Kiln drying in bulk bags?

[Chalgravesteve]

Have you found a solution to getting the crates at the far end of the container to dry at a similar rate to those closer to the fans/heat exchanger?

 

Yes, or at least I'm pretty sure I have. I was looking at steel stillages but they will have the same problem as the potato boxes etc, but I also came across some 4 sided pallet mesh cages same as used by Tescos etc to reload shelves overnight. They can have 3 fixed sides and a "stable door" side with two doors. They are about 1.8m high, so virtually the same or just higher than 2 x stacked potato boxes I'm currently using.

 

They are about 1m x 75 cm ish on the base, but what makes them perfect for this is that they are on wheels. I reckon I can get 33 in my container in one go. Fire up the kiln and let it run for a few days, so the ones near the fans are drying very nicely, and then after removing a few to make some space, I can then rotate the stock in the kiln, moving those that are closest to the fans down towards the doors and the rest gradually getting closer.

 

All you need is a motion plan so that say you move 6 or 9 places at a time (the first two or three rows by the fans - you just need clip on numbers on the cages), then you know which ones started by the fans and are ready first.

 

Once you have got cages 1 - 6 to the doors, they can be bagged and sold, and you replenish the kiln immediately so that once you have got the first cycle through, you will have a regular supply of kiln dried ready to sell arriving at the door end.

 

All this depends upon how much and how fast you sell the product. If you can't dry it fast enough to cope with demand, then just cycle the whole lot until its all done then unload and relaod with another batch. You will still dry the whole batch better, more consistently and probably quicker by rotating the stock.

 

I'm not at the point yet where I can't dry it quickly enough to meet demand as this is completely new to us and we have to establish a customer base from scratch.

 

I'm convinced from the demand in the first few weeks we will get there though!

 

At the moment an ongoing conveyor belt of product is attractive as I don't have to pointlessly bag stuff up and then store it somewhere else. If it stays in the kiln for longer then its even dryer!!

 

I am borrowing half a dozen of these next week to try it out and they are available 2nd hand for about £55 each + vat, so enough - say 40 - to load the kiln plus some spares to drop processed timber into so I have cages ready to go in on the converyor cycle are going to cost me about £2,200 so I want to know that it works first!!

 

The cages hold just over 1m3.

[Chalgravesteve]

Something like this, works, you just need to create enough space in the kiln to facilitate the movement. Seeing as you are moving 6 or 9 at a time, then that is not too difficult to achieve.

 

Now, if I could get the whole thing chain driven on rails, so that they move all of the time rather like a disney queuing system, it would be spot on!!