Check and release kiln charge KC-26-118

You are the kiln operator on day shift at the Heyfield sawmill.

Simulated workplaceIntermediate missionCAQA Timberline Forest and Wood Products

What is going on

Kiln charge KC-26-118, 96 cubic metres of 90 x 45 radiata pine framing, has run the standard schedule in kiln 4 and reaches the end of the conditioning stage on Thursday morning. The Kiln and Dry Mill Coordinator is off site at the heat plant service. Bassline Frame and Truss is waiting on MGP12 from this charge for order SO-26-2218 and the despatch team has already asked twice when it will be ready. Kiln 2 was taken out of service on Tuesday after its door seal split, and the coordinator wants the kiln 4 seal checked for the same fault. The controller log shows one wet bulb alarm on Wednesday night that the night operator acknowledged but did not describe.

Elise Vandenberg, Kiln and Dry Mill Coordinator
Subject: Kiln 4 charge KC-26-118 finishing Thursday

Charge KC-26-118 is in kiln 4 on the 90 x 45 schedule and is due to finish Thursday morning. I am off site at the heat plant service on Thursday, so you will check the charge, take the sample board and random moisture readings and decide whether to release it. Bassline is waiting on the MGP12 from this charge, but do not release it on despatch pressure. Read the Timber Kiln Drying Operation Procedure first, log the readings in the register and raise a work order if the door seal on kiln 4 looks like the one that split on kiln 2.

Your brief

Complete the end of charge checks for KC-26-118, decide whether the charge is released or held, record the readings and decision in the register, raise any maintenance work order, and report to the Kiln and Dry Mill Coordinator and the Sawmill Manager.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

Read the Timber Kiln Drying Operation Procedure and the Quality and Product Care Policy and note the moisture content range for structural framing and the release rule.
Review the controller log for KC-26-118, record the unexplained wet bulb alarm and describe what you will check as a result.
Isolate heat, steam and fans, allow the kiln to cool as the procedure requires and confirm you have a second person before entry.
Test the sample boards and a random selection of boards from the middle and edges of the stacks with a calibrated meter and record every reading.
Decide whether the charge is released, held for re-drying or regraded, and update the KC-26-118 line in the Log Yard and Stock Register with the readings and the decision.
Inspect the kiln 4 door seal and raise a work order in the Saw Shop Work Orders system if a fault is found, with a clear description and priority.
Write a short shift report to the coordinator and the Sawmill Manager explaining the decision and, if the charge is held, what despatch will be told about SO-26-2218.

My notes: what did I enjoy, and what surprised me?

What someone in this role would produce

Moisture reading sheet with sample and random board results
Updated Log Yard and Stock Register line for KC-26-118 with the release decision
Maintenance work order if raised
Shift report to the coordinator and Sawmill Manager

Printing this is a record of what you explored. It is not a certificate or a qualification.