Ship timber conservation work continues with increasing concentrations of polyethylene glycol
June 2024
Conservation work continues on the Hotel Indigo Site ship remnant. The team at Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Lab (CRL) has been monitoring the levels of polyethylene glycol in the vats filled with timbers. The team takes specific gravity readings using a hydrometer and refractive index and Brix (measurement of dissolved solids in a liquid) readings using a refractometer. They then compare these to known values for different proportions of PEG 1000 in pure reverse osmosis water to determine the concentration of PEG in each vat. These measurements are creeping closer to the desired 10% concentration threshold. The CRL team anticipates that three of the four vats will be ready to be switched over to the higher molecular weight PEG-3350 in August, bringing the timbers one step further in the conservation process.
