LUMBER DRYING KILN Russian patent published in 2002 - IPC

FIELD: continuous and intermittent kilns for lumber drying. SUBSTANCE: kiln has fans 2 in circulating channel separated with partition 3 from drying space, air heaters 4, and baffle plates 8, 9 at near-end sections of lumber pile. Novelty is that baffle plates at near-end sections are free to turn relative to lumber pile for partial or complete closure of near-end section. Baffle plates are mounted both in zone 10 for coolant supply to drying space and in coolant discharge zone 11; loose ends of baffle plates oppose coolant flow in zone 10. In addition drying kiln is provided with at least two hydrometer sensors 12, 13 of which one is mounted on near-end section and other, in center of lumber pile. Such mechanical design of kiln ensures uniform drying of lumber throughout its entire length including in case of fan reversal, reducing coolant swirling and stagnation zones, fast data acquisition on moisture content of lumber at near-end sections and in center of pile for controlling drying process of pile sections. EFFECT: improved quality of lumber due to its uniform drying. 2 cl, 2 dwg