The effects of wood species and treatment retention on kinetics of CCA-C fixation reactions

Reaction kinetics of fixation of CCA-C (chromated copper arsenate type C) preservative was studied at 30°C in ground wood of trembling aspen, red pine, and red maple at treatment retentions of 4.0, 6.4, 9.6, and 30 kg/m³, and red maple pre-extracted with hot water at retentions of 6.4 and 30 kg/m³. Reaction orders of cumulative Cr, Cu, and As reactions decreased gradually during the fixation if calculated by Van’t Hoff’s method. With Essen’s method, CCA fixation was best approximated as follows: Cr—3rd order reaction during the first 24 h, and 1st order reaction for the rest of the fixation period; Cu—2nd order reaction; and As—1st order reaction in red pine and aspen, and 2nd order in red maple. Rates of reaction decreased with increased CCA solution concentration for Cr and Cu, and increased for As, except in red maple. Reaction rates for all CCA elements were significantly higher in rapidly fixing red maple than in regularly fixing red pine and aspen, and were higher in unextracted than pre-extracted red maple. Modeling of CCA fixation kinetic for the whole fixation period enabled comparison of fixation reactions among wood species, preservative components, and treatment retentions.