Where wood is used as a permanent foundation, for example in telegraph poles, structures for piers, bridges etc, the wood needs to last many years and wood preservatives are applied to give long term protection against termites and fungal decay.
There are a range of wood preservative solutions including Copper Azole, Pentachlorphenol (Penta), and Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA). Wood is pressure treated with the preservatives and whereas an untreated wood degrades within three to five years, treated timber can last up to sixty years!
Wood preservative manufacturers check the strength of the concentrated solutions they provide, and pressure treaters dilute these solutions and check the concentration before they pressure treat the wood. Samples of the treated timber are subsequently analysed as sawdust to ensure the preservative has penetrated well within the wood.
To measure both preservatives and sawdust, the Lab-X3500 is a dedicated analyser offering simple and precise analysis using the well established and respected analytical technique of Energy Dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). Benefits include; simple or no sample preparation, no potentially hazardous chemicals, no weighting or volumetric measurements, and fast analysis. Results are available within a few minutes and the instrument can be operated by production staff.
The X-Supreme8000 measures preservatives and sawdust with equal ease, and in addition has a 10 position sample carousel for multi-sample unattended analysis, and an integrated PC for storage of results, etc.
Optimised application packages for the measurement of wood preservatives are available for both instruments