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The GTZ activities encompass:
ilp!7riIlS;ll, technical planning. control wlc! supervision 01 technic;\! cchqX’riIlic)n fxx$xts
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Dcu~schcs 7cntrum I’iir !‘llr\rl~Llu~~g~~~~hnologirrl
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Henrik Norsker
A Publicution of
Deutsches Zentrum fiir Entwickhmgstechnologien - GATE
in: Deutsche Gesellschaft fiir Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbI-I
Norskrr. filrslrik:
I hc xl!‘-rclunl poltcr: rdwlwrics .III~ kiltIs :
;I pIhI. cr!. I )I. /cnlruw I’iir tiill\kichlul!p
IccI~tioIogicn Ci,4’l+I. in: III (its I’iir I‘cchn.
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ISI3N .Ls,x-lrlc)3l-n
1SHV 3-528-02031-8
This book about how to construct and tire kilns addressestrainees and practising potters in
developing countries. It intends to assist potters to become more self-reliant by providing
advice on the optimum use of locally available raw materials and by explaining techniques
which will help potters to increase their production and their income.
The first section of the book describesthe whole sequenceof producing refractory items. The
second section deals with different kiln types and their functioning principles.
The various methods of constructing kilns are treated in a practical way with comprehensive
illustrations. Finally instructions are provided L:? the loading and tiring of kilns and on
different methods of measuring temperature, including a thorough description of how pot-
ters can make their own pyrometric cones.
Preface ...................................................... 7
l.Refractories ................................................. 9
1.1 fntroduction. ............................................ 9
I?.e Refractory raw materials. .................................... 10
1.2.1 Kaolin ........................................... 10
1.22 Fireclay ........................................ 11
12.3 Aluminous materials ................................. 11
1.2.4 Bauxite .......................................... 11
1.2.5 Laterite ........................................ 11
12.6 Silimanitc, kyanite. andalusitc .......................... 12
12.7 Zircon .......................................... 12
1.2.8 Silica ........................................... 12
1.7.9 ‘fow to get refractory materials ........................... 13
1.3 Production of refractory items ................................ 14
1.3.1 Clay cleaning ....................................... 14
1.3.2 Grog ............................................ 15
1.4 Kiln furniture ........................................... 19
1.4.1 Saggarsand slabs .................................... IQ
1.4.2 Thermal shock ...................................... 20
1.4.3 Saggars.......................................... 21
1.4.4 Shaping ......................................... 21
1.4.5 Kiln shelves ...................................... 26
1.4.6 Drying of s:,_y+rrs and slabs .............................. 27
1.4.7 Firing sJ!’ ....................................... 27
1.4.8 Clai~ci dlppOrt .................................. 28
1.5 Firebricks ........................................ 31
1.5.1 SO! .lcks ...................................... 31
1 5.2 Ill\ ,, tirebricks .................................. 35
1.53 As x53......................................... 36
i.5.4 I8 ijrebricks .................................... 37
1.5.5 hldlr.!ls ........................................... 38
1.6 Testing refractories ....................................... 38
I .6.1 High temperature testing ............................... 39
1.6 : Refractory materials and bodies .......................... 39
I .fi 3 Refractory items .................................... 42
2.Kilns ................................................... 43
21 L)evelopmentof kilns ...................................... 43
2.1.l Bonfire krlns ....................................... 43
3
2.1.2 Sinde up-draught ki!n ................................. 46
2.1.3 Bangladeshup-draught kiln .............................. 46
2.1.4 Permanentup-draught kilns ............................. 47
2.1.5 European up-drauy’-f kilns .............................. 48
2.1.6 Down-d+++ t .IVS .................................. 50
2.1.7 Khurja kil .................................... 51
2.1.8 Mayangoneali ...................................... 53
2.1.9 Bujora down-draught .................................. 53
2.1.10 Cross-draughtkilns ................................... 55
2.1.11 Tubekilns ..... ................................... 57
2.1.12 Chinesechamber kiln ................................. 58
2. I .I 3 Champaknagarchamber kiln ............................. 58
2. i .14 Sumvecross-draughtkiln ............................... 42
2.2 Choice of fuel ........................................... 63
2.2.1 Firewood ......................................... 64
2.2.2 Agricultural waste .................................. 67
2.2.3 Peat ............................................. 68
2.2.4 Lignite ........................................... 68
2.2.5 coal ............................................ 69
2.2.6 Oil products .................................... 70
2.3 Combustion and fireboxes ................................... 71
2.3.1 Combustion ........................................ 71
2.3.2 Firewood tirebox .................................... 73
2.3.3 Sawdust firebox ..................................... 76
2.3.4 Coal fireboxes ...................................... 78
2.3.5 Oil drip firing. ...................................... 82
2.3.6 Pressureburner system ................................ 85
2.4 Heat transfer and draught .................................... 88
2.4.1 Transfer of heat through air ............................. 88
2.4.2 Transfer of heat through solids ........................... 88
2.4.3 Transfer of heat by radiation ............................ 88
?.4.4 Natural draught .................................... 89
2.4.5 Flues ........................................... 91
2.4.6 High altitude ....................................... 91
2.5 Kiln construction ......................................... 91
2.5.1 Site of the kiln ...................................... 91
2.5.2 Foundation ........................................ 91
2.5.3 Masonry .......................................... 93
2.5.4 Floor and wails ..................................... 94
2.5.5 Curved walls ....................................... 95
2.5.6 Arches ........................................... 95
2.5.7 Domes ........................................... 99
2.5.8 Catenary arch ...................................... 102
2.5.9 Arch construction without support ........................ 102
2.5.10 Expansionjoints ..................................... 104
2.5.11 Insulation ......................................... 104
4
2.5.12 Maintenance of kilns .................................. 104
2.6 Loading and setting of the kiln ................................ 105
2.6.1 Loading biscuit firing ................................. 106
2.6.2 Loading glaze firing. .................................. 107
2.7 Kilnfiting .............................................. 112
2.7.1 Biscuit firing ....................................... 113
2.7.2 Glaze firing ........................................ 116
2.8 Temperature measurement ................................... 119
2.8.1 Thermometers ....................................... 119
2.8.2 Colour ........................................... 119
2.8.3 Test draw ......................................... 119
2.8.4 Cones ............................................ 120
2.8.5 Pyrometer ......................................... 121
2.8.6 Self-madecones ..................................... 122
Appendix .................................................... 126
Tables of weights and measures.................................... 126
Table of Segercones ........................................... 128
Table of Orton cones. .......................................... 128
Averageproperties and measures ................................... 129
Mohs’ scaleof hardness. ......................................... 130
Temperature conversion ......................................... 13 1
Useful formulas. .............................................. 132
Bibliography. ............................... : ................ 134
5
Preface
The idea of writing a ceramic book specifi- The aim of this book is not to enable some-
cally to suit conditions in developing coun- body without practical pottery experience
tries originated from my personal experience to start up modem potttry production on
and associatedproblems whilst 1 was strugg- his own. The book is mainly written for
ling to set up modem pottery production in the benefit of potters already involved with
a Tanzanianvillageten yearsago.When1was a modem pottery, and for teachers and stu-
potter in Denmark,ceramic raw materialsand dents involved with the growing number of
kiln refractories had only been a question of pottery training centres and institutes in
which supplier to contact whereas iu Tanza- developingcountries.
nia we had to find our own clay and glaze GATE is planning to publish more technical
minerals, produce firebricks and kiln slabs, books on ceramic technology and these
and construct the equipment locally. From would cover the subjects of glazing, clay pre-
that experience I realized the shortcomings paration and shaping methods. GATE invites
of my former training and how difficult it users of this book to forward their com-
was to extract appropriate technology from ments and any suggestions regarding the
currently available ceramic literature. This planned future seriesof ceramic books.
literature mainly addressesitself to a market
comprising amateurs, art potters and indus-
trial engineersin developedcountries. Cener-
ally, the hobby books are too basic and the AC:-:?owledgments
engineering books are too advanced to be
useful to most potters. The art potters’ A number of friends, potters and colleagues
books provide a great deal of useful informa- in Denmark, Tanzania, India, Nepal, Bangla-
tion. However, they do not cover all the fun- desh and ‘Burma have over the years parti-
d: mental problems facing the potter in a de- cipated in the process of establishing the
veioping country, e.g. how to produce re- raw materials for this book. I wish to thank
fractories. them all for sharing with me the frustrations,
The term self-reliant potter closely reflects disappointments and occasional triumphs of
the working conditions in which potters in that process.
many developingcountries have to exist. Im- Knud Erik Asak initiated me to the art of
ported materials and equipment are virtually kiln building and he has contributed a
impossible to obtain and even rhe supply of number of photographs and the design of
resources within the country may be im- the Champaknagarkiln.
practical due to poor logistics or difficulties Troels Kvoming has taught me the basics
with local government bureaucracies. Self- of pottery and has kindly let me use some
reliance is therefore not seen as an end in of his photographs from Tanzania.
itself but as a means to ensure a profitable The technical details of the kerosene pres-
pottery production. sure burner are provided by JamesDanisch
1
7
who has also contributed to the book with Finally I owe thanks to my wife Tin Tin
helpful suggestionsand photographs. Moe for her encouragement and patience
Kaung Kaung 00 has helped with working with the writing of the book.
drawing; for some of the kilns.
Peter Nauman has produced the majority of My thank.; to all of you.
the drawings and has had the tedious task of
correcting my English and proof-reading the
manuscript.
The manuscript has been typed and retyped Rangoon, 27th December 1985
severaltimes by Nan Win Moe. Henrik Norsker
ls Refractories
1.1 Introduction
For the constructian of k&s it is necessary Potter k refractory
to use bricks and mortars which will endure
intense heat. For glaze firings it is also usu- For the purpose of this book the term re-
ally necessaryto have materials for stacking fractory will cover clays and materials that
pottery in the kiln chamber Saggars.kiln are suitable to be used in a potter’s kiln fired
shelvesand props are examplesof kiln furni- up to 1250 ‘C. In casethe kiln is to be tired
ture. at a lower temperature, it might be possible
to use ordinary building bricks and saggars
Industrial srandard made by less refined methods than those
described below. However, the principles re-
By industrial standardsa clay is called refrac- main the same and the additional effort will
tory when it does not soften below 1580 ‘C. often be rewarded by a longer life for the
However, in most caseswe will have to be kiln and kiln furniture.
satisfied with clays that soften at a much
lower temperature because real refractory
claj;. may not bc available or is too expen-
sive. In any case,most potters will not bring
their kiln above 1250 “C and will only main-
tain the maximum temperature for a short
period.
Fig. l-1: Tube kiln of Korean type. The potters of the Far East
were the first to use refractory clays for their kilns.
9
1.2 Refractory raw materials siderable amount of sand which is left be-
hind when the parent rock has changedinto
in most casesrefractory items for ordinary clay. Sometimes only a small part of the pa-
potteries will have to be made of clay. rent rock is changed into clay ad in other
cases raw kaolin occurs in pockets amongst
granite rocks. The raw kaolin is normally
1.2.1 Kaolin
a) Ancient times
Prirnqv clav
Porcelain
10
white but some types of rock produce a pink- Bauxite is the raw material from which the
ish colour which may still be a suitable.re- metal aluminium is produced. It is found in
fractory clay. Solid firebricks can often be many places though only a few deposits are
made from raw unwashed kaolin. Kaolin is utilized. Even deposits which are not suit-
also used in the production of paper and able for aluminlum production may be use-
rubber. ful to the potter.
Bauxite grog
1.2.2 Fireclay
Red bauxite is less refractory than white or
Fireclays are produced in the same way as grey bauxite. The bauxite has no plasticity
kaolin but have been transported away from and needs a binding clay. The raw bauxite
the location of the parent rock (secondary should be ground, mixed with 25% plastic
clay). Fireclays are also refractory, but often clay, shaped in rough bricks which are fired
more plastic than kaolin. The colour of raw to about PO0‘C, and then crushed. This ma-
fireclays varies from white to yellow, brown terial can then be used as ordinary grog in a
or grey, and the sand content can be more refractory body. A standard mixture is 75%
than 50%. bauxite grog and 25% fireclay. Bauxite grog
Sometimes the term fireclay is used only for can also be used as a substitute for a portion
the clays lying below and between coal- of the grog in the production of ordinary re-
seams. Such clays do not occur under all &actor-y bodies.
coal-seamsand they might not always be re-
fractory. However, there is a good chance of Calcination
finding a suitable fireclay where coal-seams
are located. Evenunder inferior coals such as The process described above of firing the
lignite it is sometimes possible to find suit- rough bricks of bauxite is called c&nation.
able clays. The raw bauxite cannot be used without
calcination (calcination at 700-900 “C;
above 1000 “C bauxite becomes hard to
1.2.3 Aluminous materials grind) because it shrinks a lot during firing,
giving off about 25% in water.
Generally the more alumina in a refractory
body the better is its refractoriness. So if
alumina-rich materials are availableat a rea-
sonable price they should be added to the re- 1.2.5 Laterite
fractory body. The local institute of geology
or mining should be approached about the In the tropics laterite soils are widespread. It
availability of some of the following mate- is a reddish clayey material which hardens
rials: when exposed to air. Most laterites contain
too much iron oxide and other impurities to
1.2.4 Bauxite be of use for refractory purposes. However,
some purer forms of laterite can be used. La-
Al103 Hz0 te&es vary a great deal and their usefulness
melting point: 1600-1850 “C has to be tested by experimental use. Baux-
density: 2.9 g/ml ite is rather similar to laterites but has a
hardness: l-3 higher aluminium content.
11
1.2.6 Silimanite, kyanite, andalwite shelvesand saggars.The kiln wash is made
from either pure zircon mixed with water or
AI: OS.Si02 with the addition of kaolin. The wash pre-
Melting point: 1850 “C vents glazed ware from sticking to the set-
Density: 3.2-3.6 g/ml tings.
Hardness: 6-7
Silimanite is found mainly in India while
andalusite and kyanlte are more wide- 1.2.8 Silica
spread. Although these materials may cost
too much for mos! potters, they are good re- Si02
fractory materials and produce long-lasting Melting point: 1710 “C
kiln shelvesand saggars.In India some small- Dens%-: 2.6 g/ml
er potteries have started to use silimanite Hardness: 7
for their saggarsand found this to be econo- Silica is found as part of rocks and clays and
mical as it has extended the life of the sag- it is so common that it makesup 60% of all
gais. The three materials are rather similar materials in the crust of the earth.
except that silimanite and andalusite can be
used raw while kyanite needs to be calcinat- Occurrence
ed above 1350 “C at which temperature it
expands by 17%. (If intended for use below As a free mineral, not combined in clays and
1350 ‘C the calcination may be omitted.) rocks, it occurs as quartz rock, silica sand,
The materials are non-plastic and can be sandstone, Qint pebble and as semi-precious
used in mixtures as grog. A saggar body stonessuch as agate,opal and jasper.
could be 60% silimanite, 30% fireclay and /
10%plastic clay. Refractory
12
r quartz
temperature “C
Fig. l-3: Three forms of silica with different rates of expansion. The cr;~.&ls of crystoballite expand sudden-
ly at 220 “C and the quartz crystals expand suddenly at 573 “C. \vhzf! silica has no crystal form as in silica
glassor ash it expands evenly.
13
Fig. II: Clay mining in Bangladesh Fig. l-5: The day is stirred in the pond to the
back. It is then poured through a screen into the
small pit from where it runs to the fwo lower sett-
poses such as whitewashing houses. Also ling ponds.
contact loca! well-sinkers who should have
some knowledge of what soils are hidden be- Washitrgponds
low the surface. Apart from kaolin, fireclay
and silica sand, width can usually be found For the clay cleaning, two or more shallow
locdly, the other refractory materials listed ponds (for example 4 x 2 metres and 1/2me-
above normally have to be purchased from a tre deep) should be dug in the ground close
supplier. to the clay source. The sidesof the pond can
be made of brichwork but simple wicker-
work plastered with clay will do. The pond
1.3 Production of refractory items is half-filled with water and clay is added un-
til the pond is filled. The , rw clay is stirred
1.3.1 Clay cleaning with a shovel until a!1the clay particles are
separated from the coarser sand. With coars-
Some refractory clays can be used as dug for er types of clays, like kaolin. the stirring
the production of firebricks but usually. may not take more than 30 minutes but
and especially for the production of slabs wit11finer clay a longer period is needed and
and saggars,the sand in the clay must be re- it may be necessaryto let the mixture soak
moved. Kaolin-type clays often contain for a day. When no more lumps are left and
more than 50% sand which should be remov- the feel of the material at the bottom of the
ed at the site in order to saveits transport pond is no longer clayey but sandy, the clay
cost to the pottery. Some deposits contain slip mixture is transferred to the second
as little as 15%~clay but it may still be feas- pond. The slip can run by itself if the second
ible to wash out the clay. The removal of pond is placed lower or it can be transferred
sand is done by adding water to the clay in with a bucket. In the latter case the slip
a pond and stirring it until the clay is sus- could be poured through a screen into a
pended in the water. The sand will settle small pit connected to the second pond. In
first and the water clay mixture is transferred the second pond the clay is left to settle.
to another pond where the clay will settle The rate of settling depends on the fineness
more slowly. The stirring may be done me- of the clay. For highly plastic clays it may
chanically or by hand: the principle is the take weeks but for kaolin clays it will often
same. take less than a day. After the clay has sett-
14
which is fusibie compared to mo;e refrac-
tory silica s?Ad.) From time to time the tray
should be turned upside down for cleaning
and occasionally the washmii wil! have to be
emptied of sand.
1.3.2 Grog
15
Fig. l-7: Animal-powered w~shmill for clay cleaning. A grooved tray leads to the settling tanks.
plasticity will be difficult to form into rough finished refractory items are likely to be
bricks and will be troublesome to stack in used at later. However, this can be difficult
the kiln. An addition of about 10% plastic for small potteries which cannot afford to
clay will solve the problem. If possible the build special kilns for grog and firebrick pro-
grog clay should be fired at a temperature duction. Alternatively, the grog bricks can
which is higher than the temperature the be placed at the hottest spots in the kiln.
16
Fig. l-8: A manual hammer for grog crushing Fig. 1-9: A pan grinder supplied with a double-
deck screen grades the crushed grog in two sizes.
17
Fig. l-10: The inside of ;i hammer mill. The hammers swing out when they rotate. ‘The grog is fed through
the crntre hole to the right and Iewes through a screen (removed) on the left.
more prone to cracking after repeated heat- plasticity, lower the melting point and it
ings. Therefore smaller items can be made contains much free silica. The dust is best re-
with a higher proportion of fine grog while moved by washing.
bigger items should contain a greater amount
of coarse grog. Otherelriseequal amounts of Alumimus grog
fine and coarsegrog should be used.
Andalusite. silimanite. kyanite, bauxite and
DlN laterite minerals mentioned earlier can be
substitutes for clay grog in the refractory
In any case the grog should have the dust mixtures described below. In clay mixtures
fraction removed. Dust will reduce the these materials act in the sameway as grog.
18
1.4 Kiln furniture glaze and if the co!txr effect of the ash is
acceptable an open setting with kiln shelves,
also called slabs, is preferable. Saggan are
1.4.1 Saggarsand slabs heavier and take up more spacecornpart d to
the samewei@ ot kiln shelves.However, if
Saggarsare used for protecting the glazed the height c:f the setting is more thdn two
ware against the action of flue gases and metres a setting with kiln shelves t,:nds to
ashesfrom combustion of solid fuels, which become t;Jo unstable whiie sagparscan be
otherwise might cause discolouration *md stacked to above four metres. The sameclay
give the glaze a rough surface where ayh has mixture can be used for both saggarsand
settled on the ware. At higher firing tempe- slabs though clay mixtures ibr kiln shelves
ratures firewood ash melts together with the need lessplasticity.
Fig. 1-l I : Saggus stacked 3 m high Fig. 1-l 2: Open setting on kiln slabs in ;1 kiln fired
with wood to 1280 “C
Grog content and the lattice-work is allowed time to grow
they no longer bend.
As a rule of thumb the mixture should con- As the right proportion of grog and bond
tain as much grog as the shaping technique clay dependson the quality of raw materials,
allows. Normlly that is 40-60% but it de- firing temperature and shaping technique,
pends on the plasticity of the bond clay. It the local potters will have to find their own
is unusual to find a clay being both highly recipe by trying a number of different mix-
plastic ann refractory, and so usually the tures.
bond clay is made from a mixture of a stone-
ware clay or a vitrifiable plastic clay and a R ecives
refractory clay such as kaolin. The bond clay
shouid start to vitrify at a low temperature The following recipes are practical examples
but should not soften before well above the of saggarbodies: (parts in weight)
firing temperature. The kaolin crystals in recipes b
the clay start slowly to change into mullite saggarclay 3: 25 3;
crystals (fig. l-13) above 1000 “C. Mullite kaolin 15 15 30
grows irlto long needle-shapedcrystals which grog: 55 60 30
form a lattice that will reinforce the fired Bodies for making slabs ciLrrbe made with a
clay in much the same way as iron bars in higher content of grog compared to bodies
reinforced concrete. This lattice-work enab- for saggarproduction.
les the kiln furniture to carry the load of the
w3re at high temperatures. The partly melt-
ed mass between the grog particles will en- 1.4.2 Thermal shock
able the mullite crystals to grow freely. If
the bond clay was too refractory the needle In mcst casesthe potter will be more troub-
crystals could not grow properly and the led with cracking of saggarsor slabs than
slabs would bend. This can be seen from the with fusion and softening of the ki!n fumi-
fact that newly fired slabs tend to bend. ture. Due to their shape, saggsrs tend to
However, after they are fired a few times crack more easily than slabsbut the problem
Fig. 1-13: Lattice-work of mullite crystals rein-
is often caused by the same problem, ther-
forces the fired clay. Kaolin crystals change gradual- mal shock.
ly into mullite at high temperatures. The crystals
are shown 100 000 times bigger than they really
are.
Expansion
21
Fie. I-l 5: Different shape.\ 111’sagprs
24
Fig. l-22: Slabs, saggars and firebricks can be Fig. 1-23: Release of ~ggar from an electricaly-
moulded in iI fly-wheel press. powered fly-wheel press
e) Slip-casting absorb the water in the clay slip and the clay
will harden. After some time the clay shape
Slip-casting is done by pouring a clay slip can be taken out. Saggarsare normally cast
into plaster of Parismoulds. The moulds will in solid cast moulds (fig. l-24).
Fig. 1-24: Plaster mould for solid slip-castings of saggars
Slip-casting has the advantagethat the shap- Forming
ing does not require plastic clay and so the
mixture can contain a much higher propor- An iron or wor&n frame having the shape
tion of grog compared to the other methods. and thickness of the finished bats is placed
Although the ceramic industry uses this me- on a s&d bench or on a concrete floor and
thod extensively, smaller potteries may ex- is sprirtied with grog dust. The semi-dry
perience difficulties due to the cost and cl?y paste is gradually added by starting at
availability of plaster. Furthermore, chemi- one end of the frame while beating the clay
cals such as water glassor sodaare neededfor constantly with a wooden hammer. The
making the clay slip fluid with a water con- stroke of the hammer should always have
tent equal to plastic clay (20-30%). Without the same direction, opposite the direction of
these chemicals the water content Leeds to filling the frame. After ftiing the frame com-
be 40-50%. pletely the surface is levelled by running a
wooden stick on top of the frame. The sur-
face is made smooth by a spongeand a steel
1.4.5 Kiln shelves blade used alternately. A plate fitting exact-
ly inside the frame is placed on top of the
For an open setting, square flat kiln shelves, slab while the frame is lifted off. The four
also called bats or slabs, :re used. These are sides of the clay slab are carefully made
normally made by hand-moulding although smooth and the slab is left to stiffen for
they can also be press-moulded and slip- about a day. It is then turned over .andits
eaL.i. Gay mixtures and clay preparation bottom is made smooth.
for hand-moulding are similar to those of
saggar-making though a higher content of
grog is permissible and the clay paste should
contain lesswater (semi-dry).
Thickness
26
Fig. I-27: Beginning at one end semi-dry - clay- is _
arladuaily filled into the frame while a wooden hammer
compacts the &y with even strokes in one direction.
27
making and the fling and cooling of the kiln Clay body
is done carefully, a saggarlife of lo-20 fir-
ings may be possible. Supports such as spurs, thimbles and stilts
Slabs will normally withstand many more are made by press-moulding. The body for
fnings than saggars. this should be made from a fine-grained fire-
clay or by mixing kaolin, silica sand and
plastic clay in the following proportions:
I .4.8 Glazed ware support
kaolin 60
Various types of supports for the setting of plastic clay 15
glazed ware make it possible to place the silica sand 25
pots more tightly in the kiln, thereby im- (by weight)
proving the firing economy. In the chapter
*‘Loading and setting of the kiln” page 105 ff., The clay body should be screened with a
a number of different supports are described. fine mesh sieve(80-100 mesh, seep. 127).
Press-moulding
Crank
as shown in fig. l-31 provided that the flat- Fig. l-33: Two different ways’of setting the ware
ware is made exactly samesize. on pan rings
A bottom and top plate each with three frx-
ed sockets for the thimble pillars hold these
together and the top plate also protects the tra care is needed to ensure that the step of
ware from kiln dust. This kind of arrange- the pan ring is filled completely with clay
ment is called a crank and may hold 10-l 5 and that the step does not break off when
pieces. The top and bottom plates are made the pan ring is released from the mould’ .
in a flat mould and formed in the sameway The curve of pan ring is made with a radius
as kiln slabs. A template should be made for that fits the size of plates or bowls to be
measuring the exact position of the three stacked.
thimble sockets, which are carved out after- Another method of forming pan rings is to
’ wards. place a thick coil of clay on a bat. The coil is
laid as a ring with the desired diameter. This
Pan rings ring is then centred on the wheel and a tem-
plate cut to the profile of the pan ring is used
Pan rings are used for stacking glazed plates for shaping the ring. The ring is then cut into
and bowls on top of each other (fig. l-32). 8 or 12 piecesand left to dry’.
The pots may rest on the pan rings with The pan rings are fired and given the same
their rims upside down or they may hang kiln wash as other kiln~furniture.
on the pan rings resting on their rims (fig.
l-33).
Pan rings are made from clay bodies similar
t This method is suggested by M. Cardew, “Pio-
to those prescribed for kiln slabs or saggars.
neer Pottery”, p. 162.
The pan rings can be stock-moulded in the 2 This method is used and described by J.G. Jud-
sameway as solid firebricks (p. 33), but ex- son, “Studio Potter Book”, p. 272.
30
1.5 Firebricks
Fig. l-34: Construction of a test kiln in Bhnktapur, Nepal. The insulating; firebricks for the inner lining were
fired in il pit firing.
Two grades
Bond clay
Stock-moulding
35
.
Bond clay
Silica in ash
Mouiding
Ash can be mixed with a bond clay to make
Stock-moulding will produce more accurate insulating bricks for use with temperatures
shapes,but the sawdust tends to make the up to around 1100 “C. The refractory value
insulating bricks stick to the mould. The soft- of the finished bricks very much dependson
er clay mixture used for slop-moulding is the type of ash which is used. Ash of rice
more easily released and the additional husks contains more than 90% silica and
amount of water will also increasethe poro- high silica contents are also found in ashesof
sity of the finished brick. The choice of rice strdw and thatching grass’ .
moulding method could be made after let-
ting the moulder try out both methods. Saw- Ash resting
dust bricks take a iong time to dry due to
the great amount of water taken up by the Some asheshave high contents of minerals
sawdust. But the bricks will seldom crack which :ower the melting point. These are
during drying becausethe sawdust reinforces
the clay body and givesthe clay a very open
structure. hf. Cardew. Pioneer Pottery. p. 42.
36
usell in glazesbut not in firebricks. It is ne- IS.4 EIolIow firebricks ‘4
cessary therefore to make practical tests
with the ash in question before using it. Fig. 1-45 shows press-moulded firebricks
A mixture of four parts ash to one part clay with two hollow rooms. These rooms are fill-
(by volume) is a good starting point. ed with rice-husk ash during construction.
The kiln seen in the picture is constructed
Ash washing from these bricks and is fired to 1250 “C.
Due to the low thermal mass of the kiln
Ashes high in potash and soda should have lining, the kiln is very fuel-efficient. It has
these soluble minerals removed by washing been developed by the Central Glass& Cera-
so that they are less caustic to work with. mic ResearchInstitute of India with the aim
The removal of soda and potash will also of improving fuel economy of the round
raise the melting point of the ash. The wash- down-draught kilns at Khuja (p. 5 1).
ing can be done by leaving the ash in a pit
outside during the rain.
Amorphous silica
Fig. 145: The hollow spaces of these firebricks are
The silica in ashhas no crystal forms like the filled with rice husk ash. A prototype of a Low
silica found in sand and quartz rocks, and thermal mass kiln developed at the Khurja Centre
is seen behind the bricks.
because of this it is called amorphous. The
importance of this lack of crystals is that
amorphous silica does not shrink or expand
suddenly as does the silica with crystal form
(seep. 12).
If ash bricks were made using a similar
amount of silica but in the form of sand
(crystal form), these bricks would be very
prone to spalling or cracking due to sudden
changesin temperature (thermal shock). The
ash bricks using amorphous silica are much
less likely to suffer these effects. The disad-
vantage with ash bricks is that the amor-
phous silica is much less refractory, and
hence they are unsuitable for very high tem-
peratures.
Low duty
Bond clay
1.6 Testing refractories
The bond clay could be the same as that
used for making the bricks. The bond clay Bagwalls, flue linings or saggarsthat give in
should be refractory, but it is better if the during firing may ruin both the kiln and the
mortar is slightly fusible so that the joints ware. To avoid these problems tests can be
will form a strong bond between the bricks. done to ensure that the materials will with-
This can be achieved by adding a fusible stand the severe conditions to which they
plastic clay to the refractory bond clay. The will be exposed during many cycles of fir-
exact amount of fusible clay depends on the ings. Therefore before trusting a refractory
firing temperature and if possible a few tests raw material or a refractory product, say a
should be done. Normally 20-X% of the firebrick, some simple tests should be carried
bond clay could be fusible clay, and the re- out. Simple tests of clay supplies can also
maining part be similar to the refractory clay tell us whether we get the clay we expected
of the bricks. and which may havebeen paid for dearly.
Mortar rcripes
1 Japanese mortar quoted from F. Olsen “The
The following recipesare examplesmeasured Kiln Book” (p. 18)
in weight: ’ From D. Rhodes “Kilns” (p. 94)
38
1.6.1 High temperature testing Test kiln
Quicker results could be obtained by firing 1.6.2 Refractory materials and bodies
the test piece in the flue, in front of the fire-
box, or on top of the bagwall of a potter’s In most casesit will already havebeen estab-
kiln. The temperature may not be 1300- lished whether or not the type of clay in
1400 “C but it is most likely the’highest question is suitable for high temperaturesand
temperature the material will have to with- the individual potter or local pottery devel-
stand in practice. opment centre will only need to check the
IJric I?s
firelrricks
.bm..eeoe
quality of clay supply and refractory body
mixtures. The following tests should be car-
ried out with new batches of clay.
Sampling
41
Pore water in per cent quality of new batches of clay with former
= Wd-Wp xl(Jo supplies it is accurate enough.
WP
The pore water percentage expresses the 1.6.3 Refractory items
fmenessof the clay particles or the plasticity
of the clay. The test is simple and is good for ’ ‘Spalhg count ” test
ensuring that new supplies of clay do not
contain too much sand. Besides possessingrefractoriness our refrac-
The following pore water contents are typi- tory products such as firebricks and saggars
cal: should be able to withstand many cycles of
kaolin 1.5 %, fireclay 3.5 %, ball clay 4.1 %, heating and cooling without crackiug or spal-
brick clay 2.2%, bentonite 14% ling. The ability to withstand thermal shocks
is tested by heating a standard-size (appr.
23 x 11.5 x 6.5 cm) firebrick to around
Plasticity 900 “C. The hot firebrick is then picked out
of the kiln and plunged into water of room
The results of drying shrinkage and pore wa- temperature. This is repeated until half of
ter content tests discussed above are an ac- ‘the brick measured by weight has cracked
curate indicator of a clay’s plasticity. How- away due to this shock treatment. If the
ever, the first and most simple test for any brick can endure 10 cycles of such heating
potter is to wet a small portion of the clay and cooling it is very satisfactory. The clay
in the palm of his hand and get the “feel” of body for saggars or slabs is formed into
it. The clay is rolled into a pencil shapeand bricks and tested in the sameway.
the more this “pencil” can be bent into a
ring without rupturing, the more plastic the
clay is. Water absorptiort
42
2. Kilns
44
Fig. l-4: Straw-fired kiln in Thimi, Nepal
Nepalese po;ter
Fig. 2-7 : Top layer of the Sinde kiln is laid. Fig. 2-8: Semi-permanent up-draught kiln in
Rajshahi, Bangh~desh. After smoking a layer ol
straw and mud is plastered on the outside.
46
gases enter the kiln chamber through the
perforated floor and leaT{ethrough holes
in the crown. Great skill is neededwhen set-
ting the ware so that space is left for the
gasesto pass in a way that ensureseven tem-
peratures. At cold spots more spaceis left so
that more hot gaseswill pass there while the
spots tending to overheat are stacked more
densely.This kiln is fired to 900-1000 “C.
Glazed pots
47
2.1.5 European up-draught kilns combustion gases.Often a biscuit chamber
over the main chamber was added so that
The up-draught kiln originating in the Near the otherwise wasted heat was used for bis-
East spread to Europe where it was further cuiting.
developed and reached its perfection with
the bottle kilns (fig. 2-12). These kilns were Rejkactories, grates, coal, chimney
widely used untii the beginning of this cen-
tury, when they were replaced by down- These up-draught kilns were originally devel-
draught kilns. The bottle kilns could be fired oped in Germany, by the beginning of the
up to 1300 “C. Damperson top of the dome 17th century, in an attempt to produce por-
could be opened and closed for directing the celain which was then only produced in
draught. That enabled the skilled fireman to China. The 1300 ‘C needed for porcelain
achieve fairly even temperatures. The ware was reached by constructing the kiln with
was placed in saggarsto protect it from the firebricks and by firing coal on cast-iron
grates. The grates made it possible to speed
Fig. 2-l 2: Bottle kiln with its innovations: chinb up combustion of the fuel and reduce the in-
nay. fircbrirks and iron grates for burning coal
take of excessair. A chimney placed on top
of the chamber creates the extra draught
needed to draw combustion air through the
grates.
Limitations o~‘tt‘tcp-druugiltkilns
Fig. 2-15: Chimney effect creates hot spots in ;1n
By the turn of the century the up-draught up-draught kiln
1
“A Treatise on Ceramic Industries” by Emile
Bourry, p. 211. It is still true except that in
recent years up-draught kilns fired with gas and
constructed with fibre refractories have been
able to overcome these problems.
49
2.1.6 Down-draught kilns where the downward pull is stronger. In this
way the draught will by itself evenout tem-
In a down-draught kiln the hot gasesfrom perature differences.
the fireboxes circulate to the top of the kiln
chamber, are then pulled down through the
setting and leave through flue holes in the Bug walls
floor. Under the floor flue channels lead to
the chimney (fig. 2- 16). A wall, named a bagwall, at the inlet from
the fireboxes directs the hot gasesupward.
Ever1temperatures In case the top of the setting tends to be too
hot the height of the bagwalls is lowered
Hot air rises so the downward draught of and vice versa. Sometimes holes in the bag-
the hot combustion gases tends to avoid wall help but the holes weaken the wall and
the hot spdts and seeks out the cold spots it may collapse during firing.
Fig.Z-16: lhwn-druught kiln wth tlue
I
I
chawwls undcr itic !luor .
draught kiln, simply because they have
further to go. So more heat is transferred to
the ware and consequently fuel is saved.As
the hot gases leave the kiln chamber at
ground level it is easier to let them pass
through another chamber or several cham-
bers before entering the chimney.
N- grou;evel
Fig. 2-19: Khurja down-draught kiln a) side elevation, 11) ground elevation showing flue holes and chan-
nels. The details for this kiln have been obtained from “Status Report on Ceramic Industry at Khurja”,
published by Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Calcutta, India.
2.1.9 Bujora downdraught
Cllitnnty chamber
2.1.8 Mayangone kiln Fg. Z-21: Fust chamber of Bujora kiln. Water and
011 pipes lead to the three fIreboxes.
‘S[pM aq1 II! qauuntp arQ q,!M apnlu S!u[!y auom2A:cly al[L : [Z-Z ‘%!.J
Fig. 2-24: Two-chamber Bujora kiln, cross-section.
The first chamber is provided with three fireboxes
for oil firing but fireboxes for firewood or coal
could be used as well.
sulating firebricks
ordinary brick!
-a-
- ash layer
flue channel
2.1.10 Cross&aught kilns Fig.2-25: Cave kiln dug out of a clay bank
Cave kilns
Fig. 2-29: Upper section df a tube kiln. An entrance is made for every 5 m. Stoking holes are seen at the
side of the arch.
I- . . ..,,-.,__ _
57
Fig. Z-30: Cross-section of a chamber kiln
2.1.12 Chinese chamber kiln kiln is about 20”. The Chinesechamber kilns
could have up to eight chambers and would
In China the tube kiln was further developed be stacked with ware produced by many in-
by breaking up the long tube into separate dividual potters. The largest kilns could be
but connected charrbers (fig. 2-30). The fire up to 400 m3 in total kiln space.
is started in the firebox and the first cham-
ber is fired as other kilns. When the desired
temperature is reached in the first chamber, 2.1.13 Champaknagar chamber kiln
say 1280 ‘C, the second may be around
1100 “C and the third around 700 “C. Firing Fig. 2-31 shows a three-chambered wood-
is continued by side stoking in the second fired kiln at a pottery school in Champakna-
chamber through openings in the door. The gar in Bangladesh.Identical kilns are built by
temperature in the second chamber rises ra- groups of students when they set up their
pidly becausethe combustion air is preheat- own potteries. According to the size of the
ed from passing through the first chamber. group kilns are built with two or three cham-
The preheated air is so hot that thin sticks of bers and more chambers c;lil be added later
wood fed through the stoking holes burn in- as the production increases.
stantly.
Earthenware
Setting
The kilns are fired to 1100 “C with an open
In each chamber a bagwall or saggarsforce setting on kiln shelves. Eeach chamber is
the heat upwards after which it is drawn about 3.5 m3 and takes 600 mugs. Ordinary
down through the setting and across to the red bricks are used for construction through-
exit flues leadng into the next chamber. The out, but there are plans to provide the kilns
draught is normally created by the upward with an inner lining of insulating firebricks
slope of the kiln. The slope of a chamber in order to improve the fuel economy.
58
Fig. 2-3 1: Three-chambered wood-fired kiln under Firewood
construction. The !irebox to the right and the
chimney ;lt the other end are not yet re:ldy.
Ch;lmp~knagar, Bangladesh. The first two chambers consume 2200 kg
firewood and each additional chamber about
Firing 500 kg. Unfortunately the firewood is not
properly seasonedso heat is wasted drying
The firing is started at midnight so that the out the extra water in the firewood (p. 64 f.).
last part of firing takes place during the day
in order to minimize the risk of fire in the Fig. 2-32: Two-chambered kiln built with sun-dried
villages. The pots have been biscuit-fired by bricks. Suvapur. Bangladesh.
view from
firebox-side
I
l--l
I I
I\
:
#’ \\\
i”“?,
side view
flue holes
insulating firebricks
Im 1 ir
Extra chamber space is left to build on. In case the kiln is
built on a slope it is easier to add extra
The small extra cost of firing addirional chambers at the firebox end as the chimney
chambers makes it tempting to add several is a larger structure to dismantle and recon-
more. The additional chambers would also struct.
reduce the size of the chimney which is
4.4 m for the twochamber version. How- Firebox
ever, a huge kiln capacity would also mean
longer periods between figs and would The firebox shown in fig. 2-34 is made very
mean that more space for storing pots wide because the unseasonedfirewood has
awaiting firing would be needed. It may also to spend longer time drying in the flrebox
be difficult to set aside enough money for compared to properly dried firewood. Other
the production costs in the longer time be- types of fireboxes as described under fire-
tween making pots, firing and selling the boxes (p. 73-87) can be used as well.
finished ware. A more rational solution of course would be
to seasonthe firewood properly. However,
small village potteries have no money to in-
Construcriorr vest in a stock of firewood sufficient for dry-
ing 4-6 months. It is costly to be poor.
It is better to start with a few chambers
while the pottery workshop is starting up; Seljkupporting
later as production and confidence grow
additional chambers can be added without The chamber kilns are constructed without
much interruption to production. It is better any iron frame supports. The structure sup
to plan for future expansion when designing ports itself as the chambers lean onto each
and constructing the kiln, so that sufficient other.
Fig. 2-34: Champuknagar
firebox
61
2.1.14 Sumve cross-draught kiln
ground-plan
cross-section
damper
~~~,.//.;‘/.~.;//~~~..~.‘,“‘.‘“.’//”.’”/.’
p,.//://:m i:;::
\
Im solid firebricks
62
2.2 Choice of fuel from the pottery the cost of hiring a lorry
may make this fuel very expensive. Or in
Nearly everywhere the cost of fuel for firing case coal can be bought from a government
kilns is the single biggestcost of ceramic pro- store the cost of employing a person to do
duction. In some areasthe cost of fuel simp- the necessarypaperwork, etc. will also add
ly rules out the production of modem pot- to the fuel cost. The different fuels have dif-
tery and only traditional pottery fired with ferent heating values and this should also be
agricultural waste materials is economically taken into account, e.g. 1 kg of firewood
possible. may only produce half the heat of 1 kg of
Kilns heated by gas or ciectricity will not be coal (see appendix).
described here because these fuels are sel-
dom available or their cost is prohibitive. Table 2-1 is an illustration of how to com-
(This might change in the future when big pare fuel costs. This comparison is based on
hydroelectric or natural gas projects will the estimated fuel consumption for the
make these types of energy more easily avail- firing of a two-chamber kiln of Champakna-
able and cheaper.) gar type. In this example firewood turned
That leaves us with three main sources of out to be the cheapestfuel, but if the source
fuel: firewood (and agricultural waste), coal of coal had been closer it would have been
and oil. less costly to transport and could in that
case become the chosen fuel. The cost of
Cost and supply coal in this example also includes $ 12 for
employing a person to acquire the necessary
In many areasonly one type of fuel is avail- licence to purchase coal from a government
able for potters. However, those fortunate store. In areaswith a higher cost of labour,
enough to be able to choose from several firewood Gould become more costly due to
types of fuel should consider which fuel will the heavy work involved with felling the
serve them the best by comparing (1) the trees and cutting the firewood.
cost of the fuels and (2) how reliable the
supply is. SUPPlY
Drying, storage,
Fuel Heat value Fuel needed Net price Transport preparing, firing Total
(US $1 (US $1 (US S) (US $1
-
Firewood 3400 cd/g 2200 kg 52 30 12 94
Fuel oil 9000 cd/g 893 I . 402 20 2 424
Wustc oil 10100 c&l/g 795 I 103 45 2 150
CO31 7720 Cal/g 970 kg 48 80 14 142
63
suffer the results of an insecure supply. If
the supply situation is difficult it is better to
arrange fireboxes which can burn two OF
more different fuels. For example it is easy
to place drip-plate burners in a tirebox for
coal or firewood. The additional cost of
making two firing systemsmay be recovered
in one or two firings.
2.2.1 Firewood
Water content
’ Arnold & Jongma “Fuel, Wood and Charcoal in When wood is freshly cut it contains 30-
Dexkpiqz Countries” (FAO. Rome) 50% water. Wood with so much water not
dry season.Properly dried firewood still con-
tains lo-15% water.
Storing
65
allows the potters to cut the wood into suit- Plan tiq trees
able sizes.The cutting and splitting of wood
is much easier while it is still fresh. Sticks In some areas there are large forests with
about 60 cm long and 3-5 cm thick are plenty of trees and it may seemthat there is
needed for the last hours of stoking, while no need to worry about :i lack of wood for
thicker ones will be fine until then. Split- fuel. However, evenpotters in theseareasmay
ting the wood makes it dry faster as does after only a short time find there is not enough
stacking the long sticks so that air can pass firewood becausethe demand for wood is so
through the piie. Bamboo is an excellent fuel great. The price of wood goesup as firewood
although it is usually reservedfor construc- is cut further and further away. A family
tion purposes. uses about 4000 kg of firewood each year
for cooking alone. Therefore, one single vii-
lage may soon use all the trees in the nearby
Fire hazard forest if no new trees are planted to replace
the ones which were cut and burned for fuel.
Potters often place the firewood for the next Even though the potter may face no trouble
firing on top of, or on shelves,above the kiln in getting firewood for the time being, these
during a firing (fig. 24 1). The heat from the fortunate conditions are unlikely to last for-
kiln dries out the wood completely thereby ever. If at all possible, potters should try to
further reducing the cooling effect of the secure their source of firewood by planting
moisture in the wood. However, great care their own trees.
must be taken to prevent the wood from In heavily populated regions land is scarce
catching fire. and expensive and so potters will be unable
Fig. 2-4 1: Split bamboo sticks are dried on top of u sloping tube kiln. -
This stack represents a year’s supply
Fi_e. 2-42: The big stack represents B family’s annual use of firewood for cooking (drawing from: Apro-
vecho-Institute. Fuel-Saving Cookstoves. GATE/Vieweg, 1984. p. 6).
to buy or lease land for growing trees. In which should be able to advise on which
other places, however, potters may through trees would be most suitable in a specitic
local authorities be able to lease fallow land area’.
where trees can be planted. Often local de-
velopment authorities offer seddlingsfree of 2.2.2 Agricultural waste
chargeto villagers.
It may seem an overwhelming task to start All agricultural waste products are bulky
planting a forest. but in fact the forest fuels. They take up a lot of spacecompared
does not have to be very large. Where a to the amount of heat they releaseon bum-
three-chamber kiln like the one at Champak- ing. The main attraction of waste products
nagar is fired every three weeks it will con- is their cheapness,trsnsportation often bemg
sume 40 tons of firewood annually. Azcord- the only cost. In some areas agricultural
ing to someestimates’ a forest covering i--2 waste products are already used for cooking
hectares of land will produce this amount or as fuel by local industry, whilst in many
of wood every year. other areas these by-products are just dump-
In tropical areasa tree such as a eucalyptus ed and are free for use.
grows so fast that it can be cut for firewood
after only two or three years. Some trees
will shoot again from the stem after cutting * 30 m3 of wood !solid volume) is the average
annual production per hectare ( lOOx 100 m) for
and so the trouble of replanting is dispensed B well managed plantation. (FAO Report: RAS/
with. SOlOOl, H;lngkok 1984).
The right choice of tree speciesfor growing 2 Further information ‘can be obtained from:
Coordinator. Wood Energy Programme, Fores-
firewood depends on local &mat,. and soils. try Department, FAO Rome. Via delle Terme
All countries have a forestry department 111Cxwalls, 0 1000 Rome, I My.
67
Sawdust rests. Peat can be described as the first step
in nature’s production of coal. It is normally
Sawdust has the sameheat value as the wood only covered by a thin layer of soil.
from which it was cut. It is an efficient fuel
when used with the right firing system (p. Winning
76). The main problem is to keep it dry be-
causeit soacksup moisture like a sponge. The peat contains about 90% water when it
is dug or rather cut. The soft massis cut into
Rice husks blocks (20x5~5 cm) which are first laid out
on the ground for drying. As soon as the
Milling of 66 kg of paddy produces 10 kg blocks can be handled they are stackedinto
of rice husks. The heat value is nearly as piles in order to acceleratetheir drying. Dry-
good as for sawdust but this fuel has a high ing may take several months anti the air-
ash content. Some rice mills bum the rice dried peat blocks will contain 20-30% mois-
husks for steam-powering the mill and dry- ture. Winning of peat requires only manual
ing the rice hulls and so they may only have tabour and a few tools.
a little left over to sell.
Heat value
Other vegetable wuste
The properties of peat are still close to those
,The following materials can be used during of firewood and peat can be burned on fire-
the initial firing of the kiln as an additional wood grates although it needsslightly lessse-
fuel: condary air compared to firewood. The heat
- Peanut hulls; very bulky but have the value of air-dried peat is close to that of fire-
sameheat value per kg as wood. wood.
- Bagasse;the crushed sugar cane after the
sugar juice is extracted. 130 kg sugar pro-
duces 100 kg wet bagasse.The bagassehas to 2.2.4 Lignite
dry for a couple of months. With 15% mois-
ture content it has a heat value close to fire- Lignite is the step between peat and real
wood. coal. Lignite may be brown or black and it
- Sisal; production of 1 kg sisalfibre leaves still has a wooden-like structure. Some ligni-
30 kg waste which after drying is a usable tes are cal!ed brown coal. The lignites differ
fuel. The roots of the sisal plant also burn considerably in their moisture contents and
very well. heat values with some being close to peat
- Straw from growing paddy, corn, etc. is and some resemblingreal coal.
often used for firing traditional unglazed
pottery and can he burned in the fireboxes Winning
of a pottery kiln provided rhe straw is
tightly bundled. Sometimes lignite or brown coal can be won
on a small scale by individuals as is the case
with peat. However, usually the lignite seams
2.2 3 Peat are covered with so much overburden that
the winning has to be left to commercial
Peat is a spongy mass of vegetable matter mining corporations. Lignite can be burned
formed by the decomposition of ancient fo- on CO31 grilteS.
68
300 million years ago ; 50 million years ago ; 50000 years ago 1
1
Fig. 243: Peat, lignite and coal are created by forests growing in ancient times. The starting point for coal
formation is peat and as this is compacted more and more it is converted into lignite and finally into coal.
Feat found today may be only a few thousand years old whereas lignite may be 50 million years old and
conI up to 300 million years.
Storage Saggars
Lignite is very friable and is therefore especi- Due to the high sulphur content in coal,
ally likely to break up into small pieces if it glazed ware has to be protected in sag-
is subjected to cycles of wetting and drying. gars. The consumption of coal when firing
Small fractions and dust cannot burn on the ceramic ware III kilns depends on the size of
gratesand so the lignite should be stored in a kiln, the firing temperature and the setting
dry place. type, but it variesrough!y from 0.3-i .5 tons
of coal per ton of ware.
Coal representsthe last stageof the transfor- Coal is more economical to buy in large
mation of vegetable matter and the term quantities. So several potters may save
coal covers a wide range of heat values and money by buying their coal together. Coal
moisture contents. However, all coals have a does not need to be stored in a shed but
higher heat value and have less volatile mat- should be laid on clean ground. Coal oxidiz-
ter than the other solid fuels. Ash content es slowly wher, exposed to air and this pro-
variesfrom l-20% on average. cesswill heat up the cod. This heating may
69
cause the coal to ignite by itself if it is piled garagein Nevada’ was found to contain the
in large heaps. The preventive rule is not to following contaminants listed as parts per
pile the coal higher than 2 m, smaller piles million (ppmj:
being lesslikely to ignite than big ones.
iron 50
copper 18
2.2.6 Oil products chrome 7
aluminium 7
Somecountries havemany different types of lead 500
oil products while others only a few; there- tin 5
fore, only the most common are mentioned silica 5
here. Petrol cannot be jrsed for firing kilns
because it burns explosLvely.Kerosene is an Some people regard burning of waste oil as a
excellent fuel but is normally more expen- health hazard especially because of its lead
sive than other oil products though in some content. However, the quoted amount of
countries it is subsidizedby the government. lead equals that in petrol while earthenware
Diesei oil and light fuel oil are rather similar clay may contain more than 320 ppm and
when used for firing. Fuel pil is a very paper for candy-wrapping may contain as
powerful fuel with a heat value of about much as 7125 ppm. A potter firing with
30% above good coal. However, it Is also the waste oil will be no less safe than if he had
most expensive fuel and will in many cases spent the day at the road side. At Bujora
not be economical for potters. Pottery in Tanzania the waste oil gave a
pleasan%shine to the unglazed clay. This was
Wasteoil probably due to the contaminants of the
waste oil.
Waste oil is as powerful as fuel oil yet
cheaper. Waste oil can be obtained from Pollution
garages, bus and transport companies and
railways which are left with a lot of lubrica- Oil and especiallywaste oil are dirty to work
tion oil after servicingtheir vehicles.In some with, and a more serious problem is that oil
countries the lubrication oil is recycled, can cause great harm to the drinking water
whereas in others no use is made of it and so in the whole area if it is allowed to leak into
it can be obtained for a low price. Some the soil. Therefore, great care must be taken
power-generating plants produce large not to spill oil on the ground, and if this
amounts of waste oil when cleaning heavy does occur, it should be cleaned immediate-
oil for their diesel engines. This type of ly. If sawdust is always kept close by, it can
waste oil has a high viscosity and is often be used to soak up the oil, and afterwards it
mixed with water. Waste oil should be can be used for preheating the tireboxes.
screenedbefore use. A 16 or 24 mesh screen The ground where screening and filling of
is fine enough for drip-plate burners. the oil tank takes place should be coveredby
a layer of cement or bricks in order to pre-
Conturninan ts vent the oil leaking into the soil.
70
-- - -
Fig. 2114: Firing of a tube kiln in Thailand. An attendant stokes bamboo from each side.
It is not possible to learn how to fire a kiln When watching a small fire we notice that the
successfully from a bcok. That has to be firewood slowly disappears leaving a little
done by participating in many. many firings ash and that the fire needsplenty of air. But
as the firemaster’s assistant. However, it is what is behind the magic? Wood and other
helpful to understand the basic principles
involved in kiln firings.
2.3.1 Combustion
:
It is common knowledge that firewood
bilms as doescharcoal. oil, coal and gas.The
burning process is called combustion. AU
these fuels were originally green plants; fire-
wood and charcoal are made from present-
day trees but oil. coal and gashaveoriginated
from thick forests uhich covered the earth
many hundreds of thousandsof years ago.
Ffg. 2-45: Wood (carbon) comhincs wirh air (oxy-
gen) and heat iq the result. D
fuels are mainly made of a material called given off. These gaseswill bum if they come
carbon and the burning process takes place into contact with open flames and this tem-
when the carbon combines with the oxygen perature is therefore named the flash point
in the air and forms a new material called of wood. f:s;;:;‘;;, ‘UL,c;je
ga;ses,A$!!-cpu\13;;t
carbon dioxide. The process produces a lot open flames only bum at temperatures
of heat. The carbon dioxide escapes and above 600 “C. This is called the ignition tem-
only ash is left. Ash is the part of the fuel perature. The temperature of wood flames
which cannot burn. are 1100 “C while fuel oil has a flame tempe-
rature of 2080 ‘C.
Fhh point
Solid, liquid, gas
When a piece of wood is heated, initially
water and carbon dioxide are given off. Firewood and coal are solid matter while oil
Above 280 “C volatile gasesin the wood are is liquid. However, the burning will only
take place when carbon is in the form of
gas. All materials exist in three different
Fig. 2-46: Tempcraturcs of flnsh point, ignition forms depending on the temperature. The
and flame of wood
three forms of water are well known (fig.
1too'c t’-me
-leripefciiure ICE
(x?LID)
.
600”~ ky lion
impercliwe
72
247). So first we will have to turn our fuel
into a gaseous form and then mix it with
air. This is the job done in the fireboxes of
pottery kilns and it is done differently ac-
cording to the type of fuel. For the potter,
mainly three types of fuel are of interest:
firewoocl, coal and oil.
fiimary/secondazy air
In fig. 249 air enters at the bottom of the Fig. Z-50: Fireclay bars made as long solid fire-
bricks
firebox, passes over the embers and goes
through the grate. Reaching the firewood
it helps to burn the carbon gas being releas- A mousehole letting air into the bottom of
ed rapidly due to the high temperature in- the ash pit can regulate the thickness of the
side the firebox. Most of this air, primar? embers. The grate for firewood should be
czir. is used to bum the charcoal and often about 15-,215% of the floor area of the kiln
there will be too little air left for the volatile chamber, the 15% sufficient for firings up to
gasesreleasedfrom the tirewood. Secondary 1100 “C and the 25% for 1300 “C and above.
air entering above the grate ensurescomplete
combustion for these volatile gases.By thus
dividing the air inlet less air is needed and Firirzg techtzique
thereby lesscooling of the kiln takes place.
The volatile gasesrepresentup to 30% of the Firing is started in the ash pit with big pieces
heat value of the firewood. In casesufficient of firewood so that firing begins slowly and
primary air passesthe fuel the combustion it also helps in building up a good layer of
will be complete, but it would mean an ex- embers. Later the firewood is placed on the
cessof air being 50%100%of the air used for grate and the secondary air inlet is opened.
combustion. This excessis reduced to 30- A properly designed kiln should be easy to
50% when secondary air completes the com- take up to about 1000 “C but in order to
bustion. save fuel care should still be taken to con-
trol the intet of air and keep a steady stok.
ing going. From 1100 “C to 1250 “C the kiln
(hre needs full attention. After stoking flameswill
come out of the blow-holes on top of the
The wood is spreadout evenlyon the grate so kiln chamber and the atmosphere inside the
that air has easy accessto it. For firewood the kiln chamber will be cloudy. The stoking will
distance between the grates shou!d be 15.--- cause the temperature to fall and the kiln
JO cm so that the wood will fall mto the ash will be in strong reduction (p. 116). While
pit as soon as it is nearly burned out. Other- the wood burns the temperature will rise and
wise it will block the accessof primary air. the atmosphere inside will become clearer.
The grate can be made of iron bars but they As soon as the inside is clear, stoke again!
will soon wear out and grates made of fire- This technique produces an oxidizing firing.
clay bars (fig. J-50) are more durable. The Reducing firing is done by stoking as soon as
ash pit should be as big as or bigger than the the blowhole names have gone. Another
spaceabove the grate becausea thick layer of point is to keep the grate covered with a thin
embers is needed to preheat the primary air. layer of firewood all the tipe. That way air
74
Fia. 2-51: Iron arates will last lonrter if they can be removed after firing has been finished (F. Olsen “The
Kin Book” f&ire wood kiln, p. l?8).
is not rushing through the open spaceon the way round (fig. 2-52). The firewood is fed
fire grate. This would cool the kiln; only ten from the top and the box over the hob can
minutes’ neglect might cost an hour’s extra be filled up so that the firebox is kind of
firing. Near the end of the firing thinly split self-feeding.
firewood is used. This burns very fast and
stoking will need to be done almost continu-
ously by throwing in pieces wherever wood Fig. 2-52: Hob-tirebox
has burned out. However, the last firewood
split should have burned out before a new
one is thrown on top of it, otherwise the
firebox and the ash pit will become choked.
Stoking is done through a small hole not
allowing in excessair.
Hub firebox
75
steps -where the fuel is burning (fig. 2-54).
This system needs constant attention to en-
sure proper flow of the fuel evenly over the
whole grate area. Otherwise areas without
enough fuel will bum through and let in cold
air. The system requires a rather big grate
area compared to kiln size but can be used
for smaller kilns fired up to 1000 “C. (A
grate measuring 40 x 100 cm fired a 1 m’
kiln to 1100 “C with rice husks in eight
hours consuming 650 kg husks.)
76
Fig. 2-55: Sawdust injection system
The sawdust bums very fast almost like ash will melt together with the glaze. Below
liquid fuels. The asheswill not remain in the 1250 “C the ash would produce a rough
firebox but will be blown throughout the layer on the glazed ware.
kiln. Some will settle on the walls and sag- A hole in the bottom of the chimney will
gars and form a glaze and the rest will leave help to provide air for burning up unburned
by the chimney. Firings to above 1250 “C sawdust. The sawdust burning produces a lot
may be done in open settings because the of sparkswhich may start a fire.
Fig. 3-56: Sawdust is fed to the suction pipe by a hopper. The speed of the auger can be used to regulate
the sawdust Intake.
Sawdust burner
Rice husks
Straw
Grates
78
IL. _ . .__ ~..F&#. -.-. -1
Fig. 240: Typical grate bars for coal. The thicken-
cd parts adjust the open space between the bars.
80
stead of flat ones.) Types with steep inclina- Reheated air
tion are called semi-gasproducers because
they are fmd with a thick bed of coal which Channels for secondary air are built into
produces a lot of half-burned carbon gas. both sides of the firebox so that when the
This gas is fully burned by an inlet of se- secondary air enters above the coal bed it is
condary air above the grate as in a firewood preheated (fig. 264). This will ensure a bet-
firing or inside the kiln in caselong flames ter combustion of the volatile gas, thereby
are desired. adding to a better fuel economy.
A semi-gasproducer is shown in fig. 2-63. Primary air enters under the grate and if the
The inclination of the grate is SO” and stok- coal bed is thicker than 10 cm, secondary air
ing is simply done by filling coal until the is needed too for complete combustion.
grate is covered with a coal bed of the desir- There are two basic stoking techniques:
ed depth. At full fling the whole stoking (1) Frequent stokings are made to ensure
channel can be kept full of coal which will that there is an even layer of coal all over the
slide down by itself. The problem with this grate and that no place is burned through re-
type of grate is to fire at a slow rate. That sulting in a rush of cold air entering the kiln.
can be overcome by covering the upper (2) Stokings are made by first pushing the
part of the grate with a clay slab during the burned coal to the back of the grate and
initial slow rising of the temperature. As then filling fresh coal in front.
more intense fue is needed the slab can be The first method requires more experience
drawn out. and more frequent stokings whilst the latter
Fig. 264: Channels in the walls of the firebox preheat the secondary air.
81
tends to be lesseconomi&l becauseit allows part of the grate should be at least 50 cm
too much cold air to rush through the grate above the floor of the ash pit.
during stoking. Every now and then clinkers
have to be cleared from between the bars Firebox hca tim
with the help of a bent iron rod, which is
inserted from under the grate. The fireboxes should be spaced evenly
around the kiln and the firebox may fit
Alternrite stoking within the outer wail due to its small size.
The closer to the kiln chamber the better
Each tune stoking is done the temperature and in the Khurja kiln (p. 51) the bagwall is
will drop as the fresh coal is heated and it made as a part of the inner wall, thus saving
will then gradually rise again. It is therefore setting space. The number of fireboxes for a
better to stoke the fireboxes alternately at particular kiln is found by dividing the grate
an even interval, i.e. say the kiln has four area of one firebox into the total desired
fireboxes and each needs stoking every grate area.
hour then stoking should be done to one
firebox in turn every 15 minutes instead of
all four once every hour. The interval be- 2.3.5 Oil drip firing
tween stoking is judged by looking at the
smoke from the chimney and at the coal bed A simple and reliable drip firing system for
on the grate. It dependson the type of grate oil can be made very cheaply. Oil is fed by
and firing technique. If stoking technique gravity to a drip-plate burner and the air is
(2) is used stoking is done every 1-l ‘I$ hours supplied by t,he natural draught of the chim-
up to 900 “C, then every 45 minutes to ney. Forced air oil-burner systemsare harder
1 hour up to 1200 “C and finally every to construct and descriptions of suchsystems
30 minutes. can be found in techmcal books (see biblio-
The most efficient combustion takes place &rapb).
when the burning rate is about 95-145 kg As for aU other firing systemsthe important
per 1 m2 grate area per hour (Singer p. 908). thing is to change the fuel into its gaseous
The Khurja down-draught kiln burns on form so that it will ignite.
average85 kg/m2 per hour.
Fig. 2-65 : Firebox for oil drip firing. The drip-plate
Firebox size burner is seen in front of the firebox. Pipes for oil
and water arc placed above the firebox.
The grate area of each firebox is within 0.3-
0.5 m’. The length is normally 80-90 cm.
The total gmte area of ail fireboxes should
fall between 12% and 25% of the floor area
of the kiln chamber’. 12-1576 would be suf-
ficient in most cases,while 25% would be
for fast firing and high temperature porce-
lam kilns. The top of the firebox arch should
be around 80 cm above the grate. The lower
t F. Singer, “Indwtrial Ceramics”. p. 91 1, quo-
tes: grate area in m2 chould be 10 ‘Z, of kdn
chamber volume in m3.
82
Water and oil Ccrbort clinker
ignition can be aided by adding water to the Besideshelping to atomize the oil the water
oil in the following manner: also reducesthe carbon clinker, which other-
wise would build up on the iron plates dur-
From a valve above the firebox the oil drips ing firing. The water works in the sameway
down onto a straw, which is fixed to another as for coal firing (p. 79) C + Hz 0 = CO + M2.
valve, from where a thin squirt of water runs This action cools the plates thus reducing
along this straw (fig. 2-66). The straw breaks corrosion but the energy is given back again
the surface tension of the water making when the carbon oxide and hydrogen
many small drops which mix more easily burn.
with the oil. This mixture drips onto a set of The amount of water is judged by watching
three iron plates placed inside the firebox. In the flame. It is normally about one part
the initial stagesof the firing the iron plates water to five parts oil.
must be kept hot by a small fire. Hitting the *
hot plates the water will explosively turn Sumer p&es
into steam. This action will pulverize the oil
into a mist which easily vaporizes and then The iron plates can be made from any type
bums. The system also works without water, of scrap iron, but the plates should not be
but the energy spent on heating the water is too thin otherwise they will wear out fast.
negligible compared to the improved com- The plates are either welded onto a frame
bustion of the oil. as shown (fig. 2-66) or they are placed in
The oil flows to the burners by gravity. A small wood fire is made in front of the
Heavy fuel oil and waste oil havehigh visco- burner plates. If it is a biscuit firing, smoking
should be finished before starting oil firing
Fig. 2-67: Oil Unk for separation of water and
heating of the fuel oil. In fw. 2-35 a photograph of as it will raise the temperature too fast.
such an oil tmk is shown. After about two hours the burner plates will
he hot enough to start the oil firing, but the
preheating fire should be kept going until
the firebox is hot.
Without a preheating fire the oil firing will
produce black smoke during the initial stages
of firing the kiln.
In the beginning when only a little oil is
dripping the tire will take place on the upper
plate. Later, the oil will flow to all the plates
and produce an intense white flame.
84
Take care that all the oil dripping onto the e.g. firewood. The last stagesof the firing up
plates is ignited and that a pool of oil does to say 1250 “C normally are the most diffi-
not form in the bottom of the flrebox. This cult when tiring with firewood. By changing
could cause an explosiveburning which may to the powerful fuel oil, the last few hundred
even blow out the fire. A mouseholeending centigradesare easily rcacheS..
in front of the burner will collect the excess
oil and by watching the outside end of the
mousehole (fig. 2-66) it is easy to discover
excess oil flow. The mousehole works as an
emergency reservoir and when the oil flow 2.3.6 Pressure burner system
has been adjusted the excess oil harmlessly
bums from the mousehole opening inside This burner system is based on the same
the firebox. principle as the kerosene pressurestove, only
expanded greatly in size(fig. 2-69). The bur-
Additional jicel ner is a double-walled cylinder of rolled
steel, welded together and fitted with an ori-
In order to save oil the firing up to say fice system. It works with kerosene, diesel
1100 “C can be carried out with cheaperfuels oil and light fuel oil.
Fig. 2-69: Small pressure burner with a pressurized fuel tank. The pressure is obtained with II bicycle pump.
Function principle Large burner
The kerosene or oil is fed to the bottom of For firing medium to large kilns it has been
the double-walled chamber either by gravity’ found that a burner with an inner diameter
or from a pressuretank. Initially the burner of 18 cm, 35 cm long and with 9x1.5 mm
is heated by placing an oil-soaked rag or saw- orifices is sufficient to heat 2-3 m3 of kiln
dust inside the cylinder. The heat will va- up to 1000 “C. For this size of burner fuel
porize the fuel in the evaporation chamber can be gravity-fed from a minimum height
and after a while the pressureof the oil gas of 4.5 m, which will be sufficient to counter-
wiU expel the vapours through the orifices act the back pressurein the burner.
(1.5 mm holes) at the rear of the burner. ’
The oil gas is ignited by the burning rag and Small burner
the burner is now operating. The flame of
-the gas from the orifices will heat up the Small kilns can be fired with a version of the
evaporation chamber and the fuel valve can burner that has an inner diameter of 4 cm,
slowly be opened fully. The rate of firing is length of 30 cm and a single 1.5 mm orifice.
controlled by the valve at the oil pipe. This sizewill be suitable for kilns up to 1 m3
(1000 “C). More burners can be added for
Rack pressure each additionaScubic meter of kiln volume.
Because of greater back pressure generated
The oil has to be under a certain pressureto in these small burners a pressurized fuel
counteract the back pressure generated in- tank must be used. Since a 1 m3 kiln can be
side the evaporation chamber. Otherwise the fired to 1000 “C using’approxhnately 25 1
vaporized oil gas will escapethrough the oil kerosene, a 50 1 tank pressurized with a
pipe instead of the orifices. The oil pipe is bicycle pump to about atmosphere3 will do.
fitted to slope downward from the burner This burner can be scaleddown by changing
to prevent gas bubbles from entering and the 1.5 mm orifice with a 1 mm orifice.
thereby blocking the oil pipe.
87
2.4 Heat transfer and draught solids is callsd conduction. Heat transferred
by conduction will take some time and so the
The hot combustion gaseswill, after leaving air outside the saggarswill at fmt be hotter
the fireboxes, passthrough the kiln chamber than inside where the pots are. This should
on their way to the chimney. The more be kept in mind when fling and is one
heat the combustion gases tr&lsfer to the reason for soaking the kiht at top tempera-
ware <while they pass, the more efficient is ture so that the temperature throughout the
the firing. If the gasesleaving through the kiln will even out.
top of the chimney are still very hot this
means that a lot of heat or fuel is being lost. Kiln walls
The transfer of heat takes place in three dif-
ferent ways: Heat will also pass through the walls of the
kiln and be wasted. The use of insulating.
firebricks for the inner wall will reduce this
2.4.1 Transfer of heat through air loss. The many small holes in insulating fire-
bricks will reduce the passagewaysfor the
Convection conduction of the heat. However, if the
holes are too big the air inside the holes will
Heat is transferred to the kiln walls and to have room to circulate and transfer the heat
the saggarsor kiln setting when the hot gases by convection (see fig. 143, p. 35). The
from combustion passthrough the kiln. Heat weight of the insulating bricks is less than
transferred in this manner by circulating air solid tirebricks and so the fuel that would be
is called convection. Increasing the speed of needed to heat that weight difference is also
the air (velocity) will result in the transfer of saved.
more heat.
Just as a river will run fast where it is narrow Finally heat can also be transferred by radia-
and more slowly where it widens, air streams tion from a glowing surface. The sun trans-
act in the sameway. Therofore, a half-filled fers its heat to the earth by radiation. The
kiln with a lot of space between the saggars more a surface is glowing the more heat it
would fire badly. For an efficient firing the will transfer to its surroundings. At the end
kiln should be set with many narrow pas- of a firing everything inside the kiln glows
sagesthrough which the hot. gaseswill pass white-hot and will radiate a lot of heat. This
quickly. radiation helps to even the temperature in-
side the kiln. The hotter parts will glow
more and,transfer heat to the cooler spots. A
2.4.2 Transfer of heat through solids soaking period will give this radiation time
to even out the temperature differences.
Conduction The insulating firebricks have here another
advantage over solid firebricks; as less heat
As the kiln setting becomes hot by heat escapesthr~& the insulating bricks their
transferred by convection this heat will also surface temperature wui become higher and
pass through the saggarwalls and reach the so they will radiate more heat back to the
pots inside. This transfer of heat through kiln setting.
88
Fig. 2-72: At red heat the kiln walls will radiate
heat back to the kiln setting.
Kilrl wash Fig. 2-73: The hot air in the chimney weighs much
less than cold air of the samevolume. The balance
illustrates this weight difference.
Some potters paint the inside of the kiln
with a feldspar mixture which will melt and
produce a shiny surface.This will add to the inside the chimney. The maximum weight of
reflection and radiation of the kiln wall and gases is pulled through the chimney when
will make a considerable difference especial- the temperature of the gasesis around 300 “C.
ly in smaller kilns. With higher temperatures more volume of
gasesis passingbut it weighs less.
The pull should be sufficient to create a
2.4.4 Natural dnugh t good draught through the fireboxes and the
kiln chamber.
Chimney
Chimney dimensions
One litre of hot air weighs lessthan one litre
of cold air. So hot air will rise following the Some general rules exist for the dimensions
same law of nature that makes a piece of of a chimney according to the size of the
wood ascend when it is immersed :in water. kiln. The following dimensions apply to high
This law is used to produce a draught or temperature firings and less height could be
pull of air in kilns by the help of a chimney. used for low temperature kilns:
The column of hot air inside the kiln weighs 3 m of chimney for every 1 m downward
less than a similar column of outside cooler pull plus 1 m of chimney for every 3.5 m ho-
air and this weight difference wilP produce rizontal pull.
a pull at the bottom of the chimney. The height of chimney for the kiln in fig.
.. 1 -.-?.>i; ;.,.
The force of the pull will increasewith in-
creasing height and volume of the chimney ‘+15
3 x 2.2 + --;3.5 = 7.6 tn.
and with increasing temperature of the gases
89
cl.5 m -224
Fig. 2-74: Kiln with downward pull of 2.2 m and
horizontnl pull of 3.5 m
Dampers
regulated by the use of dampers or by mak- Fig. 2-75: Three different types of dampers. Dam-
ing an opening at the bottom of the chimney pers arc placed between the outlet flue of the kiln
through which cold air will be drawn in and and the chimney.
causethe pull to slow down.
from the firebox up the kiln wall acrossthe
arch and down to the outlet flue’ .
Veluciry distance in m
The speedof gases=
seconds ’
The pull will be slow at the beginning of a The pull during wood firing is right when
firing but when the temperature in the flames and smoke come out of the blow
chamber is around 1100 “C the speed(velo- holes (a sign of back pressure) right after
city) of gases through the kiln should be stoking. If there Is no back pressure, damp-
1.2-- 1.5 m per second. This can be checked ers should be closed more to reduce the
by throwing an oil-soaked rag into the fire- draught.
box. The time taken for the black oil smoke
to come out of the chimney should be noted. 1 Ths method i\ quoted fram I-‘. Olsen, “The
The total distance covered by the gases is Kiln Book”, p. 53.
90
2.4.5 Flues 2.5 Kiln constructisn
The openings or channels carrying the gases 2.5.1 Site of the kiln
from the firebox to the kiln chamber (inlet)
and from the chamber to the chimney (exit) The site of the kiln should be selected care-
are called flues. The size of inlet and exit fully. At some stages of the firing a lot of
flues should be of equal but generoussize. smoke will develop and sparks from the
One litre of air at 20 “C will expand to 4.5 chimney could cause fires at nearby houses.
litres when heated to 1250 ‘C and so the cold If possible select a site for your kiln at a safe
air entering through the primary and second- distance from neighbours. The kiln site
ary air inlets needs4.5 times larger openings should be dry and preferably levelled above
after it has been heated in the firebox. the surroundings so that the kiln, its founda-
The size of the flues should be slightly bigger tion and flue system will not come under
than the cross-section of the chimney. An- water during rainy seasons.Ample space is
other measuresuggeststhat for each 1 m3 of needed around the kiln for stacking and
kiln chamber there should be about 600 cm2 drawing the ware, for storing saggarsor kiln
flue area. In any caseit is better to make the shelves and for storing fuel. Firewood is
flue area too big becauselater when the kiln especiallybulky (see fig. 2-76, p. 92).
is finished it is easy to reduce the flue size
but difficult to increaseit.
91
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Jo J2Ael aqwo1d I! ;tl!A\ SlaalfS3!lSCld :fjL-c ‘l%d
_ ,. .. ...
T-y’ ,:J.S
:..,- il.+, }‘yy ;I: .,:;-.‘,: -- ._ (. ’ (~
, ., ,.;, ;,,-- ,,,z:.,,; :’ ,.: 2
‘urg aql punortlamds agl dn flu ianj pun s~sSaos -puepeq~, u! III!? aqnl ad&-asauy3 :~L-z %J
2.5.3 Masonry rather to provide a level bed for the bricks
by filling up the space between irregularly
Mortar shapedbricks (fig. 2-80).
cutting
Round kiltls
Fig.2-88: The dome is restingon the outerwall.
Curved walls are found in circular kilns
which have proved very durable. A circular
inner lining can stand alone because the Wuil thickness
bricks are wedged together in the same
fashion as an arch and will not fatl into the Circular kilns with diameters up to 2 metres
kiln. So a curved wall does not need to be are made with a 10 cm inner lining, 2-3 me-
bonded with the outer wall. Instead a gap of tres with 15 cm and above 3 metres with
about 5 cm can be left between the inner 23 cm. The inner lining should preferably not
and outer wall. This gap can be filled with support the dome which instead is made to
ash or a mixture of 70% sawdust and 30% rest on the outer wall (fig. 2-88). That en-
clay (volume). A curved wall is laid in the ables the wall to be replaced while leaving
same manner as a straight wall. Normally the dome in place and the wall, only carry
only header coursesare used. ing its own weight, can be made from light
insulating bricks. The outer, dome-support-
ing wall should have twice the thickness of
Fig. 2-87: Cross-cut of a circular kiln wr~ll the inner lining and is made from ordinary
red bricks laid in an ordinary mud/sand mor-
tar.
2.5.6 Arches
Skewbacks
construction of arches. The number of
bricks and their degree of tapering can be The arch is resting on a skewback at both
calculated (see appendix). The main point is ends. The wetght of the arch is transferred to
that the outer size of the arch bricks is big the walls through the skewbacks. These are
ger than the inner size so that each brick is made from square bricks cut to the proper
prevented from falling in. That means the angle (fig. 2-91). The skewbacks should be
higher the rise of the arch the stronger it is. laid very carefully because if they fail the
Normally a rise of 20 cm for each 100 cm arch will come down.
span is reasonablefor roofing kiln chambers.
(12.5-X cm rise per 100 cm span is within Fig. 2-91: Skewbacks cut from square bricks
normal good practice.)
However, in fireboxes, especially for oil fir-
ing, the firebricks are under severe condi-
tions and a rise nearly half of the span is
advisable if the iirebricks are of poor qua-
lity. The firebricks will shrink causing the
arch to sink and especially the joints are
exposed to the fluxing action of ashes.
Fig. 2-90: Firebos arch after construction. and
Ister after firing shrinkage of the firebricks has
taken place. The initial high rise saved the fireboa
arch from collapsing due to firing shrinkage.
Arch from e
97
Fig. 1-95: Laying the m ii
L
ten tre
Bonded arch
98
Arch spans and thickness 2.5.7 Domes
The thickness of the arch depends on the Circular kilns are roofed with a dome. A
span and rise of the arch, the temperature of dome is a more stable structure than an or-
firing and the quality of the firebricks. The dinary arch and requires no supporting
highes?temperatures are reached at the out- frame for its cor.struction. The radius and
let of the fireboxes and the arch here should. rise of the dome circle are calculated as for
be 23 cm thick. Generally, solid heavy fire- arches (see appendix). Domes are normally
brick archesspanninglessthan 1.5 m are laid made with a rise of 20-25 cm per 100 cm
with 12 cm thickness,up to 4 m spans23 cm span. A stick’ with the length of the radius
thickness and above that 34 cm is used. In- and thickness of the dome is tied at the
sulating firebricks are lighter and thickness centre of the dome circle (see fig. 2-99) in
above 23 cm is not used for spans even such a way that it can move both around
above 5 m’ . and up and down. Take care that the stick is
really pivoting at the centre of the dome and
that it will not become displacedduring con-
t Norton: “Refractories” p. 702 struction.
Fig. 2-98: Construction of 3 dome
99
Laying the dome
Brick shtrpe
2.5.11 In.cdation
Fig. 2-108: Expansion jomts in a kiln wall. Side
elevation.
During firing heat goesthrough the kiln wall
Fig. 2-109: The same expansion joints as in f@. and is lost. Heat goes through solid matter
2-108 seen from the top of the wall
(conduction) but is stopped by air. Good
heat insulation means as much air as pos-
sible but the air should be in small .pockets,
otherwise the air will rotate and thereby
transfer the heat (convection). The most
practical sohition is an insulating firebrick
wall backed up by ordinary bricks. In some
2.5.10 Expansion joints cases a gap of about 5 cm can be left be-
tween the inner and outer wall. This gap can
The firebricks might expand OS-l% each be tilled with some very light loose mate-
time the kiln is fired and they will shrink liSltS.
again while cooling. In small kilns (1 m3)
this is of no concern but in bigger kilns the Loose layer
expansion might cause the wall to crack and
bulge if the construction is made too tight. This can be a mixture of (by volume) 30%
Joints, ‘/2 cm thick, are made without mor- plastic clay and 70% sawdust. The sawdust
tar for each 1 m length of wall. Such expan- will slowly bum out leaving insulating air-
sion joints are made starting from the cor- pockets. Ash is an even better insulator, but
ners in numbers according to the length of unless the ash has been calcined it will lose
the watt. much of its volume after a few firings. A
simple solution is to leavea few loose bricks
Steelwork in the top of the wall to allow for the refi-
ling of ash. If a loose insulation is used
However, the expansionjoints are only need- spyholes and vent holes should be lined so
ed for kilns firmly supported by steelwork. that the insulation does not fill the holes. A
Free-standing kilns without steelwork will similar loose layer can be laid on top of
just expand as a whole and fall back again arches and a layer of flat tiles may be used
and circular kilns with an insulating layer to cover the insulation for protection.
witt need no expansionjoints. If the kilns are
laid with self-madefirebricks these will often
shrink additionally during the first firings of
the new kiln. Only if the firebricks have 2.5.12 Maint.enunceof kilns
been fired at a much higher temperature will
no more shrinkage occur. This additional Nearly all kilns show cracks after the first
shrinkage makes room for the normal ther- few firings and it does not mean that the
Fig. 2-l 10: Look out for hrlcks falling in and refill
mortar in loose joints.
Some workshops glaze the raw pots and fire Fig. 2-l 14: Stacking like this may curse breakage.
them only once while others prefer to fire
the green pots without glaze (biscuit firing),
then glaze the pots qnd fire them once more
(glaze firing).
Stacking
106
-
Height .of settittg placed separately either on kiln slabs or in
saggars.
The height of the stacked pots depends on Provided the glazed pots are not harmed by
the quality of the clay and the types of pots. direct exposure to combustion gases and
The green strength of highly plastic clays is ashes,kiln shelvesare the best solution. For
much greater than sandy clays and thin the same space a kiln setting with slabs car-
green pots will break before thick-walled ries more pots compared to saggars,which
ones. In case the pots cannot be stacked are also much heavier. The ratio of kiln
from bottom to top without breaking, the furniture to ware is about 4 : I for saggars
\ pots can be set in smaller stacks supported but only 2 : I for slabs. Sometimes saggars
by kiln shelvesresting on props (fig. 2-l 13). are set as a bagwall (fig. Z-30) behind which
The same persons should always both load kiln shelvesare placed.
and draw the pots from the kiln so that they
can learn from their mistakes. Kiln wash
Pots with lids such as teapots and jars should Pots made from clay which does not soften
be fired with the lid in place so that the lid or warp during firing can be supported on
and the pot will Et together after firing and only a few points. Stilts and spurs are used
the colours will be the same.This is especi- for setting pots with glazed bottoms and
ally important for high temperature firings. they can also be used for placing glazed pots
The faces of contact on the lid and the pot inside each other (fig. 2-120).
should be free of glaze and should be paint- Flatware such assaucers,dinner platesor tiles
ed with a silica powder mixed with glue. can be placed vertically and supported at the
top with thimbles (fig. 2-122). These can
Sticking also be used for stacking bowls or plates
horizontally in which case a cover for sup-
The simplest way of placing glazed ware in porting the stack of thimbles is helpful (see
the kiln is to remove any glaze from the foot page 29 f.). Bowls and plates could also be
of the pots and set the pots directly onto the placed rim to rim and base to base if their
shelf or saggar. However, at high tempera-
ture firings, especially when stoneware clays
Fig. 2-120: Setting with stilts
are used, the pots tend to stick to the kiln
furniture. To avoid sticking one of the fol-
lowing methods should be used:
Fig. 2-l 19: Freshly roiled balls are stuck to the pot
and It is then set in the kiln.
108
rims and bottoms are left unglazed. if bowls
are made to accurate measure and with a
thick rim, they can also bc stacked hanging
inside each other (fig. 2-123).
‘Kissirlg”
109
Fig. 2-125: Cups are set in suggi1r.s
outside the kiln.
other inside. Before pIacing the saggar its Fig. 2-126: Fireclay bar supports a bung of saggars.
outside base should be dusted to prevent
any dust settling on the glazed ware in
the lower saggar. Each stack of saggars,
called a bung, should be set straight and not
rock. The bungs are set a bit apart to allow
a proper draught through the setting and if
the bungs are tall a few lumps of clay are
squeezedinto the gap between the bungs so
that they form an interlocking bridge sup-
port for each other. In casethe firing tempe-
rature is close to the softening point of the
saggarsspecial fireclay bars could be set be-
tween the bungs and the kiln wall for addi-
tional support (fig. 2- 126).
A wad of ciay laid on top of the caggarrim
(fig. 2-127) will seal the sapparand provide
a safer setting if the saggarrims and bottorns
are not even. New green saggarsshould only
be used for the upper 3-5 layers of saggars.
110
on one side and large pots on the other side
of the kiln chamber could result in uneven
firing temperatures. Slabs that saggedin the
former firing are placed with +Lheirsag up-
wards in the next firing.
The firing is the last step in the production At each firing there should be only one per-
of pottery and all of the potter’s previous ef- son in charge, the firemaster. The firemaster
forts during production may be either supervisesall work from setting the kiln, fir-
rewarded or ruined in this final process. ing, cooling until drawing. All major deci-
sions such as when smoking is over or when
the firing is finished are taken by the fire-
master. A kiln during firing needs constant
attention, and even when using a convenient
Firing mu tine fuel such as oil the firing process must be
carefully watched. When a kiln is fired with
Au potters feel excitement and anxiety solid fuels such as coal or wood a steady
when opening their kiln and inspecting the stoking is needed. A good firemaster listens
outcome of the firing. However, it is possible to the breathing of the firing and checks the
to reduce the anxiety once a successful conditions in the fireboxes and inside the
firing routine has bef=a developed. Each chamber many times every hour.
kiln has its own peculiarities and it often
takes up to ten firings to break in a new Kiln log-book
kiln and learn its secrets. This should be
done in a systematic way and recorded so Each firing should be recorded in detail in a
that mistakes are not repeated and experi- log-book, so that afterwards it is possible to
ence is gained from successes. twacethe reasonsbehind possible misfirings.
112
The following things should be noted down:
- repairs or alterations carried out,
- number and type of ware in the kiln,
- pattern of setting of saggars,slabs and
2.7.1 Biscuit firing
Smoking
1
pots* Even if the pots felt dry when they were
- condition of fuel (such as wet firewood), loaded into the kiln they will still hold some
- date and time of lighting fires in the dif- water. Pots are normally dried in the open
ferent fireboxes, air, but air always contains some water and
- smoking time, during the rainy season the air can become
- start of real firing, very humid. The air left in the space be-
- stoking intervals and rise of temperature, tween the clay particles contains the same
- bending of cones or drawing of test amount of water as the air outside. This pore
pieces, water will expand explosively if it turns to
- position of dampersand draught, steambefore leaving the pot.
- condition in fireboxes during firing, Very plastic clay has small clay particles,
- finishing time, which will only leave small openings for the
- cooling tinre and time of opening spy pore water to escapethrough. Sand or grog
holes and kiln door, added to such a clay will make big holes
- fuel consumption. through which the water can more easily
pass.Therefore, sand and grog will iinprove a
While. the ware is being drawn, it should be clay which tends to crack during drying or
noted where the different pots were placed smoking.
in order to get a picture of where the kiln The pore water will only dry out when the
was too hot or too cold. Finally the ware pots are heated to .temperatures of 50-
could be rated as first-, second- and third- 100 “C inside the kiln. If this heating goes
class and the estimated value of the fired too fast the pore water will turn to steam
pots should be recorded too. before it can get out of the pots. The pres-
sure of the steam will causethe pot to crack
After that the firemaster and the firing crew or evenexplode (fig..2-131).
should discuss the outcome of their firing Therefore, a long period of very slow heating
and they should try to pinpoint problems is needed until all of the pots are completely
and decide upon how these problems could dry. This period is called smoking and it
be solvedat the next firing. Some of the pro- should count for approximate one third of
blems may originate from an earlier stagein total firing time. That means 3-12 hours or
the pottery production. even more depending on the nature of clay,
types of ware and size of kiln, The first firing
Only by experience can a successfulfiring of a new kiln could mean smoking for days
routine be establishedand this sort of practi- to enable the kiln itself to completely dry
cal understanding is difficult to gain from out.
books. However, it is hoped that some of the
instructions given here will be of use for the
firing itself. This chapter dealswith tlie gene- Vent holes
ral techniques of operating kilns. Information
on how to stoke the fuel and operate the During smoking a very gentle fire is kept in
fireboxes is given in the previous chapter: a few or only one firebox and in the begin-
Combustion and Fireboxes. ning this fire may even be placed outside the
113
pore water
d)
firebox mouth (fig . Z-132). All spyholes and Fig. 2-132: The fire is in this casekept outside the
vent holes are left open during smoking to firebox until the water smoking period is over.
let out the resulting steam before it conden-
sesat colder spots of the setting.
It must be emphasized: GO slow. The kiln
will contain the result of weeks of hard work
and it is very easyto ruin ii at this stage.
Condensed water
114
Ceramic chnge A black core in a broken piece of a biscuit-
fired pot is a sign of’ unburned carbon.
The temperature inside the kiln on com-
pletion of smoking should be 120-200 “C Top temperature
and then the real firing can start. The spy-
holes and vent hples should be closed, and At around 800 “C the clay starts to harden.
the firing time, from the end of smoking un- The clay hardens as soda, potash, lime and
til a dark red colour is visible inside the kiln, other impurities in the clay begin to melt,
should take more than four hours. Between thereby glueing the clay particles together.
350-700 “C a ceramic change takes place, This will give strength to the clay body and
which permanently changes the plastic clay more so as the temperature rises. ?Gs pro-
into something rock-like that can never cess is called vitrification. Tradition‘4 pot-
again be softened by water and formed into tery fired in pit kilns is only fired up to this
a pot. The clay particles contain water in temperature. Ceramic ware that is going to
their crystal structure (Al2 O3.2Si02 -2H20). he glazed after a first firing is normally not
This chemically bound water is released fired higher than 900-1000 “C becausethe
from the crystal structure and changes the pots should remain porous for the applica-
crystals so that they cannot go back to their tion of glazes. Earthenware always has pro-
former shape. This chemically bound water blems with crazing of its glazes.A higher bis-
amounts to 14% of bone-dry clay and its re- cuit tiring reduces the problem but also in-
lease will normally not cause the pots to creases the danger of overfiring the biscuit
crack. But the free silica or sand in the body ware. For such firings the top temperature
expands suddenly at 573 “C and both ac- should be judged by the help of cones (p.
tions combined may causeproblems. 120) or by drawing a test piece and checking
The ceramic change is at its peak around its ability to absorb water.
600 “C. Chemi&y bound water from with- How.ever,normally the firemaster can judge
in the clay particles is dn;len out and often when the desired biscuit temperature is
white stearn can’ bsl seen at the chimney at reached by the colour inside the kiln. Stok-
this point. If the firing goestoo fast, around ing is then stopped and when the inside is
600 “C this rapid releaseof water may also clear of combustion gasesthe dampers are
cause the pots to crack. closed.
Burn-out
The air intake of the fireboxes. spyholes and
The carbon or vegetable matter in the clay vent holes should be sealedcompletely after
will start to bum out when a red glow is firing and the kiln left to cool by itself. It is
reached, but the burning out will only be tempting to speed up cooling, but if the kiln
completed at around 900 “C. Clays contain- is cooled too fast pots may crack. The clay
ing a lot of carbon should be given a tiring contracts suddenly at 573 “C and if the cool-
with excessair from 800-900 “C. A fast bis- ing is uneven it will causecracking. The free
cuit firing may close the surface of the clay silica (quartz) of the clay changesits crystal
before all the carbon gets out. This may later shape suddenly at 573 “C. When heated free
cause blistering of the glaze and the clay silica will expand and when it cools it
may even bloat at higher temperaturesfrom shrinks again and this may causecracking of
zhe pressure of the trapped carbon gases. the pots during cooling. During firing this
115
However. when firing large pots it is prudent
to slow down the firing around 573 “C.
Apart from this the firing can proceed at a
steady rate until the maturing temperature
of the glaze is reached.
Oxidizingjredrrcing
____-I_
’ F. Olsen, The Kiln Book, n, 131, describesfiring
to cone 10 (1300 “C) in four hours without
problems. This is possible wiih some clays pro-
vided highquality kiln slabs are used.
Rust is iron + oxygen or iron oxide and is dition of the glazed ware inside the kiln. If
present in most clays. A clay with a small the glaze surface is still rough the firing
iron oxide content will fire to a yellow‘or should be continued. From the look of the
buff colour when the firing is kept oxidizing test piece the firemaster can judge when to
throughout, whereasit wilI turn to a grey co- draw the next test piece. It may be necessary
lour if the fire is reducing. What happens Is to reduce or stop stoking while drawing and
that the reduction firing produces a ‘lot of care should be taken to draw the tests quick-
half-burned carbon that has been starved of ly in order not to cool the kiln unnecessari-
air. On its way through the kiln this carbon ly.
picks up the oxygen in the iron oxide and
the “rust” is turned back to its original Soaking
metal, iron, which is grey.
It is more economical to keep a lightly oxi- Tests should be drawn both from’ the top
dizing or neutral firing throughout as a re- and bottom part of the setting. If the tempe-
duction firing means that some fuel is .not rature is uneven the maturing temperature
being completely burned. If the special tiol- should be kept for one or two hours, allowing
our effect of a reduction firing is desired it the glaze all over the kiln to melt properly.
should be done at the right time. For chang- Such a period is called soaking.
ing the colour of the glaze the reducing fir-
ing should be started at lOO-150 ‘C below Cones
the maturing temperature of the glaze,
whereas for changing the colour of the body A set with three different bending tempera-
reduction will only be effective before the tures of cones can provide a warning so that
covering glazestarts to melt. when the first cone bends it indicates that
The firing is kept oxidizing until the right there is only 30 “C to go before reaching
temperature for reduction is reached. Reduc- maturing temperature. If, for example, the
tion is then started by letting in less Gr.at cone at the bottom ipyhole is not bending
the fireboxes and by partly closing the dam- at the same time as the upper cone the fire-
pers. Reduction is in process when flames master can start stoking more slowly in
come out of the spyholes. However, a heavy order to allow the bottom temperature to
reduction is not needed and is a waste of catch up with the top. The maturing tempe-
fuel. For ware that has not been biscuit-fired rature is reached when the second cone
reduction should not be started before the bends. The last cone, with a bending tempe-
temperature is above 1000 “C when all car- rature 30 “C above the maturing point,
bon in the clay has been allowed to bum should not bend but gives the firemaster a
out. warning in case the temperature should rise
during the soaking period. ’
Test draw
Finishing . *
The firemaster should be able to judge the
approximate temperature of the kiln by the When the firemaster, from the look of test
colour of the glow inside. When this colour draws and cones, feels confident that the
indicates that the maturing temperature is glazes have matured the firing can be stop-
soon to be reacheda test piece from the kiln ped. The stoking of fuel is stopped and the
should be drawn using a crooked iron rod (p. dampers are left open until the inside of the
119). The glazed test piecewill show the con- kiln is clear of combustion gases. The
117
will have a sharp edge because at this low
temperature the glaze had solidified when
the body cracked.
The problem occurs often with stoneware,
which is fired to 1250-1300 “C. Saggarsand
slabs may suffer even more because they
have developed a higher content of crysto-
bailite due to their many cycles of firings.
118
Remediesare: the kiln, is seen at 470 “C but during day-
a) slower cooling around 230 “C (and light a red colour may not be seen before
573 “C), around 600 “C. The higher the temperature,
b) to reduce silica (sand) in the clay body by the brighter the colour becomesas shown in
substituting grog, the table.
c) to add more feldspar to the clay body. The experienced firemaster will be able to
The feldspar will fuse together with the free accurately judge the temperature by its co-
silica and crystobahite and the resulting glass lour. This skill is one of several additional
will not havesudden shrinkagepoints. sensesdeveloped during countless hours of
Ah potters are eagerto seethe result of their tending firings and even a firemaster who is
work but, if they cannot wait for the kiln to fortunate enough to have other more so-
cool slowly, only broken pots may be the phisticated measuring methods such as those
reward for their haste. described below should compare these with
the colour reading before trusting them
completely.
2.8, Temperature measurement
The temperature inside the kiin cannot be Glazed test pieces made from the same clay
measured with ordinary mercury-in-glass body and with the same glaze as the rest of
thermometers above 550 “C. Thermometers the ware fued in the kiln can be used to
may still be useful for measuring tempera- judge when the glaze has matured. The test
tures during smoking and cooling periods pieces should be placed close to the spyholes
and they can be used to read the tempera- from where they can be drawn out with the
ture of the flue gasesin the chimney. help of an iron rod (fig. 2-138). When the
colour indicates that the tiring is close to
completion the firemaster draws a test piece
2.8.2 Colour and from the extent of fusion of the glaze
the condition of the rest of the ware is re-
The colour inside the kiln is a good indicator vealed. The colour of the glaze though may
of the temperature. The lowest visible red, differ from that of the finished ware. The
which is visible only when it is dark outside test pieces can be shaped as rings (fig.
2-137) or can be small cups with a hole in
Colour of temperature “C the bottom for easy fetching.
119
2.8.4 Cones
120
Setting of cones
Heat-work
121
Fig. Z-140: Pyrometer and test draws do. Furthermore, a pyr. me-
ter may fail.
2.8.6 Self-madecones
P t
compensating
wire their years of manufacture are years apart
This is only possiblewith avery strict control
of raw materials and production. Even so,
cones are inexpensive and so it would nor-
mally not make sense for potters to make
For temperatures up to 1100 “C the joined cones themselves.However, in many remote
wires are made from 90% nickel f 10%chro. areas, or where overseasimports are diff-
mium for the positive wire and 98% nickel + cult, cones are often not available and pot-
2% aluminium for the negativewire. ters could produce them in their own work-
These metals are usually cheap but for tem- shop.
peratures up to 1500 “C the two wires need
to be made from very expensive materials: Cone body
platinum (negativewire) and 87%platinum +
13%rodium (positive wire). It takes patience to find the right mixture of
The wire leading from the thermocouple to clay, sand and melters (fluxes) which will
the pyrometer is made from metals electri- bend at the desired temperature. The first
cally similar to the ones used in the thermo- problem is to get raw materials that do not
couple and if ordinary wire is used the pyro- differ much from batch to batch.
meter will not be accurate.
A pyrometer shows the actual temperature Clay
and is able to show the firemaster how fast
the temperature is rising as well as the rate A pure kaolin clay which should contain the
of cooling. It is a very helpful instrument same proportion of sand and clay with each
but is expensiveand spareparts can be diffi- batch is the most reliable. Alternatively a
cult to get. Therefore, its use in many coun- stoneware clay or the plastic production clay
tries will be limited to pottery training cen- of the workshop can be used. Clay with a
tres and bigger factories. high iron content is lesssuitable becausethe
iron oxide acts as a melter in a reduction fir-
Warrhg ing but not so in an oxidizing firing.
122
up the cone mixture so that it is less likely
to crack during drying. Cone USa, iOO0 “C
Potash feldspar 10
Melters Talc 6
Kaolin 22
Melters (fluxes) which lower the bending Quartz, silica sand 20
temperature are added to the mixture of Whiting 8
clay and sand. Melters such as feldspar, whit- Borax 34
ing (or limestone) and talc are sufficient for
the higher temperatures above 1200 “C. Be- Potash feldspar 8
low that, melters such as borax or boric acid Talc 6
are added. Potashand soda can replace these Stoneware clay 29
if they arc not available.P\)tash,soda, borax Quartz, silica sand 16
and boric acid are all soluble in water. When Whiting 8
these materials are added directly to a moist Borax 33
cone body they will to. some degree leach
out of the cone body and settle on the sur- Cone la, I1 00 “C
face of the cones. This will cause the cones 18
Potash feldspar
to bend at higher temperatures than intend- 3
Talc
ed. The materials could be made insoluble 22
Kaolin
by melting them together with the silica 32
Quartz, silica sand
sand, feldspar, whiting and talc of the colic 10
Whiting
body and then, after crushing the resulting 15
Borax
glass to a fine powder, adding this to the
clay. That is a laborious processand a simpler 19
Potash feldspar
method would be to mix and form the cones 2
Talc
in a semi-dry state by adding a glue such as 27
Stoneware clay
starch or gum arabic. 27
Quartz, silica sand
Whiting 10
C0t1.cmiuntres 15
Borax
There are many factors determining the Cone 7,1230 “C
melting point of a ceramic mixture besides
Potash feldspar
the proportion of the various materials in
Kaolin
the mixture. Therefore, the cone body re- Quartz, silica sand
cipes given next column are only meant as a
Whiting
starting point for further experimenting.
Kaolin, whiting (limestone, chalk), talc and Potash feldspar
feldspar all contain silica in varying degrees. Stoneware clay
One kaolin clay may be very pure while an- Quartz, silica sand
other source may contain high amounts of
Whiting
silica sand. These recipes are based on pure
kaolin while the recipesusing stoneware clay
All recipes by weight.
have smaller amounts of silica sand in them
to compensate for the sand in the stoneware
clay.
A simpler solution is to make the cones bigger portion than needed is collected and
from a mixture of the clay and the glaze the amount required is divided from this by
used in the workshop. quartering (see testing, p. 39). All the mate-
Example of a mi..ture for cone 8,1X0 ‘C: rials are dried and screened(100 mesh) be-
stoneware clay 22 fore weighing out the different amounts ac-
glaze for 1250 “C 51 cording to the recipe. This should be done
silica sand 27 before experimenting so that the same ma-
(the glaze recipe: 4 feldspar, 3 quartz, 2 terials can be used for testing and produc-
whiting, 1 kaolin) tion. After the materials are weighed they
are mixed well and sieved(100 mesh) again.
Experimen ring About 6 g material is neededfor one cone.
1’4
Biscuit so that when the first batch is finished a new
batch of conesof the samebending tempera-
Then the whole mixture is shapedinto cones ture can be made. Remember that with cones
and dried. If an organic glue such as starch or it is important to expose them to the same
sugar syrup has been used it will with time conditions at each firing; setting should be at
go rotten, stink terribly and the cone made the same distance from spyholes and at the
with it may be easily broken when handled. same angle. A new batch of cones should be
To prevent these problems the cones could made well in advance of finishing the old
be given a low temperature biscuit firing, ones so that the bending temperature of the
ensuring they are all fired at the same time new cones can be tested in the kiln along-
and at the same place in the kiln. However, side the old cones.
it should be noted that a biscuit firing will
slightly lower the final bending temperature
of the cones. Cones which are bonded by an Use of‘ self-made cones
artificial glue can be stored without biscuit-
ing. Self-made cones will not be as reliable as
good-quality commercial comesand so test
New hatch draws of glazed pieces should also be done.
The cones will help to give the firemaster a
Once the right mixture is establishedcones warning of when to draw tests. They can
are easy to make. So it pays to make enough also be placed at the top and bottom or
for several years of firings. Five hundred front and back of the setting so that the fire-
cones of about 6 g could be made from 3 kg master can change the damper setting or
of raw materials. Note down carefully how slow the firing rate to compensatefor tem-
the cones are made and from which materials perature differenceswithin the kiln chamber.
i2.5
Appendix
Metric system:
1 cubic mctre, m3 = 1000 litres, i
11 = 1000 cm3 or ml
1 kilometre, km - 1000 metres, m 1 ml = 1000 mm3
lm = 100 centimetres, cm 1 ton = 1000 kilograms, kg
1 cm = 10 millimetres, mm 1 kg = 1000 grams.g
1 mm = 1000 micron, ,u lg = 1000 milligrams, mg
126
Table of sieve mesh sizes
The fineness of a sieveis measured as the number of threads that can be counted acrossone
inch of sievemesh. A number (63, 80, 100 . . .) followed by “mesh” indicates the finenessof
sieves.
The numbers in the first column correspond to threads per inch (2.54 cm) of sieve mesh
according to British standard series.The second and third column show the maximum particle
site, in mm and inch, that can passthrough the sievemesh.
127
Table of Seger cones Table of Orton cones
ii
(United States, Ohio, The E. Orton Jr. Ceramic
“c OF German, New “H” series “C “F Germau. New “H” series Foundation)
Staffordshire, Staffordshire Staffordshire, Staffordshire Bending temperatures of large cones whep heated
French Cone No. French Cone No. at lSO”/hour
Cone No. Cone No.
“C “F Cone No. “C “F Cone No.
600 1112 022 H 022 1100 2012 la Hl
625 1157 H022A 1110 2030 HlA 600 1112 022 1120 2048 02
650 1202 021 H 021 1120 2048 2a H2 614 1137 021 1137 2079 01
670 1238 020 H 020 1130 2066 H2A 635 1175 020 1154 2109 1
690 1274 019 H 019 1140 2084 3a H3 683 1261 019 1162 2124 2
710 1310 018 HO18 1150 2102 H3A 717 1323 018 1168 2134 ‘3 -
730 1346 017 HO17 1160 2120 4a H4 747 1377 017 1186 2167 4
750 1382 016 H 016 1170 2138 ‘H4A 792 1458 016 1196 2185 5
790 1454 015 H 015 1180 2156 5a HS 804 1479 015 1222 2232 6
815 1499 014 a HO14 1190 2174 H5A 838 1540 014 1240 2264 7
835 1535 013 a HO13 1200 2192 6a H6 852 1566 013 1263 2305 8
855 1571 012a H 012 1215 2219 H6A 884 1623 012 1280 2336 9
880 1616 011 a HO11 1230 2246 7 H7 894 1641 011 1305 2381 10
900 1652 010 a H 010 1240 2264 H7A 894 1641 010 1315 2399 11
920 1688 09 a H 09 1250 2282 8 H8 923 1693 09 1326 2419 12
940 1724 08 a H 08 1260 2300 H8A 955 1751 08 1346 2455 13
960 1760 07 a HO7 1270 2318 H8B 984 1803 07 1366 2491 14
970 1778 H07A 1280 2336 9 H9 999 1830 06 1431 2608 15
980 1796 06 a H 06 1290 2354 H9A 1046 1915 05 1473 2683 16
990 1814 H 06 A 1300 2372 13 H 10 1060 1940 04 1485 1705 17
1000 1832 05 a H 05 1310 2390 H 10-4 1101 2014 03 1506 2743 18
JO10 1850 HO5 A 1320 2408 11 Hll ---
1020 1868 04 a H 04 1350 2462 12 H 12 Note:
1030 1886 H 04 A 1380 2516 13 H 13 The temperatures indicated in these cone tables
1040 1904 03 a HO3 1410 2570 14 H 14 may not be the same as when the cones bend in the
H 15 individual potter’s kiln. Cones are not used for
1050 1922 H 03 A 1435 2615 1.5
1460 2660 16 H 16 measuring temperatures but for indicating the con-
1060 1940 02 a H 02
17 ’ dition of clay and @ares.
1070 1958 HO2 A 1480 2696 H17
1080 1976 01 a HO1 is00 2732 18 H 18
1090 1994 HO1 A 1520 2768 19 H 19