How to Fire the Bricks

 

The final step in the brick making process was cooking the bricks in special kilns.  Many of these old kilns looked like beehives, which
gave them their name, beehive kilns.  These were rounded buildings that looked much like a ball cut in half.  These kilns were made of special bricks, to keep the high temperatures needed for curing the bricks inside the kiln.  The first brickyards used wood to fire the kilns, therefore it also helped to have the brickyard near a good source of wood. Later on, brickyards transitioned to coal fires.

Thousands of raw bricks were stacked in the kilns prior to the burn.  The circular shape of the kiln was not a random design, the circular shape helped keep the hot air circulating inside the kiln.  Once the fires were started, the temperature was kept at a low heat for several days.  This allowed any remaining moisture from the inside of the brick to dry out.  Then the temperature of the fire was increased until it reached a very high point (1500 to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit).  At this point, any remaining holes to feed the fire in the kiln were bricked over and the fire was allowed to burn out.  The kiln was then left alone until it cooled off.

Once it was safe to go inside the kiln, the bricks could be removed for sale.  However, despite their best efforts, burn temperatures were never equal.  Bricks that were located closest to the fire turned out differently than those farther away.  Too much heat could warp or crack a brick.  Not enough heat could result in a brick having to be fired again.  Heat variations could also change the natural color of a brick.

In Zhengtai, our biggest success comes from the customers' success. We believe in providing not only the quality machine, but also to work closely with our customers from the beginning of their project to the end. For many years, Zhengtai has aimed to form a very helpful service team so that at anytime in anywhere our customers can benefit from it.