Method for firing ceramic honeycomb bodies and a tunnel kiln used therefor

A tunnel kiln for firing ceramic honeycomb structural body comprising:

• a vestibule region, a carbonaceous material removal region having a plurality of removal zones and located downstream of the vestibule region and a sintering region located downstream of the carbonaceous material removal region;
• an exhaust removal system which operatively communicates with the removal zones of the release region for removing released carbonaceous material and which comprises:
• (a) at least one offtake opening located in each removal regions for removing released carbonaceous material, the offtake opening operatively communicates with a secondary collector conduit which operatively communicates with a main collector conduit that is provided with a main damper valve for controlling the overall amount of released carbonaceous material removed from the removal region, and
• (b) a conduit reaction-suppression system in communication with the main collector conduit and located between the main damper valve and the secondary collector conduit, the conduit reaction-suppression system comprising a temperature monitoring device and a system for introducing a low oxygen-content gas into the main collector conduit and secondary collector conduit at temperatures above a predetermined temperature which is indicative of burning.