Nils Lou on sun 20 feb 11
In 1979/80 I had some commissions for larger clay murals,so
I built a 200 cube MFT so all tiles could be fired at the same time.
When I built it I incorporated a simple heat exchanger to provide=3D20
heated air to the blower. It was a TEE shaped, stainless steel tube,
3-1/2" in diameter, placed in the flue box. One leg induced air, one was =
=3D
closed,
the other fed the squirrel cage blower powering the burners. I stuffed a =
=3D
stainless steel wool pad in the inlet to keep varmints out. I estimated =3D
it saved about 8 to 12 % in fuel.
You can see a schematic of the design on page 89 of The Art of Firing. =3D
If I remember
the cost was on the order of $40, pipe and welding mostly.=3D20
The kiln was too large for my regular work, so after satisfying the =3D
commissions I
rebuilt to a manageable 60 cube size.=3D20
The heat exchanger is simply built in to the flue box where the heated =3D
air is=3D20
only 1500-1600=3DB0F, so the stainless tube handles that with aplomb.=3D20
As for combustion technology, my book will soon be considered quaint, as =
=3D
will internal
combustion engines in general, and firing by burning carbon to heat =3D
things up will be a thing of the past. Our technological advances =3D
increase exponentially, so I predict in our lifetimes, probably not =3D
mine, clay will be "fired" strictly by energy sources not yet imagined.=3D2=
0
One week left to get in the drawing for my new book, The Art of Play. =3D
Just go to
the Blog and leave a comment. I will draw a name and send a book to the =3D
name
drawn on the last day of february. =3D97nils
http://nilslou.blogspot.com
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