Journal of Supercritical Fluids, Vol.144, 56-62, 2019
Uncovering supercritical CO2 wood dewatering via interleaved H-1-imaging and C-13-spectroscopy with real-time reconstruction
Real-time observation of green radiata pine sapwood specimens undergoing dewatering using a cyclical process in which supercritical CO2 changes to gas phase has been achieved using rapid interleaved H-1 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The H-1 and C-13 data were produced as videos showing in real-time changes in cell water distribution within the wood specimen together with the water flow from the specimen undergoing dewatering, and changes in CO2 C-13 NMR spectrum with pressure change and CO2 phase change. The results presented here enable refinement of understanding of the green wood dewatering mechanism driven by phase change of supercritical CO2 to gas, and provide insights into the physical and chemical interaction of supercritical CO2 and wood cell water.
Keywords:Wood;Supercritical CO2;Dewatering;Magnetic resonance imaging;Magnetic resonance spectroscopy;Real-time video H-1 images and C-13 spectra