Impregnation of Preservative and Fire Retardants into Japanese Cedar Lumber by Passive Impregnation

Copper azole type B (CAz-B) preservative and polyphosphatic carbamate (PPC) fire retardants were impregnated in succession into green (97% MC) and kiln-dried (18% MC) Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica (L.f.) D.Don) lumber by the passive impregnation method to prolong the period of lumber use by increasing its resistance to fire and biological degradation. Lumber was dried with a kiln or by air-drying. Total chemical retention, penetration, leaching, decay resistance (JIS K 1571), and fire retardancy (ISO 834-1 standard, 20 minutes) tests were performed according to the mentioned standards. Preservative retention was higher in the green lumber (4.97 kg/m 3 ) compared with the kiln-dried (4.88 kg/m 3 ) lumber. However, fire retardant retention was similar for both lumber types (107 and 111 kg/m 3 ). Leaching was higher in kiln-dried lumber (21.8%) compared to air-dried lumber (14.4%), although there were no significant differences in the decay resistance test between these two lumber types. The fire performance of both lumber types was similar in the fire resistance test. Therefore, the passive impregnation method can be used effectively for impregnation of both preservatives and fire retardants into wood.