Cremate

[millerxxx]

my pal says they only cremate one body at atime
but read some where that they cremate 2 to save money
am i right or wrong
thanks

[bednobs]

1 body in each furnace chamber at a time. Most crematoria have more than 1 chamber

[Buenchico]

From the Salford Council website:
"Is more than one coffin cremated at one time in a cremator?
No. The only exceptions permitted to this rule are in the case of a mother and baby or twin children when the next of kin requests that the two be cremated together."
http://www.salford.gov.uk/cremation.htm
(The same information appears on the websites of other local authorities).

[guilliebrougues]

I do not want to sound morbid, but, a group of us went around a crematorium on an open day, they showed you from start to finish their procedure. from the coffin going into the crematorium, and the various stages until the ashes are handed back to you. And yes it is the ashes of your deceased that you get back and no-one else's.

[EDDIE51]

There is confusion here, a cremation furnace can have many chambers.( Think of a large oven with several trays on different shelves)
Only 1 body per chamber but there could be 20 or more chambers in one furnace.
A cremation takes 5 to 8 hours and most crematoria have 2 chapels each doing 1 cremation every 15 minutes from 9am to 5pm , 32 cremations a day for each chapel. You do the maths!

[bednobs]

yes eddie, you asserted that before, however, have you seen it?

[EDDIE51]

Yes, a close friend of mine was the service engineer for the main manufacturer of cremation furnaces in the UK. He worked all over the UK and sometimes I was with him.
A cremation takes at least 5 hours but they allow 8, then it takes 2 hours to cool down to the point where the oven can be opened and the bones crushed
It is all done automatically just like an oven on autotimer.
Crematoria have normally 3 furnaces per chapel , 1 actually cremating , 1 cooling and feeding bone crushing and 1 'spare' , the 3 are' rotated ' daily so that all 3 get the same amount of use.
Each furnace will 'feed'several crushers. Crushing is in a 'Ball mill' think huge tumble drier with a lot of very heavy steel balls inside, it rotates with the cremated bones until they are reduced to powder. the bones come out of the furnace as a recognisable 'skeleton' so have to be crushed to form 'ashes'
It is a 'production line' it has to be to cope with the demand, 64 cremations a day at each of the 3 crematoria near me. Try doing that with one furnace per body!