DCHP-2

wigwam burner DCHP-2 (August 2016)

• n. — Forestry, very rare

  an incinerator used by sawmills to burn woodwaste (see Image 1).

  The term wigwam burner describes a type of incinerator found at lumber processing mills that is used to burn sawdust and scrap wood. The term's origin is credited to the resemblance in shape between wigwam burners and wigwams (see wigwam). A notable lack of written attestations for wigwam burner in Canadian sources (both of the quotations below are authored by the same person) strongly suggests that beehive burner is the preferred Canadian variant (see beehive burner). Although wigwam burners are described as "commonly used by sawmills in the Pacific Northwest", this description should not be read as including the Canadian West Coast (see VLHMNO reference). Attestations of the term are dominated by sources from Oregon, US (see, e.g., the photograph caption).

  See also: wigwam ((n.)) (meaning 1a)  beehive burner  

  • 1988  The basic feature of a wigwam burner is simply to enclose an open fuel pile with a truncated metal cone and a screened top vent. The fuel charge is usually placed on a raised grate, and the combustion air is often supplied as underfire air blown into the chamber below the grate and as overfire air introduced through peripheral openings in the shell. 
  • 1988  The City of Williams Lake is in a unique situation of having seven lumber processing mills incinerating over 2.1 x 10⁶ m³ of bone dry woodwaste every year in eight wigwam burners.