David Hendley on thu 23 aug 07
I don't see why anyone would plan to use gas as
'emergency fuel' in a wood kiln. It's not like a kiln just
switches over to gas - it would have to be designed into
the plans for the kiln.
If you want to have a dual-fuel kiln - fine. Lots of wood-
firers start with gas, to preheat and get the firing started.
It's part of the firing plan. Panicking because there is a
rain storm or you are tired calls for learning how to fire
your kiln under different conditions, not giving up and
rigging up some burners.
If you 'need a boost along the way' either your kiln
needs design modifications or repairs, or your fuel
needs to be analyzed and adjusted. Properly dried
and split wood can do anything gas can do.
I built burner ports into my first wood kiln and never
used them. Didn't bother with it for my current model,
but it is still a multi-fuel kiln. I use it to 'recycle' used
motor oil and cooking oil, and plastic that cannot be
sent to the recycling facility.
One of the most interesting kilns I have seen was on the
Greek island of Crete. The fuel was the left-over olive
pits, from the place that presses olives into olive oil.
Since there is still traces of oil in the pits, they pack a
lot of BTUs.
Potters say '` i fire with wood, i fire with wood, wood, wood,'
for a reason - because it IS amazing, requires the most
knowledge and experience to accomplish, and is the most
challenging/rewarding and hands-on way to fire.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
david(at)farmpots(dot)com
http://www.farmpots.com
Lee Love on thu 23 aug 07
On 8/23/07, David Hendley wrote:
> I don't see why anyone would plan to use gas as
> 'emergency fuel' in a wood kiln. It's not like a kiln just
> switches over to gas - it would have to be designed into
> the plans for the kiln.
Urban smokeless firing.
I think the original stated purpose was to cut down on visible
smoke. That makes sense to me.
But I would combine it with a good chimney with passive
dampering and maybe a bourry box. Also, I have thought of using a
second smaller chamber as a sort of "afterburner", where you would
introduce gas burners to help burn any particulate matter before it
leaves the kiln. The Scotch in me would rather be using the burners
in a chamber that fires work, rather than in a chimney where the heat
just goes out the stack without doing any work. The work in the
second chamber with after burners, I would imagine, look like most
work out of an Olsen FF.
--
Lee in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
discussion on Beauty:
http://journals.fotki.com/togeika/beauty/
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
"For a democracy of excellence, the goal is not to reduce things to a
common denominator but to raise things to a shared worth."
--Paolo Soleri
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