Types of dryers
The problem of removing excess moisture from sawdust is relevant both among builders and among those who like to make something in their own carpentry workshop. At the same time, drying wood at home allows you to save a lot on its purchase, because dry raw materials always cost more than wet ones. When choosing options for the production of sawdust dryers with your own hands, you should know what types they are.
Dryer drum
A do-it-yourself drum dryer for sawdust is the most popular and proven method of preparing material for years. As the name suggests, excess moisture is removed from the chips as the drum rotates. Inside the device are blades that capture and mix the material. At the same time, hot air is supplied to the drum, which accelerates the process of moisture evaporation.
Here are the features of such a device:
The advantages of a do-it-yourself drum dryer for sawdust have long been appreciated by all builders who also use this device to work with sand, gravel and other materials that need to get rid of excess moisture.
Aerodynamic dryer
In second place in popularity is a do-it-yourself sawdust dryer based on aerodynamic technology. Wood shavings dry from exposure to a stream of hot air. Such a dryer usually consists of several units:
- heat generator;
- drying line;
- fan;
- sifter;
- cyclone;
- bake.
The wood chips fed into the aerodynamic dryer are crushed and dried at the same time. This device takes up much less space than the previous one. This is its main advantage.
The main disadvantage is the complexity of the process itself, in which the following main points must be taken into account:
- total area of treated particles;
- feature of the raw material itself;
- dryer settings.
Due to the complexity of the technological process, aerodynamic technology is inferior in popularity to a do-it-yourself drum dryer for sawdust.
Belt dryer
Belt or conveyor dryers are used for various bulk and fibrous materials, including sawdust. The principle of operation of this unit is quite simple:
- the material moves along an endless belt - one or more, stretched between the driving and driven drums;
- drying is carried out with hot air or flue gases moving along the belts or in a cross flow.
Yandex Metrica
DIY sawdust dryer
There are many uses for sawdust, but in almost all cases, sawdust is required in a dry form. In order to bring them to a state of dryness, we need a dryer.
Dryer at home
Such a machine can dry about 100-150 kg / hour, consumes 550-750 V of electricity. Such a unit can produce 2.5 tons of dried sawdust per day.
Process Technology
The process of drying materials is considered one of the most energy-intensive, as it requires a large release of heat. The dryer that we would like to offer you is designed for drying sawdust, wood chips and various small wood residues. Humidity can be reduced from 60% to 10-12%. The principle of operation of this dryer is that the raw material loses weight during drying and due to this it can move through the pipe to the cyclone, that is, without reaching the desired percentage of moisture, it will not be able to move to the finished product bin.
If your raw material is too wet to get rid of a lot of heat, it is better to dry it outside in the sun, or in some similar way.
First run and setup
On medium heat, heat the stove for forty minutes, remove moist air and make a strong fire.Let's make a trial batch, fill it with sawdust into the loading hole, depending on the temperature and dryness of the unloaded sawdust, you should choose the sawdust loading speed. If the raw material does not pass from the feed opening, the air intake opening should be slightly blocked, or a little furnace slag can be placed on the grate, because of this, the amount of air entering inside will decrease.
Prelaunch and preventive procedures
Before each turning on the furnace, it is necessary to idle the system for 5-10 minutes in order to pull all the sawdust out of the pipe. You should also check the inspection holes of the dryer every two shifts and clean the internal parts from contamination. If during operation the fan makes trembling or crackling sounds, most likely dirt has adhered to it, you should stop working and clean it.
This is how our dryer will look like in operation, we have different fan arrangements:
Safety
To avoid gas leakage, stone wool gaskets should be pre-installed at all flange connections. For safety during installation, the exhaust fan and the motor must be connected with a cord so that the fan moves clockwise. Before each start, check the base of the pipes and clean the slag holes, remove stone deposits and other contaminants.
Options for the use of sawdust
An economical owner will never consider sawdust to be garbage, but will think about how they can be used. And here a variety of options for using this environmentally friendly material are possible:
- Sawdust is one of the best materials for space heating. From these woodworking wastes, you can even make pellets yourself. Or press them into braces, which are perfect for a fireplace or a campfire.
- It is also possible to insulate the ceiling during the construction of a house or cottage with the help of chips. All store heaters lose to this material, because analogues are not so resistant to temperature and humidity changes. For example, synthetic heaters simply collapse during frosts, and sawdust helps to avoid such troubles.
- Many avid summer residents know that wood chips are an excellent, environmentally friendly fertilizer. It is able to retain moisture and even fight weed plants.
- Another way to use sawdust is possible even in a city apartment. Wood shavings make excellent bedding for pets. It also absorbs excess moisture and odors. For this purpose, sawdust is also used in private households, for example, in a chicken coop.
- To increase the amount of smoke when smoking meat, poultry or fish, you can add slow-burning sawdust to the wood chips that you always use. Each type of wood has a certain aroma that suits “its” product.
