Vacuum drying firewood

LarryC · November 2006

I am toying with the idea of using vacuum to dry firewood faster. My thought is to use an old piston refrigeration compressor as the vacuum source and a 3 foot diameter 2 foot tall concrete pipe as the chamber. Cement the chamber to the floor and make a suitable lid.

It is my understanding that if I draw too deep of a vacuum too fast, the water in the wood would freeze. So I would have to be able to slowly introduce the vacuum in order to draw the water out.

Wadda ya' think?

Larry

Weezbo · November 2006

it sounds like you could distill the water and sell it as

> I am toying with the idea of using vacuum to dry

> firewood faster. My thought is to use an old

> piston refrigeration compressor as the vacuum

> source and a 3 foot diameter 2 foot tall concrete

> pipe as the chamber. Cement the chamber to the

> floor and make a suitable lid.

>

> It is my

> understanding that if I draw too deep of a vacuum

> too fast, the water in the wood would freeze. So

> I would have to be able to slowly introduce the

> vacuum in order to draw the water out.

>

> Wadda

> ya' think?

>

> Larry

Weezbo · November 2006

it sounds like you could distill the water and sell it as

> I am toying with the idea of using vacuum to dry

> firewood faster. My thought is to use an old

> piston refrigeration compressor as the vacuum

> source and a 3 foot diameter 2 foot tall concrete

> pipe as the chamber. Cement the chamber to the

> floor and make a suitable lid.

>

> It is my

> understanding that if I draw too deep of a vacuum

> too fast, the water in the wood would freeze. So

> I would have to be able to slowly introduce the

> vacuum in order to draw the water out.

>

> Wadda

> ya' think?

>

> Larry

Ken_40 · November 2006

Brilliant idea!

However, the energy expended to pull an appreciable vacuum will accelerate your electric bill more than the reduced time required to "season" the wood faster than "air-drying" would allow?

How long and, how much of a vacuum do you suppose it would take to "boil" and extract the water trapped in the center of the log, 2-12" from the outer layer(s)?

Interesting concept nonetheless!

Just remember, when we vacuum an A/C system, we are dealing with metal tubes, not pithy fibers 2' long X 6" diameter (;-o)

Weezbo · November 2006

it sounds like you could distill the water and sell it as

Mr. Larry's Magic elixer *~/:)

sell it to posh up town bistro's "for Cooking purposes only'

LarryC · November 2006

Pre-oiled water for the ultimate pasta chef.

How long and how deep? Don't know. My guess (wish) is less than 24 hours if I start with semi seasoned split wood. We recently had a chimney cleaning and there is evidence of a slow burning chimney fire and excessive creosote build up. While we are waiting for the insurance company and then rebuild the chimney, I figured I would look at alternatives to prevent this from happening again.

I could rig up a sensor to one of the logs to measure moisture content and make the system semi-automatic.

Larry C

Weezbo · November 2006

There it is! *~/:)

unbounded awareness

for the commonly uncommon palate....

remember me when you strike it rich

joel_19 · November 2006

Also

Concrete and wood are both hydroscopic meaning water vapor can move thru the concrete. i would think you would need to waterproof the concrete with something

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LarryC · November 2006

Waterproofing

If the system works, then I can seal the outside of the concrete with a suitable finish. Or if the migration is slow enough, ignore it.

Larry C

mtfallsmikey · November 2006

Solar is the way to go

Don't have links, but have seen plans for solar kilns, wood dryers, etc.

Perry_2 · November 2006

Some heat will go a long way too...

add heat to the mix for better results. Water boils at 92 F at 30" Hg vacuum.

However, from a cost of construction and energy bill concept - A solar dryer is probably the way to go.

Of course, if you let the wood season a year or two it naturally dries out. Very low energy cost. All you need is the space to store the wood for a season (or buy seasoned wood).

Perry

Vacuum drying firewood

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