Wood Science and Technology 36 (2002) 1926 Springer-Verlag 2002

DOI 10.1007/s002260100121

An experimental study of airflow in lumber kilns

J. J. Nijdam, R. B. Keey

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Abstract Stacked lumber in a box-shaped kiln is prone to non-uniform flows due
to the appearance of re-circulation zones before and after the stack. Flow
visualisations in a hydraulic model of a kiln were conducted to test the
effectiveness of different kiln configurations for eliminating the larger
re-circulation zone at the inlet to the stack. When the sharp right-angled bends
are streamlined with sufficient curvature and the geometry of the kiln is such that
the flow converges through these transitions, then the re-circulation zones vanish
and the flow distribution over the height of the stack becomes less peaky and
more even. The experiments show that progressively narrowing plenum chambers
in a symmetrical kiln cause more severe flow non-uniformity over the height of
the lumber stack than plenum chambers with constant width.

Introduction
An important prerequisite for producing evenly dried lumber in a kiln is that the
airflow is uniformly distributed throughout the height of the stack. Good baffling
systems and regular stacking arrangements can improve the uniformity of flow to
a certain extent. However, previous work by Nijdam and Keey (1999, 2000) have
shown that the geometry of a box-shaped kiln also influences the distribution of
flow over the lumber stack, ensuring that some degree of flow maldistribution is
unavoidable. Improvements to current box-kiln designs can be facilitated by, first,
understanding the factors that influence flow maldistribution within a stack of
lumber, and then modifying the geometry of the kiln to mitigate their effect.
There are two major contributions to the flow maldistribution that results from
the geometry of the kiln. The first contribution is the frictional and inertial forces
which cause pressure variations down the height of the plenum chambers. The
inertial forces in the plenum chambers on either side of the stack counterbalance
each other when the plenum chamber widths are equal, which is the case in most
industrial lumber kilns. However, the frictional force causes a reduction in
pressure in the airflow direction, allowing more fluid to flow through the fillet
Received 1 November 1999
J. J. Nijdam
Wood Technology Research Centre, University of Canterbury,
Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
e-mail: nijdamjj@cape.canterbury.ac.nz
R. B. Keey
Wood Technology Research Centre, University of Canterbury,
Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand

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spaces near the top of the stack. Nijdam and Keey (2000) have shown that the
frictional pressure drop down the height of the plenum chamber decreases as the
width of the plenum chambers increases, with a subsequent improvement in the
uniformity of flow over the height of the lumber stack. They show that, in singletrack kilns, the width of the plenum chambers should be at least equal to the sum
of the width of the fillet spaces to achieve uniformity in flow over the height of the
lumber stack. In double-track kilns, the plenum chamber can be narrower due to
the added resistance of the second lumber stack in series with the first.
The second major contribution to flow maldistribution is the sharp
right-angled turn from the ceiling space, where the fan is located, to the inlet
plenum chamber. A vortex zone is generated near the lumber stack following the
sharp right-angled turn, and the blocking action of this vortex can severely retard
the flow of air into the uppermost fillet spaces of the lumber stack (Nijdam and
Keey 1999). Sturany (1952) has shown that contouring the corner of the sharp
right-angled turn smoothes this transition, thereby eliminating the separation
zone. Idelchik (1993) has demonstrated the benefits to be gained from
streamlining the sharp right-angled bend of a duct, which significantly reduces
the extent of flow separation, improves the uniformity of flow across the duct
width downstream of the bend and reduces the pressure drop through the
transition.
Contouring the sharp right-angled turn could be an expensive and difficult task
given the shear size of most industrial-scale kilns. In this paper, a simple and
practical design is investigated using semicircular sections to smooth the
transition of the right-angled bend, thereby improving the uniformity of flow over
the height of the lumber stack. Various geometric configurations are tested in a
hydraulic model of a kiln to determine the optimum design. Flow-visualisation
techniques are used to gain a qualitative picture of the motion of the fluid in the
hydraulic model, and to study the quantitative properties of the flowfield.

Experimental
A detailed account of the apparatus and techniques used has been published
elsewhere (Nijdam and Keey 1999), but a few of the salient features are described
here for clarity. The water-test facility has a closed-circuit arrangement. The main
components are the header tank, the hydraulic kiln, and the reservoir tank. Water
is pumped from the reservoir tank up to the header tank. The header tank supplies
the hydraulic kiln with water at a flowrate which is controlled by a throttling valve
on the outlet pipe of the hydraulic kiln. An overflow from the header tank ensures
that the water level inside the header tank, and therefore the flowrate into the
hydraulic kiln, remains constant throughout the experiment. Water from the
hydraulic kiln and the header-tank overflow drains back into the reservoir tank.
The hydraulic kiln is made of Perspex to enable visualisation of the flow fields,
and is geometrically similar to typical box-type lumber kilns found in industry.
The hydraulic kiln consists of 13 equivalent fillet spaces, each having a width of
5 mm, and 13 equivalent boards, each having a thickness of 10 mm. The ceiling
space is 65-mm high and the plenum-chamber width is varied between experiments. Uniformity in the inlet flow is promoted by the use of flow straighteners
and wire meshes. All experiments are conducted at Reynolds numbers based on
the hydraulic diameter of the fillet space of between 3000 and 12000. These Reynolds numbers cover the range of values found in many kilns in industry.
Cavitation-induced bubbles were used to visualise the flowfields at the higher
flowrates, while the hydrogen-bubble method was employed to measure the fillet-

space velocities at lower flowrates, when very little cavitation occurs. The
hydrogen-bubble method involves the use of a thin metallic wire to act as the
cathode of an electronic circuit to generate small hydrogen bubbles. A platinum
wire of diameter 0.07-mm is tautly stretched across the height of the stack so that
it passes through every fillet space transverse to the direction of flow. The wire is
located 50-mm downstream from the leading edge of the stack of Perspex boards
to remove any entrance effects. The anode is a thin, stainless steel plate placed at
the bottom of the hydraulic kiln, 35-mm from the platinum wire. When a DC
voltage is applied across the electrodes, hydrogen gas bubbles are evolved at the
cathode and swept off it by the flow. The sizes of the bubbles generated by the
wire are small enough so that buoyancy effects are negligible over the region the
velocity measurements are made and over the range of water velocities tested. The
hydrogen-bubble method is explained in detail by Shraub et al. (1965).
The bubbles are made visible by lighting at right angles to the line of sight
using three 150-W incandescent bulbs. The speeds of the hydrogen bubbles are
extracted by visually recording the flow using a video camera, and subsequently
measuring the distances travelled by individual bubbles over a frame.

Results
Semicircular sections of different radii were placed in the inlet ceiling space of the
hydraulic kiln to remove the vortex zone generated by the sharp right-angled
turn. In these experiments, the plenum-chamber width was set equal to the
ceiling-space height at the apex of the semicircular section to ensure that the flow
did not diverge through the right-angled bend. The flow visualisations and
relative velocity profiles for these configurations are shown in Figs. 1 and 2,
respectively. Figure 3 shows the effect of flowrate on the relative velocity
distribution over the height of the stack. The ratio c of the radius of the
semicircular section to the maximum height of the ceiling space was equal to 0.3
in these particular tests.
In Figs. 4 and 5, the effect of a diverging flow is illustrated. In the first test, the
sharp right-angled bend was not contoured, whereas in the second test a
semicircular section with the ratio c equal to 0.3 was placed in the ceiling space of
the hydraulic kiln. The ratio r of plenum-space width to the sum of the fillet-space
widths was equal to 1.385, ensuring a diverging flow through the right-angled
bend in both these tests.
In the final experiment, a straight sloping wall was placed in both plenum
chambers so that r at the top of the stack was equal to 0.7, and tapered down to
1=13 (or equivalently 5 mm) at the bottom of the stack. Again, a semicircular
section was placed in the ceiling space of the hydraulic kiln. The semicircular
section had a value for c of 0.3 which was found to be amply sufficient to eliminate
the vortex zone in the inlet plenum chamber. The relative velocity distribution for
this configuration is compared against the relative velocity distribution of a kiln
configuration with a constant plenum-chamber width (r 0.7) and a semicircular
section (c 0.3) in the ceiling space (Fig. 6).
Discussion
Nijdam and Keey (1999) have shown that a vortex zone appears in the inlet
plenum chamber of a box-shaped kiln just after the abrupt 90 bend. Figure 1a
shows that the right-angled bend continues to generate a vortex zone in the
plenum chamber even when a small semicircular section, with ratio c of the radius
of the semicircular section to the maximum height of the ceiling space equal to

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Fig. 1. Flow patterns in the hydraulic kiln for various ratios c of the radius of the
semicircular section to the maximum height of the ceiling space: equivalent average
between-board air speed is 8 m/s at 400 K

Fig. 2. The effect of the ratio c of the radius of the semicircular section to the maximum
height of the ceiling space on the flow distribution across the stack: equivalent average
between-board air speed is 4.2 m/s at 400 K

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Fig. 3. The effect of flowrate on the flow distribution across the stack (equivalent average
between-board air speed calculated at 400 K): ratio c of the radius of the semicircular
section to the maximum height of the ceiling space is 0.3

Fig. 4. Flow patterns in the hydraulic kiln with the ratio r of plenum space width to the
sum of the fillet-space widths equal to 1.385: equivalent average between-board air speed
is 8 m/s at 400 K

0.1, is placed in the ceiling space. Thus, an across-stack velocity distribution

similar to the case in which no semicircular section is present can be expected.
The vortex zone disappears when c is increased to 0.2 (Fig. 1b). However, flow
separation persists and the separation point is located at an angle of about 130

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Fig. 5. The effect of a semicircular section in the inlet ceiling space on the flow
distribution across the stack: equivalent average between-board air speed is 4.2 m/s
at 400 K; ratio r of plenum-chamber width to sum of fillet space widths is 1.385

Fig. 6. The effect of a straight sloping wall in both the inlet and outlet plenum chambers
on the flow distribution across the stack: equivalent average between-board air speed is
2.5 m/s at 400

from the horizontal axis. The resultant separation zone, which has lower flows
than the mainstream, partially obstructs the uppermost fillet space, thus reducing
the flow though this fillet space. The second fillet space from the top appears to be
unaffected by the separation zone and, therefore, the flow through this fillet space
is unlikely to be reduced significantly.
The extent of flow separation is moderated even further when c is increased to
0.3 (Fig. 1c). The separation point is close to 180 from the horizontal axis, and
the separation zone is less than half the width of the separation zone that occurs
when c is 0.2. Even so, the separation zone continues to partially obstruct the flow

of water into the uppermost fillet space, although the restriction in flow is not so
severe.
Fig. 2 shows that increasing the radius of the semicircular section has the effect
of moving the peak velocity towards the uppermost fillet space and narrowing the
flow distribution in the top quarter of the stack. The vortex zone is eliminated
once c is at least equal to 0.2, although a separation zone persists which reduces
the velocity in the uppermost fillet space. The flow restriction becomes less
pronounced as the radius of the semicircular section is increased further with c
equal to 0.3. A distribution of velocities may still arise over the height of the stack
even when the radius of the semicircular section is increased sufficiently to
completely remove the separation zone. The frictional effect down the height of
the plenum chamber will ensure that the highest velocity appears in the uppermost fillet space and the lowest velocity appears in the lowermost fillet space.
Uniform velocity profiles can only be achieved when the width of the plenum
chambers and correspondingly the height of the ceiling space as well as the
radius of the semicircular section are increased sufficiently.
In order to eliminate the diffuser effect in the right-angled bend, the ratio p of
the plenum chamber width to the ceiling-space height at the apex of the
semicircular section remained constant at unity as the radius of the semicircular
section was increased. However, this has resulted in the reduction of the ratio r of
the plenum-chamber width to the sum of the fillet space widths. The
dimensionless plenum chamber width r decreased from 0.9 to 0.7 as the dimensionless radius c of the semicircular section increased from 0.1 to 0.3. Nijdam
and Keey (2000) have shown that r must be at least equal to unity for the frictional
effect to become negligible. The reduction of r below unity may explain why there
appears to be no improvement in the uniformity of the relative velocity profile
from the fifth fillet space downwards, even though the semicircular section
increases in radius, thus mitigating the influence of the separation zone. Clearly,
the separation zone has the greatest effect on the flow distribution in the top
quarter of the stack, while the frictional effect influences the flow distribution in
the remaining portion of the stack.
Figure 3 shows the effect of increasing the equivalent average air velocity over
the range from 2.5 to 4.2 m/s through the stack on the flow distribution over the
height of the stack when c is 0.3. There does not appear to be a significant
difference between the relative velocity profiles at these different flowrates, which
suggests that flow maldistribution is not strongly affected by the flowrate over the
limited range investigated, when the vortex zone is eliminated. By contrast, in a
previous investigation, Nijdam and Keey (1999) have shown that the velocity
distribution becomes significantly more peaky as the flowrate is increased, when a
vortex zone exists in the plenum chamber. The blocking action of the vortex zone
appears to become more severe as the flowrate rises.
The vortex zone is not eliminated when the ratio p of the width of the plenum
chamber to the height of the ceiling space at the apex is greater than unity, as
shown in Fig. 4. The higher the value of p, the greater the diffuser effect and
consequently the larger the separation zone. Thus, the velocity distribution across
the width of the plenum chamber downstream of the 90 turn is a function of the
degree of expansion of the right-angled bend. Streamlining the right-angled bend
has very little benefit when the width of the duct expands through the transition.
Indeed, the flow maldistribution appears to worsen, as shown in Fig. 5. The
semicircular section reduces the height of the ceiling space, which increases the
flowrate at the constriction. The fluid is able to resist a change in direction for

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longer as it travels along the ceiling space due to the increase in momentum
induced at the constriction. Thus, the size of the vortex zone is increased and the
flow through the uppermost fillet spaces is reduced even further.
Figure 6 shows that sloping walls in the plenum chambers do not improve the
uniformity of flow over the height of the stack. Previous, Nijdam and Keey (1999,
2000) have shown that the uniformity in flow worsens when the plenum chamber
width in a box-shaped kiln is reduced, due to an increased average velocity in the
plenum chamber which exacerbates the frictional effect. A straight sloping wall
essentially equalises the velocity down the height of the plenum chamber, because
the width of the plenum chamber is reduced proportionally with a loss in
volumetric flowrate through the fillet spaces. Thus, straight sloping walls increase
the average velocity in the plenum chamber, which intensifies the frictional effect,
thus accentuating the velocity profile over the height of the stack. This differs
from single-pipe manifolds, such as those used in pipe burners (Dow and
Shreveport 1950). Sloping walls are effective for improving flow uniformity in
these cases, because the inertial and frictional forces can be counterbalanced to
bring about a zero pressure gradient along the length of the manifold. However,
in a symmetrical lumber kiln, the inertial forces in the plenum chambers on either
side of the stack already counterbalance each other, leaving only the frictional
force.

Conclusions
The effectiveness of various kiln configurations for eliminating the inlet vortex
zone and improving the uniformity of flow over the height of the lumber stack is
investigated. One kiln configuration employed a semicircular section in the
ceiling-space of a box-shaped kiln to streamline the sharp right-angled bend. Two
conditions must be met in order to eliminate the vortex zone using the
semicircular section. First, the radius of a semicircular section must be at least
equal to one-fifth of the height of the ceiling space. Second, the width of the
plenum chamber must be less than or equal to the height of the ceiling-space at
the apex of the semicircular section.
We have found that the magnitude of the flowrate over the range from 2.5 to
4.2 m/s has very little effect on the uniformity of flow over the height of the stack,
provided the vortex zone has been eliminated. Finally, progressively narrowing
plenum chambers do not improve the uniformity of flow over the height of the
stack since inertial forces in the plenum chambers counterbalance.
References
Idelchik IE (1993) Fluid dynamics of industrial equipment: flow distribution design
methods. Hemisphere Publishing Corporation. New York
Nijdam JJ, Keey RB (1999) Airflow behaviour in timber (lumber) kilns. Drying Technology.
17: 15111522
Nijdam JJ, Keey RB (2000) The influence of kiln geometry on flow maldistribution across
timber stacks in kilns. Drying Technology (in press)
Shraub FA, Kline SJ, Henry J, Runstadler PW, Littell A (1965) Use of hydrogen bubbles for
quantitative determination of time-dependant velocity fields in low speed water flows.
ASME J. Basic Eng. 87: 429444
Sturany H (1952) Questions of flow in the drying of wood. Holz Roh- Werkstoff 10: 201207