Microwaves and x-rays should make way because there is a new technology in town. 

Terahertz radiation may have been around for years, but it is just with recent research, like that being done by Dr. Matt Reid, assistant professor of physics, and his team at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, B.C., that its potential for the wood industry is being realized. 

These research developments have not happened overnight. Reid says he has been working with the technology for nine years, and began while studying at the University of Alberta. He had built a terahertz system to do spectroscopy and after experimenting with various objects put wood into the machine and was astonished by the results. 

“I found you could see through it, which surprised me to begin with,” he says. “Then when I looked at it more carefully I realized not only could you see through it but that you could see the fiber make-up of the wood. That really got the whole thing going. I thought if this is really a technology that can probe the fiber content of the wood, it could have a whole host of applications for the wood industry.”

Terahertz radiation lies on the electro-magnetic spectrum on a frequency higher than microwaves but lower than infrared, explains Reid. “The key feature and the reason that people are so excited about terahertz technology is that it can see through anything that is non-metallic and not too wet.” It can also identify features inside wood such as defects and knots, all while being safer than x-ray technology because it is non-ionizing and also less expensive to use, says Reid. 

Funding for the research was partially supplied by the Northern Development Initiative Trust, which purchased the initial grade terahertz machine, says its CEO Janine North. She explains that Reid and his team did a lot of industry research before deciding which tests would most benefit the market. “They actually visited 14 mills, plywood plants, OSB plants and value-added operations in the central area of B.C. to talk to them about what their business issues are and to find a match between this technology and how it could improve productivity in their business,” she says. 

As a result of his initial findings, Reid and his team at UNBC, along with Prince George, B.C.-based Deltech Manufacturing, supplier of biomass fueled energy systems, and the Northern Development Initiative Trust, are working to build a prototype to test terahertz technology at an OSB plant. Deltech, says general manager Keith Spencer, is building the test apparatus for the project, supplying the engineering to complete the designs and programming of the equipment and setting up a place where they can test the technology’s ability to perform.