Howie boosts kilning with £1.1m investment
HOWIE FOREST PRODUCTS has nearly doubled its kilning capacity thanks to a £1.1m investment in four new kilns at its Kenmuir Sawmills site.
The investment, part of an ongoing development programme at the mill, sees kilning capacity increase from 110,000m3 to 200,000m3 a year.
The Italian-made Mahild kilns, which are fired by Howie’s own wood-fuelled boilers, give the company four new kilning chambers each with a capacity of 260m3.
They feature the “Ecovent 11” heat recovery system which, says Howie, transfers heat from exhausted warm air to incoming cold air, significantly cutting the energy they need.
They also include radio transmitting moisture sensors, which are claimed to be more reliable than the silicon cabled variety, and give consistent readings up to 85ºC.
In a UK first, the kilns additionally have radio transmitting probes which monitor the core temperatures of the timber reach 56ºC in line with the ISPM 15 international plant health rules. In tests, says Howie, this has proved to be accurate to within +/-0.1ºC.
Howie is also now installing a system to control all its existing equipment from one PC so that controlled heat can be delivered to each kiln as required.
