Recent experience with low-energy drying of backing bricks
The practical implementation of low-energy drying at several different brickworks is featured here. Also presented is a fast-drying process with which to implement low-energy drying in new dryers with short drying times and acceptable dimensions. Finally, a profitability analysis shows that the planning for any new dryer(s) should always include an ambient-air drying component.
1 Introduction
If you ask a brickyard owner from South Africa how much it costs to dry bricks, he will tell you how much he has to pay a lot of people to cover the bricks with protective sheeting every evening.
› Energy expenditures? Forget it!
The potential for saving money on thermal energy by drying with ambient air is enormous [2]. Brick people in German-speaking countries, too, are developing a keen interest in low-energy drying. Already, three backing brick plants there are using chamber dryers with at least one low-energy drying chamber. At one plant, the brand-new drying chambers were...
