Solar kiln...serpentine collector...

[zopi]

does anyone have any experience using a forced air serpentine collector in a kiln?

I have an idea for a kiln, basically an insulated box, say 6x6x17 with doors for loading,
vents, etc, as usual...but with a collector separate from the main body of the kiln, and
a  short duct to carry hot air  to a plenum inside the chamber to disperse the air evenly into the stack..
and a fan on the inlet end to force air through..

Will it work?

[beenthere]

zopi
What does the forced air serpentine collector do?  collect moisture? reduce or control humidity and/or heat?

[zopi]

oh..my bad..

A serpentine collector is basically a box with a set of baffles which are offset to force air (or liquid if heating water)
to take the longest route possible through the collector...not sure if I can find a picture, but i'll look when i get home tonight.

[brdmkr]

Zopi,

I saw a diagram of a kiln set up like what you are talking about, but I am not sure where I saw it.  I am not sure that having a design like that really offers that much over a conventional design.  I suppose you could rig it such that you closed the vents off to the kiln chamber at night and retain some of the heat from the day as the collector is separate from the chamber.  However, proponents of solar kilns think the cooling period at night helps reduce degrade. 

Take all that with a grain of salt as I don't have a kiln....YET.  I am building a kiln from a home DH unit that I hope will handle about 300 bdft or so at a time.  A solar kiln (or maybe even 2 or 3) is in the works during 2008.  They will likely follow the VT design, but Pineywoods has a slight modification that I will likely use.  He places the collector directly under the glazing with a gap for circulation.  I could see where his kiln would run a little hotter than the standard VT kiln.

[zopi]

i don't have alot of practical reason for wanting to do it this way, except portability, and maybe a little better air turnover to carry excess humidity away from the lumber...i'm gonna
build one like this as an experiment..if it doesn't work out i can always tear the roof off of the drying chamber and put a passive collector on top...that, and I want to see how this type of collector works, as I may build one to heat my workshop..at least in an auxiliary fashion...gotta do something with softwood slabs and a shop stove is one end use..