What Is Kiln Drying? |
Posted: December 2, 2022 |
Kiln dried logs are unarguably the most common firewood used for fireplaces and stoves due to their availability and efficiency more than other types of wood on the market. However, it would be great to know what kiln drying is and how it brings about the perfect firewood for fireplaces and stoves. What Is Kiln Drying? Kiln drying is the most effective wood drying. It is efficient for removing the moisture content in green timber to the best level which makes the wood perfect for burning in fireplaces and stoves. It is unethical and unhealthy to burn green lumber or logs with high moisture content. As a result, the water or moisture content in the wood should be removed. Kiln drying is the most popular moisture removal process in green lumber, using a conventional kiln or dehumidifying kiln. Moisture removal is crucial to avoiding several problems that follow using lumber with high moisture content. Wood with high water or moisture content usually causes twisting, warping, binding, buckling, and failures in finished products. Kiln allows taking full control over moisture in the lumber to the desired level faster than air drying. Kiln provides the right environment for drying wood over some time, ranging from the right temperature to humidity and steam levels. All these factors guarantee the removal of moisture content faster and to the desired level. The Process of Kiln Drying Here are the processes involved in kiln drying: 1. Lumber Felling The first and most important step is to fell the approved trees aimed for commercial purposes. The lumberjacks use different types of tools for felling trees before transporting them to be processed further. 2. Debarking It is important to remove the barks of the green timber to expose the real wood parts of the lumber. 3. Sorting The green timbers will be sorted according to species, sizes, or end-use. This will make drying them easy as kiln drying is done in batches. 4. Sawing This process is also known as cutting timbers into logs, based on intended sizes or required dimensions, which will later be trimmed or edged for length before drying. 5. Kiln Drying The lumber will be placed in a purpose-built kiln that uses circulating heated air to remove the moisture content in the timber. The drying lasts for four to six days and the moisture content will be reduced to less than 20 percent. Kiln drying draws out the moisture in the timbers without damaging the wood regarding the sudden changes that occur as a result of the drying process. The kiln process is much faster and more efficient than air drying for removing water content from wood.
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