Scientific American Supplement, No. 415, December 15, 1883 eBook

Kilns for the manufacture of charcoal are made of almost any shape and size, determined in most cases by the fancy of the builder or by the necessities of the shape of the ground selected.  They do not differ from each other in any principle of manufacture, nor does there seem to be any appreciable difference in the quality of the fuel they produce, when the process is conducted with equal care in the different varieties; but there is a considerable difference in the yield and in the cost of the process in favor of small over large kilns.  The different varieties have come into and gone out of use mainly on account of the cost of construction and of repairs.  The object of a kiln is to replace the cover of a meiler by a permanent structure.  Intermediate between the meiler and the kiln is the Foucauld system, the object of which is to replace the cover by a structure more or less permanent, which has all the disadvantages of both systems, with no advantages peculiar to itself.

The kilns which are used may be divided into the rectangular, the round, and the conical, but the first two seem to be disappearing before the last, which is as readily built and much more easily managed.

ALL VARIETIES OF KILNS

Are usually built of red brick, or, rarely, of brick and stone together.  Occasionally, refractory brick is used, but it is not necessary.  The foundations are usually made of stone.  There are several precautions necessary in constructing the walls.  The brick should be sufficiently hard to resist the fire, and should therefore be tested before using.  It is an unnecessary expense to use either second or third quality fire-brick.  As the pyroligneous acid which results from the distillation of the wood attacks lime mortar, it is best to lay up the brick with fire-clay mortar, to which a little salt has been added; sometimes loam mixed with coal-tar, to which a little salt is also added, is used.  As the principal office of this mortar is to fill the joints, special care must be taken in laying the bricks that every joint is broken, and frequent headers put in to tie the bricks together.  It is especially necessary that all the joints should be carefully filled, as any small open spaces would admit air, and would materially decrease the yield of the kiln.  The floor of the kiln was formerly made of two rows of brick set edgewise and carefully laid, but latterly it is found to be best made of clay.  Any material, however, that will pack hard may be used.  It must be well beaten down with paving mauls.  The center must be about six inches higher than the sides, which are brought up to the bottom of the lower vents.  Most kilns are carefully pointed, and are then painted on the outside with a wash of clay suspended in water, and covered with a coating of coal-tar, which makes them waterproof, and does not require to be renewed for several years.

[Illustration:  RECTANGULAR KILNS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CHARCOAL.]