Gas-Fired Infrared Paper Drying
Why Gas IR ?
According to a Gas Research Institute (GRI – now GTI) Market Assessment, about 50% of the paper and paper board machines installed in the US and Canada are drying limited. This prevents many paper producers from increasing production on existing machines. The gas-fired infrared burners can eliminate production bottlenecks and increase productivity by more than 10% from the existing machines.
Efficient and safe infrared burners offer a cost effective solution for increasing the drying capacity. Installation costs are low compared to other options such as adding more dryer cans at the dry end. The gas infrared burners can be installed with little downtime.
Trials at the Herty Foundation pilot paper machine have demonstrated production rate increases of 10 – 14%
Gas IR heaters produce an infrared wavelength that is readily absorbed by the water in the sheet. This leads to a higher temperature and a drying efficiency increase that cannot be duplicated by conduction and convection temperatures alone.
|
Method
|
Type of Drying
|
Drying Rate
(lbs water/hr/ft2) |
| Steam Cans | Conduction | 2 – 6 |
| Air Hoods Impingement |
Convection | 4 – 8 |
| Gas IR | Radiation + Convection |
30 + |
Gas IR Options
Hot Pressing
- Apply heat before sheet is pressed
- High Temperature reduces water viscosity, improves dewatering, reduces drying load
- Improves moisture profile
- Reduction in steam requirements and/or increase in drying capacity
Preheating
- Install IR between last press and dryer inlet
- Heat sheet before it enters dryer section
- Bring sheet to evaporation temperature
- Allows higher surface temperature in first few cylinders
- Excellent application for drying limited machines
Supplemental Heating along Dryer Section
- Install IR inside Dryer Section
- Constant Evaporation Zone or Falling Rate Zone
- Best location is machine specific
More Information
For specific Gas IR products, see our Vendors Directory For more information about how IR Dryers work, see IR Dryers in the Learn About section.
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