Firewood operation Home Kiln theory Heat treat and dry firewood

SPEED IS THE KEY AND KEEPING YOUR COST LOW. We are not kidding either and this goes for the kiln as well as the rest of your firewood operation. But we will focus on the kiln here.

Here are some of the issues you will have to deal with when running a firewood kiln operation:

• Understanding firewood moisture content. NOT ALL MOISTURE METER ARE CREATED EQUAL.
  You should also know how to determine MC% using the dry weigh method (see details here)
• Energy consumption and how to keep the cost down by choosing wood waste heat.
  Details about energy consumption.
• Firewood handling to help prevent mold and re-infestation of bugs.

Next, let us provide you with several links to two performance runs we completed with our MiniQuick firewood kiln:

• Sawlex Demo Run with MiniQuick using wood waste heating
  
• Trial run of MiniQuick firewood kiln using gas heating
  

Stacking methods before loaded into kiln.

Baskets	Racks
This is the most common method as you can simply dump the firewood directly into the basket from the firewood processor.The basket should actually be the full height of the chamber clearance, which will allow for faster loading and no chance of a top basket tipping over. Suggested basket size for our kiln: 5ft long, 4ft wide, and 9ft high. or any other that will fit your operation.	It is fairly uncommon to see firewood stacked on racks or pallets with sides. But for those companies that wish to deliver the firewood like this we have seen it done successfully. It is a little more work when you are chopping the firewood, but there is almost no handling afterward. Suggested size for a rack: 6ft long, 32in wide, 4ft high. You could also take a regular pallet and try it.
Side-loaded Kiln with baskets. MiniQuick firewood Kiln with baskets being loaded.

Loading the kiln and starting the process.

As you are loading the kiln you will insert wood temperature probes into the actual firewood as seen on the picture on the right. Each of our firewood kilns has 6 of these temperature sensors to provide you with readings to meet USDA HT requirements.


If you have any questions about how to operate a firewood kiln, please do not hesitate to contact us.