PENETRATION STUDIES THE PATH OF LIQUID PENETRATION IN JACK PINE

Abstract

Quantitative measurements have been made, for the first time, of the rate at which liquids penetrate into wood in terms of the velocity normal to the wood-liquid interface. The effects upon this rate, of species, previous history, structure, orientation, thickness, nature of liquid, pressure head, temperature and time have been examined and measured. It has been found that wood behaves largely in a reversible manner provided the treatment does not alter its structure. A technique has been devised for maintaining a single chip in an unvarying environment and following the progress of the cooking process by the variation of the rate of flow of the cooking liquor through the specimen. An attempt is made to examine flow m wood from the standpoint of hydraulics, and a structure is suggested which agrees well with existing anatomical information and gives values for resistance to flow which compare favorably with experiment.