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The purpose of this study is to develop a numerical tool to predict the mass loss of a wood board during heat treatment as a marker of the process advancement. Mass loss dynamics during the wood heat treatment is experimentally obtained using a specially conceived equipment. The investigation method is applied on large scale wood samples whose radial and transvers dimensions are close to the boards used in industry. A two-step reaction mechanism is adopted to describe the behavior of wood thermodegradation. Model parameters are obtained by fitting the experimental data according to a new approach developed in this study for their optimal determination. The originality of the implemented modelling strategy is the establishment of a three-stage approach based on the analysis of wood thermal sensitivity depending on the treatment temperature range. Model equations are solved numerically by the …