48' insulated shipping container?

[oakiemac]

I'm thinking of buying a 48' insulated container then building a wall at about 18' and using this as a kiln chamber for a small DH kiln. The other 30' will be used for storage. I'll have to cut an extra door so I can get into the storage part.
Anybody done anything similar? Will this work? All input appreciated. ???

[Frank_Pender]

I would stongly suggest that you not divide the trailer and use the entire unit for a kiln.  Or make the wall very easy to move depending on the length you may with to use for drying.  Secondly, purchase a el cheapo dry trailer if you need storage.  You will be sorry that you put in such a divider as one day you will want to use the whole trailer for drying. :-[

[oakiemac]

Well, the reason I want to put the divider in is because I'm afraid that the DH unit won't be able to work properly with that much volume of air. I'll only be loading in about 3000bd ft per charge. Will this much volume make my unit less effiecent?

I will make the wall moveable, so if I ever want the extra room I'll have it.

[Frank_Pender]

You know, I am not much of an expert on this volume business myself.  What I have learned is simply doing the thing and finding that there was no real significance in the efficiency of my Ebac 800 due to area volume of the trailer.  I knew going into the drying business that all of my equipment was somewhat of a mismatch, but it works just fine.  With that said, I getting ready to build a new kiln building and using an Ebac 3000 for that space.  

[Don_Lewis]

You will only be able to get about 1500 board feet in 18' of trailer if you do it right and allow the proper air flow. But to answer your question about dividing a container, yes, a number of people have done that.

[Ga_Boy]

Okie,

Don't know how much your container is costing you, but I got a quote for a new high cube for $5800 , though this is delivered to my site from Baltimore, MD.

Called another company and got a quote for a used container; NOT a high cube; for between $1800 and $2200.  That is more to my like'n.  I hope to have a quote for a high cube early next week, I'll post what I find out.  I suspect delivery from Baltimore will run another $250-$300.  

I'm in Maryland, let me know if your interested in juming in on one of these insulated shipping containers. They are 40' in length with doubel doors on one end.




Mark

[rebocardo]

If you buy one from Ryder Leasing you can usually pick them up for cheap, especially if you do not want the reefer unit or if it does not work.

[oakiemac]

Don, how much space do I need to leave? I figure I can get over 3000ft in a 24" chamber if I have 4 stacks each 36" wide, 10' long and 36 layers in each stack with 1" thick stickers.
This will leave about a foot between the stacks and the container.

[Ga_Boy]

Okie,

Did you allow space for the DH unit and the fans?


Mark

[oakiemac]

Ga Boy,
Probably didn't leave enough space. I should be getting the container this week and then I have to do some real number crunching to get it all figured out.

Can you have too much space and then your DH unit won't operated properly??

[Ga_Boy]

Okie,

Not sure on the too much space question.  


Don,

What do you think??



Mark

[woodhaven]

Why not just extend the container roof out a little like a shed roof. Mount the DH unit under that. Then when you have to work on the unit you don't have to fumble around the wood stacks. It is real easy to extend your supply and return ducts through the container walls.

[Frank_Pender]

I mounted a shelf up near the ceiling of the trailer and simply set the DH unit on that.   The shelf is mounted near the entrance for easy access.   My main source of heat (heat exchanger) is mounted near the ceiling at mid point of the trailer.   The mounting brackets are made from some 1/4" angle and the unit hangs from them with two bolts.   I use 6 additional 24" box fans to help move the air.  They too hang from the wall or set on the floor of the trailer.   All electrical outlets are placed on the same side of the trailer.   I installed 8 110 outlets all on separate circuits.