Work to improve the drying process is constantly ongoing and is conducted not only out at sawmills, but also within academia. Last year Luleå University of Technology (LTU) launched a project using non-contact IR thermometers to measure the surface temperature of drying timber during simultaneous tomography and thus obtain direct indications of changes.

Valutec’s development project involving control of continuous kilns has come a long way in the past year. One key to a more automated drying process, where clear and rapid signals from the timber package adjust the drying process, could be so-called ”Adaptive-Continuous Control”. This method has been tested, with good results, and is already being used for continuous kilns in both Sweden and Central Europe. 

Here at Valutec we have secured over 20 European patents since the beginning of the 1970s, including twelve since the turn of the millennium. This is proof of how devoted we have been to development over the years, and I believe that there will be many more patents to come. We are in an intensive phase right now, particularly with regard to development of continuous kilns. As I see it, our combined projects have the potential to deliver results that crucially improve working methods at sawmills, in the direction of a more automated process.

Finnish company UPM has chosen to invest in a continuous kiln from Valutec for its sawmill in Korkeakoski.