5 PRINCIPLE The timber is dried as it indexes through a number of zones that have separate climates. Once loaded lengthways on trolleys, the timber is fed into the channel from a buffer track at the kiln’s input end. A fully automatic feed system carries the wood through the stainless steel kiln and out through its output end. Via heat coils, laterally located axial fans blow circulation air across the channel’s longitudinal direction and through the wood. The system is also equipped with automated doors at entrance and exit. Flexibility and high capacity. The TC principal has created conditions for high-capacity continuous kilns with great flexibility when it comes to mixing lumber dimensions. The advantages include minimum moisture content variation and a reduced risk of checking. The TC kiln is also well suited for efficient heat recovery. Multiple unique solutions. The latest models in Valutec’s TC program were developed to take full advantage of the capabilities of the TC principle. All of the designs, components and control systems are based on advanced technology, and in many cases solutions that are unique in lumber drying (see Technical Solutions on page 14–15). Lumber types and capacity. Valutec’s TC kilns were specially developed for the production of boards and planks and have an annual capacity of up to 200,000 m3 (85 MMBF) and a target moisture content down to approx 12–18%. The TC kiln combines the capacity advantages of continuous kilns with the flexibility of batch kilns. The TC principle is based on feeding lumber packages length-wise through zones in which the air circulates laterally across that drying zone. Hence the name, the Swedish abbreviation for cross circulation. This enables the separate regulation of the climate in different zones in a schedule that comes very close to an ideal batch kiln schedule.
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