BRICKWORKS & POTTERIES
OF THE IPSWICH (Qld) REGION
Alister J Cameron
BRICKWORKS & POTTERIES
OF THE IPSWICH (Qld) REGION
Alister J Cameron
A continuous kiln, sometimes called a tunnel kiln, is long with only the central portion directly heated.
From the cool entrance, ware is slowly moved through the kiln, and its temperature is increased steadily as it approaches the central, hottest part of the kiln. As it continues through the kiln, the temperature is reduced until the ware exits the kiln nearly at room temperature.
A continuous kiln is energy-efficient, because heat given off during cooling is recycled to pre-heat the incoming ware. In some designs, the ware is left in one place, while the heating zone moves across it.
A Shuttle Kiln is a car-bottom kiln with a door on one or both ends. Burners are positioned top and bottom on each side, creating a turbulent circular air flow.
This type of kiln is generally a multi-car design and is used for processing whitewares, technical ceramics and refractories in batches. Depending upon the size of ware, shuttle kilns may be equipped with car-moving devices to transfer fired and unfired ware in and out of the kiln.
Shuttle kilns can be either updraft or downdraft.
A shuttle kiln derives its name from the fact that kiln cars can enter a shuttle kiln from either end of the kiln, whereas a tunnel kiln has flow in only one direction.
