Dehumidification drying of red oak. Part I. Chemical characterization of volatile organic compounds

Volatile organic compounds produced from laboratory and industrial dehumidi fication kiln-drying of red oak lumber were collected and analyzed by vario us chemical analytical procedures to determine their concentrations and ide ntities. Condensable components were characterized by ion-moderate partitio n (Rio-rad Aminex column, HPX-87H, 7.8 by 300 mm) high performance liquid c hromatography with a photodiode UV-visible detector, ion chromatography, an d gas chromatography with mass spectroscopy. Acetic acid, which was identif ied as the major chemical component in the condensate, also accounted for t he relatively low pH (3.4) of the condensates. Non-condensable compounds fr om the laboratory dehumidification unit were captured on Supelco LpDNPH S10 cartridges and analyzed by reverse phase liquid chromatography. The total aldehyde and ketone concentration ranged between 783 and 23 ppm x 10(-3) Th e major non-condensable compound identified was acetaldehyde.