NIR spectral imaging for the in-line detection of preservatives in recovered wood

Various contaminants in recovered wood, including wood treated with preservatives, limit its use for the production of particle boards due to technical reasons and, in some countries, national legislation. In order to sort them out from a stream of recovered wood, in-line detection techniques for these contaminants are necessary. The work presented here shows that NIR spectral imaging has the potential to differentiate between various organic and inorganic wood preservatives qualitatively as well as quantitatively.