| abstract |
An improved process for preserving wood by impregnating the wood with metal salts is described. More particularly, the improved process comprises the steps of (A) contacting wood in a vessel with a solution containing at least one soluble metal salt of an organic carboxylic acid under conditions of time, temperature and pressure which are sufficient (i) to effect penetration of the solution into the wood, and (ii) to maintain the metal:acid ratio in the solution removed from the wood in step (B) substantially the same as the metal:acid ratio in the solution used to impregnate the wood in this step (A), (B) removing at least some of the solution from the wood by reducing the pressure within the vessel, and (C) subsequently heating the wood to a temperature sufficient to fix the metal to the wood. The solutions utilized in the above process may be either aqueous solutions or hydrocarbon solutions, and the solutions may contain other desirable components in addition to the metal salts such as insecticides, flame retardants, water repellants, etc. In a preferred embodiment, the metal salt of the organic carboxylic acid utilized in the process is a fungicide. |