Kiln
Contents
Basics
- A kiln is a giant oven that enables the Heat Treating of materials, especially metals, Firing of Ceramics, burning, and drying
- Main OSE uses would be:
- Heat treating metals for Tempering and making tools more durable, or making tools soft to modify/maintain them
- Firing Ceramics (ESPECIALLY once a D3D Ceramic Printer is developed, which would be useful for ceramic hearths, also ceramic water filters may be of use (unglazed fired ceramic)
- Easily constructed with CEB Press or Concrete, a Kiln serves a wide number of useful functions (Can CEB's Handle Heat without cracking? perhaps some weird mix?)
Research
There are multiple types of kilns, including batch feed and continuous feed processes. A general purpose kiln that can be used in a variety of applications could serve to be quite useful in a GVCS Community.
Specifications
- Bricks 900-1000 °C
- Firebricks 1650°C
Product Ecology
| From | Uses | Creates | Enables |
|---|---|---|---|
Components |
|
Applications
Heat Treating
- Mainly Metal, via tempering, and quenching metal's structure can be changed for variosu properties
- Main changes are hardness, and workability, but there are many subtleties
Ceramic Firing
- Ceramic Water Filters
- Ceramic Hearths
- Perhaps even engine componets for "running hotter" and thus increasing thermal efficiency
- Also standard pots/plates/art
Wood Drying
A freshly felled tree cut into logs and run through the Sawmill will produce Green Wood. While viable as a construction material in many applications, green lumber has a nasty habit of warping and shrinking over time (which can cause issues).
One approach toward addressing this is simple air drying. The lumber is stacked in a clean, cool, dry and shady area, atop raised foundations, with spacers (called stickers) laid crossways at regular intervals for ventilation. While air-drying Sawmill lumber is a viable option (and produces high-quality lumber), it is a process that can take months to years.
A kiln accelerates this process by rapidly heating and drying the lumber, enabling on demand fabrication of wood products.
Bricks
Additional structural strength can be gained from CEBs upon firing in a kiln (although this is unnecessary in many applications).
See Also
Useful Links
- Wikipedia: Kiln
- Wikipedia: Wood Drying
- "vertical shaft brick kiln" - very energy efficient kiln for brick making, common in China; video (animation): https://vimeo.com/3689165
