Infrared Application of the Month #1:
Preheating Polypropylene Pipes
The manufacturer of polypropylene (PP) pieces wanted a way to join pieces that would be quick and result in high connection quality. Their previous system of attaching connection pieces (joints) had a long cycle time and did not employ preheating.
Heraeus Noblelight provided a system using custom heaters. In the new system, the pipe retrieved from an automatic supply try, and then positioned by robotic device. Heat-up time and cycle time were reduced significantly.
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Infrared Application of the Month #2:
Drying Natural Waterborne Paint on Broomsticks
A manufacturer of broomsticks sought an efficient method to dry the natural paint used to coat its product. Up until recently, the sticks were left to dry naturally at room temperature. The ambient air was humid, and drying time was more than twelve hours. Even then, drying was uneven.
Mediumwave infrared heaters from Heraeus Noblelight solved the challenge. Multiple heating zones allow drying of different lengths of wood, and heating form both sides results in a throughput of several hundred pieces per hour. Drying time is now three hours, and curing time is a few minutes at most. What's more, the finished product is more stackable than before.
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Tech Center Spotlight:
Short Wave NIR Heaters
Shortwave single tube NIR heaters from Heraeus are suited for situations requiring high temperatures in the shortest possible time. And because these Heraeus NIR lamps are manufactured in standard configuration designs, matching the right heater to your application is a snap. These heaters offer high radiation density in a small area; optimized reflection; practically no heating-up and cooling-down times; and a long list of other advantages.
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Special Designs:
Short Wave Plug-in Heater
Heraeus offers the short wave infrared heater with a plug in connection. This design makes initial assembling as well as maintenance during production very simple. The plug in heater type helps to reduce maintenance costs.
Technical Data
- Short Wave
- Twin tube, 23 x 22 mm
- Gold reflector
- Single end connection
- Up to 10 Amp current
- 55-480 Volts possible
Advantages
- Simple installation
- Quick disconnect
- Fast replacement
- Tool-free replacement
- Reduce downtime
Click HERE to download a brochure on this product.
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Technical Learning: Introduction to IR Technology, Part 2
History of infrared process heating
Electric infrared process heating is not a new technique. It has been in use -- in one form or another -- for over half a century. But only in recent years have a wide choice of radiant heat sources - infrared heaters - become available.
The term infrared heating as applied to industrial heating processes originated in the late 1930s when experiments took place in the use of heat radiation produced by commercial lighting bulbs fitted with special external reflectors.
The technique was very successful for curing the new synthetic resin enamels on car bodies, so it was applied to production lines. Carbon-filament lamps were used at first, and later tungsten-filament lamps with internal reflectors. In each case the lamps were rated to operate at a reduced filament temperature. As the reduction in filament temperature had the effect of moving the peak wavelength of the emitted radiation further into the infrared portion of the spectrum, it was logical to differentiate between lamp bulbs used for lighting and those used for heating by calling the latter infrared lamps and the process in which they were used infrared heating. The early lamp systems were only capable of providing power intensities in the order of 5 kW/ m2; modern designs can provide up to 105 kW/ m2, and with improved directional properties. When other types of even more powerful radiant heat source were later developed (e.g. linear quartz lamps and metal sheathed elements), the term infrared heating was retained.
This undoubtedly had some commercial value in persuading industrialists to investigate this heating process in relation to their own problems. As a result, industry has enjoyed significant savings in time and money. The concept of the infrared oven became firmly established. Infrared heaters, reflective walls, roof and floor, together with entrapped warm air were combined to optimize the heating of a wide range of products, including three-dimensional shapes. Infrared heating has proved its worth over many years, having evolved into a sophisticated industrial tool to become an acknowledged and indispensable branch of engineering practice.
Coming in the next issue: Intro to IR Technology, Part 3.
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That's it for this month's issue of Application Notes for IR Heating. Feel free to encourage your colleagues to subscribe. Just click HERE to send them an invitation to subscribe. It's quick, easy, FREE, and no-obligation.
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