Paola Cetera

Università degli Studi di Sassari | UNISS · Department of Agriculture

Wood extractives have proven strong anti-oxidative properties which may be used to mitigate surface deterioration caused by photolytic effects and free radical formations. An interesting challenge regarding wood extractives is understanding how they behave in terms of treating natural wood surfaces to reduce anti-oxidative processes that arise from...

Pruning residues can have a high quality as feedstock for energy purposes and are largely available in Europe. However, it is still an untapped resource. Such scarce use is due to the need to optimize their supply chain in term of collection machines and the associate cost of collection. A modular chipper (prototype PC50) for pruning harvest was de...

PROGRAMMA 17:20-17:35 Alberto Cavalli (Conlegno) | Filiere di prossimità sul territorio nazionale: opportunità e criticità [ITA] 16:15-16:45 Peer Haller (TU Dresden) | KEYNOTE SPEAKER | How sustainable is building with wood? [ENG] 17:35-17:50 Luca Galeasso (Environment Park) | La valorizzazione del ruolo delle filiere di prossimità nel contrasto al...

Renewable biomass play a crucial role in mitigating climate change as a potential alternative for fossil fuels. On the other hand, lignocellulosic biomass can represent an enormous natural resources to use for energetic field. In fact, the use of fossil fuels as a main source of energy is directly linked to global climate change, so there is a nece...

Dedicated energy crops can play a key role in providing substantial amounts of lignocellulosic feedstocks equired for the second-generation biofuel production chain as well as heat and electricity production (JRC EC, 2011). Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) has already been recognized as a high yielding, stress tolerant crop suited to marginal lands and...

The success of the use of wastewater in the irrigation depends on a wealth of factors. These include the amount of solids in the wastewater or its filtrate, the ability of the suspended material to form biofilms, the pressure of the water in the system, the type of filters and emitters, and age of the systems. Digestate from crop biomass and manure...

Short and medium rotation coppice (SRC and MRC) have been identified as an interesting solid biomass resource at global level. The production of large amount of biomass in limited time is no longer complicated thanks to modern machine technology, but the concentrated availability of wood fuel often does not go in line with the demand for energy in...

Numerous investigations on the antioxidant properties of different plant tissue extracts are available in literature, but few studies on the effect of thermally modified wood on secondary metabolites were carried out up to now. This study highlights the influence of the thermal modification of Castanea sativa Mill. wood on total content of antioxid...

Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) is a deciduous species characterized by high morphological variability and a widespread distribution range along SouthEast Europe. The wood of Turkey oak is scarcely considered as industrial lumber and is mainly used as firewood. Biomass pre-processing by heating improves feedstock consistency (mainly loss of water) a...

Irrigation with wastewater can strongly contribute to the reduction of water abstraction in agriculture with an especial interest in arid and semiarid areas. However, its use can have drawbacks to both the soil and the micro-irrigation systems, especially when the total solids in the wastewater are high, such as in digestate liquid fractions (DLF)...

According to recent bioeconomy programs, chemical compounds derived from natural sources will be more available in regions where these compounds can be obtained economically than more expensive synthetic chemicals. In addition, the biorefinery is becoming an important aspect for green chemistry development aimed at ensuring the necessity to achieve...

Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) is an important forest species largely present in all the SouthEastern Mediterranean countries (Lavisci et al., 1991). Its wood is not particularly appreciated for industrial application. Heating process improves the properties of the wood (Esteves and Pereira, 2009) (i.e. the feedstock consistency, therefore its ener...

Eucalyptus spp. are among the most suitable species for biomass production, even for the firewood derived from medium-rotation coppice (MRC). The general problem of wood is that it cannot be utilized immediately because of the high moisture content, which in the combustion process would reduce remarkably the yield of energy. In this context, outdoo...

Eucalyptus spp. has received attention from the research and industrial field as a biomass crop because of its fast growth and high productivity. The features of this species match with the increasing demand for wood for energy production. Commonly, the wood used for energy production is converted in chips, a material susceptible to microbial degra...

Orange orchards are typical Mediterranean crops and a major feature of the heritage of the Mediterranean basin, where they play an important environmental and economic role. Their high availability, low price, and potential industrial application make the development of new and valuable uses of the orange's biomass of high interest. This research w...

Nowadays, there is an increasing interest on thermo-treatment and its effects on wood structure and extraction processes, connected to the wood use for industrial application and for its use as biorefinery. The present investigation aimed to provide the main changes on wood properties (mass loss, color variation and modulus of elasticity) and a com...

The autoclave extraction of Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto Ten.) wood gave 5.3% extractives. The chloroform soluble fraction obtained from the extracts of Q. frainetto allows to identify sesamin. The insoluble fraction contains mainly ribose and mannose. Water extraction in autoclave of thermo-treated Q. frainetto wood gave a lower amount of extr...

The autoclave extraction of Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto Ten.) wood gave 5.3% extractives. The chloroform soluble fraction obtained from the extracts of Q. frainetto allows to identify sesamin. The insoluble fraction contains mainly ribose and mannose. Water extraction in autoclave of thermo-treated Q. frainetto wood gave a lower amount of extr...

Oriented strand board (OSB) are widely marketed for several applications, from building to packaging. The manufacturing of poplar OSB has recently started in Northern Italy, representing a relevant innovation in the sector, given that this product is usually made of coniferous wood. Thermal treatment is nowadays widely used for increasing the dimen...

The workshop «Added value of wood in the future» has been addressed at PhD students and Early stage researchers in Wood technology and Forest operations enrolled in Italian research bodies. A main aim of the event was to give them an opportunity to present their studies and to gain visibility, with particular regard to PhD students. Therefore, in o...

Oriented strand board (OSB) panels are widely marketed for several applications, from building to packaging. The manufacturing of poplar OSB started recently in Northern Italy representing a relevant innovation in the sector since this product is usually made of coniferous wood. The thermal treatment is widely used for reducing the hygroscopicity o...

The objective of this work was to investigate color stability and chemical changes of thermo-treated artificially weathered and coated alder (Alnus cordata, Loisel.) samples. Specimens were thermo-treated at a temperature of 200 °C for 4 h and then coated with commercially manufactured finishes. A solar box test chamber was employed for weathering...

A renewed interest in producing thermo-treated wood extracts and the potential applications of these extracts was observed in chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Poplar (Populus spp.), belonging to the Salicaceae family, is one of the most cultivated woody plant for industrial purposes, one of the least expensive hardwoods, rarely used i...

The influence of the thermal modification process on wood machinability was investigated with four minor species of low economic importance. A set of representative experimental samples was machined to the form of disks with sharp and dull tools. The resulting surface quality was visually evaluated by a team of experts according to the American sta...

This study examined the mechanical properties of Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) wood before and after combined steam and thermal treatments under vacuum conditions. Wood was steamed at 100 to 110° C and thermally treated under vacuum at 160° C by the press-vacuum or thermo-vacuum process. Treated material was characterized in terms of the modulus o...

Remebering Bérenger’s aphorims: “Documents in good standing and forest to ruin”. Remembering the Adolfo di Bérenger’s aphorism: “documents in good standing and forest to ruin” from the book Studii di Archeologia Forestale. The Author is considered the founder of the Italian forest science. This document tells the history of the head of rangers and...