The Arkè plants are able to consolidate and restore waterlogged wood elements, ruined and of any dimension - from the small object to the big wrecks.

The plants have two main components:

• a impregnation system;
• a thermal treatment and elements desiccation system.

The impregnation system is composed by different unities for the preparation, the heating, the homogenization and sterilization of the impregnating solution and of one or more impregnation tanks connected by some circulation pumps.

The thermal and desiccation treatment is composed by a treatment chamber, a vacuum tank of big dimension and a system for the preparation of the conditioning fluid, usually constituted by a steam generator.

This system is managed by a control unity that uses many sensors put in the different plant sections to verify continuously the temperature of the wood element (internal and external), its weight, its dimensional variation, the moist content and the treatment chamber pressure.

The frequency and the execution condition of the treatment cycles are varied by the control unity depending on the indication of the sensors, using specific working procedures developed within the Craft WEST project.