Fuel Efficient Kiln Design

[High Bridge Pottery]

Busy researching kiln designs and came across this page. Interesting points even if I didn't understand the whole schematics of the system.

 

Anybody put something like this in their kiln or made any other modifications to up your fuel efficiency and reduce the impact on the environment?

 

http://www.bartelart.com/firing/ecokiln.html

 

 

[jere]

Busy researching kiln designs and came across this page. Interesting points even if I didn't understand the whole schematics of the system.

 

Anybody put something like this in their kiln or made any other modifications to up your fuel efficiency and reduce the impact on the environment?

 

http://www.bartelart.com/firing/ecokiln.html

Neat link, I was expecting thicker walls/better insulation, but that is a lot better idea. Its got me thinking about fueling a kiln with a wood/coal gas generator.

[Guest JBaymore]

Technically kinda' "old news" ...... but it works very well. There have been many variations on this general idea in the art ceramics world. Numerous thngs published in the various mags using variation on this and other ideas.

 

On one installation I did for a client I put ion heat exchanger coils in the outer "skin" of the refracories. During the cooling cycle (not during the firing) he circulated an antifreeze solution thru the coils and it stored the heat energy in a large inuslated solar-type water storage tank in the center of his studio.

 

My noborigama preheats some of the primary by pulling it under the sub-floor coal bed.

 

One of the wood stoves I designed 35 years ago for heating the house does the same.

 

 

The current "key" to really efficient kilns (that industry now uses and has for years) involves three core concepts:

 

1.) Low thermal mass refractories ( fiber insulation and thin light weight furniture).

 

2.) High velocity, nozzle mixing burners (that have incredible lo ad penetration and turbulence induction) often with pre-heated primary air

 

3.) Continous firing kilns (roller hearth, car, etc.) *not practical for most art type studios*

 

best,

 

..............................john

[Tarheeler]

It's an interesting read.

 

I'm an HVAC technician by trade, and specialize in water-based systems such as boilers. There are a lot of things we do in the field that I think would benefit kiln design; we're all about maximizing fuel efficiency and putting as much energy as possible into use. We've been using waste heat from the flue for productive purposes, such as preheating air and making domestic hot water, for decades.

[Lockley]

The basic concept created in the article is highly similar to that used in the foundry and steel production industries. Recovering wasted heat from exhaust gas is in fact the only practical way to produce steel.   A number of Artisan iron and bronze workers use heat recovery systems for their small furnaces.  

  I have been scheming to create a lower fire system for my own use.  The use of and extruder to fabricate refectory tubes is something that had simply never occurred to me. 

 

I applaud the creators and developers the recuperative  Pottery Kiln for their ingenuity in adapting the concept to the unique demands of Pottery.  

[alabama]

Hey,

      In the southeast, theres plenty of wood laying around roads and parks... Is there a kiln design that you can start with wood to heat to a specific temperature and then turn on propane burners to finish the job in reduction?  For some reason I have in mind a 27 cubic foot downdraft kiln that would have a type of fire box in the front and burners in the back.  I have an acre of land in the country to build anything.  Just wondering.

Thanks,

Alabama