A Hildebrand kiln in-situ in Latvia
dimension softwood .
“ It ´ s structure is entirely made of aluminium which is considered the material with the best combination of stability , longevity and cost-efficiency – stainless steel is also available ,” Mueller said .
“ While designing our HCK-A , we put great emphasis on creating exactly the right drying conditions – temperature , climate , air speed – for the respective lumber moisture content ,” he said . “ Lumber is placed length-wise on carts and rails and dried during transport through a number of zones with separate climates .
“ Ultimately , lumber will be dried in our continuous kiln HCK-A just as it would be in a conventional kiln . The technical features of each individual drying zone are perfectly customized to the drying state and moisture of the lumber packages passing through .”
All of the HCK-type kilns feature the “ highly efficient ” Hildebrand Greenkilns technology , which
This puts lumber through carefully calculated ‘ stress and relief ’ intervals with the benefit of improved grade and lower cost of electrical energy
Andreas Mueller , Global Sales Lead
HCK continuous kilns essential benefits :
• Continuous volume feed to bring the lumber product quicker to the market
• Integrated with the logistics of the mill
• Multitrack , flexible , and able to dry different species within the same kiln
• Volume drying at the lowest possible cost
• Maximize grade yield
• Optimized energy efficiency in-line with green initiatives and applicable to funding programs
• Scalable
• Adapted to any heat source and heating medium allows large savings of thermal energy by connecting the individual drying zones to one big thermal compound where excess heat from certain drying zones is guided to drying zones in need of additional heat . This way , thermal waste is greatly reduced .
Another energy-saving HCK feature is the Hildebrand HTT turbo-baffle system , which is based on height-adjustable aluminium baffles . These baffles are constantly repositioned vertically as computed by the Control System , thus shutting off the air flow from parts of the lumber stack for a predetermined time span .
While drying in the screened section continues through vapour pressure differential between the core and the surface of the lumber boards , air velocity in the exposed sections is almost doubled . This allows shorter drying times with less consumption of electrical energy while still achieving the highest-possible lumber quality . 36 International Forest Industries | JUNE / JULY 2018