Natural Freeze-drying of Water-degraded Timber Structures: Feasibility Study

• Other Authors: AMBROSE, WALLACE (hasPrincipalInvestigator), AMBROSE, WALLACE (processor), Australian Antarctic Data Centre (publisher)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Australian Antarctic Data Centre
• Subjects: structure; BUILDINGS; EARTH SCIENCE; HUMAN DIMENSIONS; INFRASTRUCTURE; ARTEFACTS; DATE; FREEZE-DRYING; ICE WEIGHT; PRESERVATION; TEMPERATURE; TIME; VENTILATION; VENTURI; WINDSPEED; WOOD WEIGHT; ANEMOMETERS; HUMIDITY SENSORS; TEMPERATURE SENSORS; ANEROID PRESSURE SENSOR; CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA > Davis; GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR; Vestfold; Vestfold Hills; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://researchdata.ands.org.au/natural-freeze-drying-feasibility-study/699714; https://doi.org/10.4225/15/55ED1B3E444FB; https://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/ASAC_156; http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-617536

The objectives of this project were: To gather data from a small scale experimental freeze-drying unit, using natural local conditions, with a view to extending the experiment to a larger scale installation sufficient to deal with timbers from archaeological shipwrecks and other timber constructions. The climate of the Vestfold Hills at Davis Base is exceptionally dry and, apart from a short summer period, the temperature is below freezing. The dryness and the low temperature of the area makes it a theoretically ideal location to naturally freeze-dry large water-logged wooden items. A small 2m3 container housing a selection of waterlogged wood has been installed below ground level. Water vapour from the frozen samples is extracted by a wind driven venturi system. Changes in temperature, sample weight, and air pressure are logged and the data are transferred regularly to Canberra. The fields in this dataset are: Date Time Temperature Atmospheric Pressure Ice Weight Wood Weight Windspeed