Wood continued shavings

Charcoal is produced commercially from primary wood-processing residues and low quaUty roundwood in either kilns or continuous furnaces. A kiln is used if the raw material is in the form of roundwood, sawmill slabs, or edgings. In the United States, most kilns are constmcted of poured concrete with a capacity of 40 to 100 cords of wood and operating on a 7- to 12-d cycle. Sawdust, shavings, or milled wood and bark are converted to charcoal in a continuous multiple-hearth furnace commonly referred to as a Herreshoff furnace. The capacity is usually at least 1 ton of charcoal per hour. The yield is - 25% by weight on a dry basis. 

The essential part of the insulation system is the vapour barrier, which must be complete and continuous over the outer (warm) surface. Even materials such as coconut fibre, rice husks, sawdust and wood shavings are successfully used as insulants if the vapour barrier is good. 

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