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Diffusion of bound water in wood

Part 1: The driving force

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Summary

Fick's law states that during steady-state diffusion, moisture flux is proportional to the gradient in moisture concentration, making concentration gradient the driving force for diffusion. Although Fick's law permits convenient comparisons between predicted and measured moisture contents, fundamental and experimental difficulties with it have been reported. In this paper, the dependence of spreading pressure on vapor pressure and temperature is developed. This information is used to show that gradients in spreading pressure and chemical potential are not proportional. Spreading pressure gradient is considered the correct driving force because the associated transport law can be derived from first principles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southeastern Forest Experiment Station Southern Forest Fire Laboratory, US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, P.O. Box 182 A, 31020, Dry Branch, GA, USA

    R. M. Nelson Jr.

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  1. R. M. Nelson Jr.
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The author wishes to thank Dr. Christen Skaar for his interest and advice during preparation of this paper for publication

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Nelson, R.M. Diffusion of bound water in wood. Wood Sci. Technol. 20, 125–135 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351024

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351024

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