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dogma
18-11-2008, 10:36 AM
Just a quick question for my own general interest.....



Has anyone on here worked on Saw Mill Kilns for drying large quntities of timber for flooring?

I've worked on a breakdown for 9 days on two seperate kilns and found them to be the most interesting piece of refrigeration plant I've ever come across.


Does anyone have any information on the general design of these systems and Formulaes to calculate Their design?

US Iceman
18-11-2008, 04:17 PM
Are you talking about heat pumps used for this? One of the other moderators has some experience with these and I have been looking at them for a potential project.

dogma
19-11-2008, 04:19 AM
Um.... It is a heat pump I guess. They are site specific deigns. The two I worked on had 2 independance systems each with Semi Hermetic 11kw copeland recips. The evap was hand made from 1/2" hard dran slung over a aluminium rail with a large drip tray. The coil pressure/temp was at -15deg with a hot water circuit running through radiator coils and the condenxsers are in series. There is only 1 external condenser for head pressure control... The room has to be able to reach 42 deg C for the moisure to come out of the timber slow enough that the boards don't warp or crack... The pallets are then left in the rooms for 2 weeks. to bring them down to 10% humidity/ water content.


If you find anything out let me know please.... They are great to work on.

Brian_UK
19-11-2008, 08:34 PM
I tend to think that they are 'hand made' for each kiln judging by the odd ones that I have seen.

dogma
19-11-2008, 11:35 PM
I tend to think that they are 'hand made' for each kiln judging by the odd ones that I have seen.





Have you had much experience on these brian?


I'm guessing there's quite a bit involved in their design.
Different species of timbers have unique densities, would that come into play??


The saw mill I had experience with sell Australian Hard wood timber all over the country. Due to the slow dry process the cells in the timber shrink and will repel moisture. They seemed to have no problem with storing the timber in the elements after drying.



Can you tell us a bit more about your experiences Brian??





_Dogma-