Heat sterilization of wood

Two important questions should be considered in heat sterilizing solid wood materials: First, what temperature–time regime is required to kill a particular pest? Second, how much time is required to heat the center of any wood configuration to the kill temperature? The entomology research on the first question has facilitated the development of international standards for heat sterilization of various solid wood materials. This chapter primarily addresses the second question. It focuses on various factors that should be considered when planning and implementing a heat treatment process, discusses experimentally derived heating times for commonly used wood products, and presents analytical and empirical methods for estimating heating times that can be used as starting points in the development of heat treatment schedules. Current wood packaging material enforcement regulations and several additional practical considerations for heat treatment operations are also presented.