Gday CRTD
I have an advanced ticket in timber drying for the amount You will be processing Id be looking towards a systym settup like this a handfull of solar predrers followed up by a direct fired gas kiln or wood fired hot water kiln use the predryers to get the timber down to EMC about 20 to 25% then use the med/high temp kiln to finish of to the desired MC % as this will give you the slow start needed on tropical H/woods followed by the high temp needed to finish it off as it gets harder to get the bound moisture out of the cell walls of the timber .
From what Ive seen of DH kilns they can have prolems in hi humidity or cold wet climates as the draw air from outside the kiln aswell like an AC they have to dry the air from outside aswell before it enters the kiln and they take along time to get the timber down to the 10% or lower mark .
with Your final MC for shipping You can get a map of the average MC for most areas in most countrys around the world as a genaral rule of thumb coastal and high altitude areas have a higher final MC than inland areas (eg) Melbourne vic aust has an avv of 16%mc compaired to Heathcote 13% 75miles inland to Mildura 250 miles inland at avv 9% mc for timber structures. We just vary the MC to suit the destination overhere
I have a Mate who runs a company called sheppard systems that manufatures some of the largest H/wood kiln opperations in australia I used to run one of the largest H/wood kiln operations in aust for 18 months drying Tassy?Vic Oak at 60000bft every 24hrs 7 days a week . I can ring Ron and ask him if he has setup or supplyd any kilns to dry Teak or any of the other speices that You are sawing as I know He has settup kilns on many of the pacific islands His kiln kits run from $8000 aud + with an owner built chamber
To start with Id need an oven dry sample where you measure the size/vol and weight of the peice Green and then put it in a fan forced oven at 300 oF and dry it untill it stops losing weight it might take a few days then measure the final weight .
Reguards Chris
