PDF Publication Title:
Text from PDF Page: 004
Furthermore, due to the kilns’ large volume, permeable envelope, and thermal mass, they must be kept warm throughout the winter in order to prevent long start-up times, which delay production. This creates an extra thermal load and loss for the facility during the winter. Of the total energy consumed by the kiln, only about 5% is the theoretical energy needed to remove the moisture from the wood. The remaining 95% is caused by various losses throughout the process. Technological Assessment An initial assessment was performed to review potential savings from restoring or upgrading the existing kilns through measures such as weather stripping or additional insulation. However, due to the magnitude of the inefficiencies noted between the required thermal energy for physically drying the wood and that consumed by the kiln, it became apparent that a step- function increase in efficiency was required, and that this would likely only be achieved through a change in production method or technology. Steinway quickly settled on the partial vacuum kiln option after witnessing a similar system in action at another wood manufacturing company. A vacuum kiln operates in a fundamentally different way than a traditional kiln. Rather than heat air at atmospheric pressure to temperatures close to 150oF, the kiln system draws a partial vacuum, reducing the temperature at which water boils, and thus evaporates. Therefore, the same moisture removal can be achieved, but at a significantly lower temperature, requiring much less heat. Steinway was presented with two potential options early in the energy analysis process – a vacuum kiln and a vacuum press. Both operate in a similar fashion, taking advantage of using a system close to a vacuum. The basic vacuum kiln is loaded in a similar fashion to the exiting brick kilns. Wood is stacked in pallets, with a 1⁄4" to 1⁄2" slat between each layer of wood for circulation. If the slats are not added, the interior wood will not dry since it does not have sufficient exposed surface area to evaporate moisture from. The vacuum press replaces these wood slats with a special membrane between equal layers of wood. In addition to the vacuum, pressure is applied to the wood to drive out additional moisture into the membrane and ultimately out of the kiln. Although inserting the membrane is faster, it adds a step to Steinway’s process, which starts and ends with the palletized wood. This kiln was rejected due to the increased labor costs that would be incurred with the restacking of the product. Figure 3 shows the new kiln during delivery. 4PDF Image | Quick-dry Partial Vacuum System
PDF Search Title:
Quick-dry Partial Vacuum SystemOriginal File Name Searched:
Kiln-Upgrade-Study-at-Steinway.pdfDIY PDF Search: Google It | Yahoo | Bing
5,000 BF Shipping Container Lumber Dry Kiln For Quality Lumber The 5,000 BF container kiln consists of one 40 foot high-cube aluminum shipping container... More Info
Shipping Container Lumber Dry Kilns by Global Energy Global Energy designed and developed the container kiln back in 1991. The purpose is to give access to portable sawmill owners, furniture makers, and small business the value added profit of dry kiln lumber and quality hardwoods... More Info
Vacuum Kiln Conversion Kit for Lumber and Wood Dry Kilns Convert your existing conventional dry kiln into a fast drying vacuum kiln. Similar to vacuum bagging in the boat building and aircraft industry, we have come up with a proprietary process which allows you to build a very simple vacuum kiln at a fraction of the price, and without the intensive conventional metal chamber structure... More Info
Vacuum Pump Cart System for Bagging Clamping Wood Drying and more Vacuum Cart with 2HP Pump and Dual Pistons with multiple multiplex vacuum ports and liquid reservoir... More Info
Vacuum Bagging Basics Vacuum bagging is a method of clamping, which has traditionally been used in the composites industry, but can also be used for vacuum drying materials, including wood products... More Info
CONTACT TEL: 608-238-6001 Email: greg@globalmicroturbine.com (Standard Web Page)