2018 International Forest Industries December 2017 January 2018 | Page 26

Kiln technology
The heat is on
Innovative drying
solutions help keep
sawmills running to
capacity
A
s the industry experiences
an undeniable increase
in activity, sawyers are
having to reassess if they have the
capacity to meet rising demand
levels. This often focus on the
central sawline but neglecting the
final steps in the chain – namely
kiln drying – can cause a serious
bottleneck.
Brunner Hildebrand Lumber Dry
Kiln Co has been specialising in
freeing up this part of the business
since 1948. Brunner-Hildebrand
manufactures all types of kilns
from its base in Nashville, US.
“Our dry kiln solutions are
based on decades of experience
of the demanding lumber drying
production conditions in the
North American sawmill industry,”
Andreas Mueller from the Brunner-
Hildebrand sales office told
International Forest Industries.
“This experience and expertise
ensures that our customers are
able to receive individual dry kiln
solutions tailored to the needs
of each sawmill. Each solution
is chosen based on the needs of
the customer, their capacity and
quality.
24 International Forest Industries | DECEMBER 2017 / JANUARY 2018
“The possibility of future
expansion is always taken into
account when designing the
solution. Our priority is in providing
the best-engineered, installed and
serviced product in the market
today.”
Control systems
Due to the Brunner-Hildebrand
dry kiln automation and control
system, the kilns are easy to
operate. Creating default settings
and using the control system is
similar to the Windows operating
system, where windows can be
chosen from a drop-down menu.
The control system can be
designed with a hybrid relative
humidity measuring system
where the company uses the EMC
wafer from green-to-40% relative
humidity and then a wet bulb
system kicks in automatically
for the relative humidity range
between 40-10%.
“The idea here is to take
advantage of the accuracy levels
of both measuring systems,”
Mueller said. “Of course, one can
also choose either one for the full
drying cycle.”
Brunner-Hildebrand has also
introduced a multi-function wood
moisture measuring system
to further assist in improving
grade. The control system allows
combining sample weight inputs
and wireless probes based on level
of wood moisture content (MC).
The manufacturer suggests
using sample weights for wood MC
over 30% and switch the drying
process to shell and core wireless
probes once below 30% wood
MC. This process takes advantage
of the accuracy level of both MC
measuring systems and helps to
tighten the final MC distribution.
Batch kilns
Track and forklift-loaded kilns
are designed for drying packages
regardless of dimensions,
lumber species and required
moisture content. State-of-the
art automation ensures a fully-
controlled drying process and
the required end result. Track-
loaded kilns offer shorter loading/
unloading time, which improves the
kiln’s utilization rate. A shelter on
both sides of the kiln can be used
as a temporary storage space.