Fabrics
that require heating and/or drying benefit from pre-drying, post
drying or total drying with retrofitted or stand alone Planar Drying
Systems that increase drying speeds, improve product quality and
reduce production costs. The benefits of using Planar Drying Systems
for textiles are demonstrated in the following examples:
IMS was contracted by a California municipality and a local
tubular knit manufacturer to install a 100 kW, 915 MHz, overhead,
horizontal Planar Drying System for pre-drying tubular knit fabrics.
This installation was part of a Customer-Directed Energy Solutions
Program that provides funding for electric customers to evaluate
beneficial electro-technologies.
Installation and operation of the Planar Drying System demonstrated
that drying speeds were increased by 93%. This performance equates
to the fabric absorbing 94% of the microwave energy generated.
In addition, energy consumption, labor costs, and fixed costs
were all reduced. The increase in throughput and reduced operating
cost led to annual savings that equated to a payback of less
than six months.
In another case, IMS was contracted to install a Planar Drying
System for a leading producer of woven fiberglass fabric. The
system needed to dry one-half ounce per square yard to four and
one-half ounces per square yard fabric after saturation through
a size bath to a final moisture content of less than 0.2%. The
system also needed to eliminate fabric damage typically generated
from the latent heat of conventional drying during the numerous
stops and starts in the process. These objectives needed to be
accomplished while also increasing process speeds and installing
the system on a balcony with limited headroom.
IMS installed a 100 kW, 915 MHz Planar Drying System oriented
vertically in eight linear feet of headroom and two and one-half
feet in the machine direction on an overhead platform. The system
doubled drying speeds and eliminated off quality since there
was no latent heat generated by the microwave energy during stops
and starts. The payback to the customer was four months.
|
