Heraeus: Paint drying with infrared and hot air in combination
On May 16, the managing directors of Heraeus Noblelight and Weiss Technik sealed their cooperation in combined drying with infrared technology and hot air. The occasion was the opening of the new test line at Heraeus Noblelight's application center in Kleinostheim, where practical tests can now be carried out.
The drying of paint and coatings is often a challenge - for the design of a plant as well as for energy costs. In many cases, the combination of an infrared booster in front of a hot-air oven can ensure greater efficiency in paint drying. Complex components in particular benefit from the interaction of the two technologies. In initial test series, powder coating was applied to metal tubes and then cured in the new oven line. The comparison showed a significant reduction in heating time when the infrared booster was connected upstream - up to 80 percent. Very complex components with undercuts require a lot of effort to paint or apply protective coatings efficiently and in high quality. The combination of an infrared booster upstream of a hot-air oven helps solve the challenges.
Infrared radiation brings products to the target temperature very quickly, and electric hot-air ovens ensure homogeneous heating of parts, even if they have a strong three-dimensional shape. Especially in such cases, practical testing with infrared and hot air is essential in order to optimally configure the subsequent system. The unique combination in Heraeus Noblelight's application center helps the customer to achieve the necessary security for a planned investment. Infrared boosters from Heraeus Noblelight and electric hot air ovens from Weiss Technik can later be combined in a modular fashion. This modular system makes the plant configuration flexible. The combined know-how and decades of experience of two leading companies gives a customer a high level of process reliability. An infrared booster increases energy efficiency because it helps to heat up faster, thus shortening process times. This generally reduces the energy consumption of a plant and thus also helps to optimize the CO2 footprint.