Design and Construction of a Top-Hat Barrel Kiln

Abstract

The design and construction of a barrel kiln involves the development of a structure that can efficiently produce heat for the purpose of firing ceramics, pottery, or other materials. This process involves the use of a cylindrical chamber made of insulating materials such as bricks, which is loaded with fuel (gas) and then ignited to create high temperatures of 1200ºc. various samples were looked into and were molded using 50mm by 50mm sizes, compressive strength test, thermal shock, bulk density, apparent porosity, water absorption test and shrinkage test were carried out, this was to identity the best sample suitable for the barrel kiln production. The construction process required careful attention to details in order to ensure that the kiln was properly insulated and that the heat was evenly distributed throughout the chamber. The design of the barrel kiln was done using a Computer Aided Design software (Rhino) this was to consider detail and structure of how the kiln looked before proceeding to the development of the kiln. The best kaolin sample was selected in producing the best brick composition because of its low apparent porosity, high compressive strength, good thermal shock result, low shrinkage and best bulk density. The sample that was select is sample D which had 40% of kaolin, 40% of Saw dust and 20% of Ball Clay. The barrel kiln provides a cost-effective and reliable source of heat for various industrial and ceramic applications.