surface of the measuring electrodes, residual polarization voltage between measuring electrodes and effect of repeated use of measuring electrodes. For multi-channel measurement mode effect of neighbouring electrodes was measured. Behind each of these factors is a complex transfer mechanism of free and bounded charge carriers from wood to measuring electrodes. Among the factors, polarization and depolarization have an immediate effect (duration of the processes in seconds) while resistance of electrode/wood contact, corrosion of electrodes and residual polarization have a slow effect (duration of processes in hours). For pine sapwood, coefficients of the Stamm formula were found in moisture contents (MC) above the fibre saturation point. It was determined that wood polarization and depolarization indicators are dependent on wood moisture content as is the case with wood electrical resistance. Compared to wood electrical resistance, wood polarization proved approximately four times and depolarization approximately eight times less sensitive to moisture content variation.