Moisture transport in pine wood during one-sided heating studied by NMR

The quantification of moisture transport in heated wood is relevant to several fields, e.g. for lumber drying and processing and for fire safety risk assessment. We present non-destructive and simultaneous measurements of the moisture content and temperature distributions in pine wood during unilateral exposure to a heat source. The moisture content is measured by a nuclear magnetic resonance setup specifically built for the evaluation of moisture transport in porous materials at elevated temperatures. Temperature profiles are obtained by thermocouples placed at different distances from the exposed surface. While the temperature rises, a peak in the moisture content is formed, which travels towards the unexposed surface. The velocity of the moisture content peak depends on the principal direction in which transport occurs, as confirmed by experiments. Numerical simulations of moisture transport are performed which can qualitatively reproduce the behavior observed in experiments. Moreover, several characteristics, such as the timescale and non-linearity of the moisture peak position, are well captured. The influence of several input parameters, such as the permeability and diffusion coefficient, on the moisture peak dynamics is elaborately explored.