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Burner Placement In Kiln Design


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I think I have come up with a small(8-10 cu ft) flat top down draft  gas kiln design but need help with burner placement.

I will use  2 venturi burners(hi pressure regulated) coming in from the back each left & right beside the exit flue.

Between the interior wall and the ware shelves, how much space should I allow. The shelf layout will be either 4 14x14 shelves with 4 inches between the interior wall and the side edge of the shelves on both sides or using 13x13 shelves this will allow 5 inch flame channel on each side with something of a half brick about 2/3rds down the channel to lift the flame.(no bag wall)

The bottom shelves will have either a series of 2.5 in bricks under the flame side of the shelves to keep the flame from being sucked out the exit flue until comes down in the front face of the shelves. there is also a 2 in spacing between the back set and the front set and 2 in between the front set and the front wall.

This is going to be a top loader with a hinged 3 in fiber top firing to cone 6 and maybe cone 10 reduction

I'm wondering if I have missed that something someone here might see.

Thanks Wyndham

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Thanks, I had this years ago but either lost it or packed it away as not to lose it ha ha :). I think I'll go as big as possible for the flame way. I'll follow up later if it works out.

Marcia, I'll try out your cone 6 red when I get it up and firing.

Wyndham

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Instead of a top loader how about a swinging fiber door.My salt kiln has a fiber roof which is made from fiber in a better way than layers as most use it. Its cut strips folded to form a u shape over and over again with stainless threaded rod holding the module under compression.Its a great way to make a roof-another potter saw mine and made one on a really large cone 10 kiln as well.This would also work for a door as well.

I got the idea from some modules Mel Jacobson had donated to him from ITC ceramics for a salt kiln article in CM long ago. It's worked so well I would make any roof like it again.My salt kiln photos in my gallery show this roof  if I recall. For yours three rods with steel backing will be fine.
If this sounds like you want to do it I could talk story about the details.The hardest part is the treaded rods and they can be had mail order as well.

Mark

 

PS I build my last kiln with cider blocks on edge the long ways as it shows in Mell PDF with heavy expanded metal over them -now over 10 years later and its works great-kiln is at working level for the back-no bending.

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The burner channels don't really need to be any wider than the burner openings, however you don't want the burners blasting right onto the ware. And I think you may need a bag wall of some sort, even if it's short. There's a chance you may not need one due to the small size of the kiln, but you should leave room for it just in case.

 

In a kiln that size I wouldn't mess with fiber at all. Build it with an arch and brick up the door.

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Biggest reason for a top loader is my age and bending down that low to load the kiln as the location has a low shed roof. If I made it a front loader, I'd have to make it a car kiln.

My first kiln was similar with a fiber top 3 layer tied with kanthal wire, this one will be a bit smaller only about 30-34 in deep. I need a quick turn around/test kiln. if I need a quick 20 or 30 mugs and a few other things, I can turn it around load and fire in a day.

I have some 1 in high alumina 28x13 used shelves that are bowed, I could cut length wise and prop along side the flame channel(stack side) as a thin bag wall to protect the ware if needed.

 

Mark are those 3" or 4"  folds by how wide, 12 inches. How do you overlap the courses to keep the courses tight enough to keep all the heat in?

Getting  excited, first new kiln in awhile

\Wyndham

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The fold is as long as the roof is needed. That is to say if the bricks are say 30 inches across (the roof hole)

I would cut the fiber 30 inches plus the amount you want to land on the brick top say another 18 inches to cover the two 9 inch walls for a total of 48 inches long . Now those are all 48 inches long and now they are two feet wide so  you decide what depth you want  the roof to be thats where you cut the fiber these will be folded in 1/2 to if you folded them as is the roof would be a bit less than 12 inches about 10 inches-remember the rods go thru this in middle. This roof can be flipped for more life as well. If I recall mine is about 10 inches.

my rods run front to back.

My fiber was 4 foot wide but any two foot fiber will do the same thing.

Mark

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I agree with the idea of raising the kiln on cinder blocks to load at a more convenient and less strenuous height. Hinged fiber doors are a Godsend f or saving the wrists from bricking up. I used Insblock and then 2 layers of fiber coated with rigidizer...back in the early 80s before I discovered ITC. That was post carpal tunnel surgery.

 

Marcia

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I know of a 10 cubic foot kiln that has two gas burners firing upwards on either side of a brick flue. It is front loading and fibre lined, except for the flue, which is only as high as the kiln itself. The flames just hit the fibre roof, with no ill effect, and it has no bag wall. Its owner, who has been using it for 35 years, says that the bottom is a cone cooler than the top but that is fine. She just allows for it.

 

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post-25748-0-82381500-1430216279_thumb.jpg

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I have a top loading gas kiln. The burners fire upward, so they are underneath the floor. The door is the roof and has a pulley to raise it. I have to climb stairs to set it as I am short, but I don't find it difficult. It is still easier than holding a shelf out in front of me. Setting a top loader is much easier on the lumber region and the setting can be seen from three different angles. I do find that I have to put my weight on the walls, which are brick, lined with fibre. If I remake it in soft insulating bricks, I will have to find some way of supporting myself, other than the walls.

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Wydam;

I built mine with the burners at 90 degrees to the wall. I did not have enough room for combustion. Plus the brick front door was only 36" wide. My wife said;" That's too small for you."

If your burners are going into the kiln from the back on either side of the stack, you should have enough room for combustion as the flame is traveling the length of the kiln.

I would put in a bag wall to deflect the flame upward. Prop some old kiln sheves on edge,[not vertically], and that should do it.

Tom.

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