Research to determine the potential for developing an alternative wood preservative system was conducted utilizing bio-oils produced from southern pine and oak clear wood and bark feed stocks. Feed stocks were pyrolyzed in an auger reactor. Both raw bio-oil and bio-oil fractions were utilized as wood preservatives. Each bio-oil treatment was diluted with methanol to 10% and 25% concentrations and subsequently impregnated into southern pine and cottonwood wafers. A proprietary polymerization method was applied to the impregnated wood to prevent bio-oil leaching. The intrinsic fungicidal activity of the bio-oils was evaluated against a brown-rot (Gloeophyllum trabeum) and a white-rot fungus (Trametes versicolor). Soil-block decay tests were conducted in accordance with accelerated soil block test described by AWPA Standard E10 to reduce the total inoculation time to approximately six weeks. Preliminary results showed that wafers impregnated with bio-oil at 25% concentration largely prevented compression strength loss. Study results indicate that the bio-oils tested have potential as a wood preservative. Researchers have hypothesized that the fungicidal activity of bio-oils may be a function of the antioxidant activity of one or more bio-oil chemicals. We tested this hypothesis by measuring the antioxidant activity of both raw bio-oils and fractions were separated by distillation from the six raw bio-oils demonstrating highest antioxidant activity.

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