Mixtures of Petroleum and Creosote as Preservatives for Marine Timbers

摘要

Mixtures of various petroleum products dissolved in coal tar creosote were evaluated as preservatives for marine timbers. The evaluations were performed with matchstick sized specimens of wood impregnated with the experimental mixtures and exposed in sea water aquaria to the boring activity of limnoria tripunctata. Paraffin at a concentration of 25% slightly improved the penetration and performance of the preservative mixtures, and petrolatum at the same concentration slightly retarded their penetration into the matchsticks. Otherwise, creosote diluted up to 25% with a petroleum product was neither much more nor much less effective as a wood preservation than undiluted creosote. The petroleum products by themselves provided essentially no protection for the wood. It was reasoned that it might be economically advantageous to dilute creosote with a low cost petroleum oil if an oxidation catalyst were also added. The latter conclusion was based on only partially substantiated theory. (Author)