While curing paper to thermally set the pleats on resin-impregnated oil-filter paper, an oil-filter manufacturer ran into two problems:
  • The company needed to increase the line speed of its gas ovens, but they accommodated just 10 ft/min.
  • Increasing the line speed above 10 ft/min with the existing units caused the resin to cure unevenly, which caused the paper pleats to set improperly.
The manufacturer turned to Research Inc., Eden Prairie, Minn., which installed its Pyropanel infrared heaters Model 4554-25-06 to preheat the bottom of each of six lanes carrying the pleated paper before they entered the gas oven. Each panel functioned as a heat zone that could be turned on or off, depending on the number of lanes of paper being processed.

By adding the Research units to preheat the resin, the manufacturer got the following benefits:
  • Increased line speeds from 10 ft/min to 17 ft/min.
  • Consistent, even cure.
  • The ability to reduce energy costs by turning off some of the heaters when all six lanes were not running.
  • Use and retrofit of existing equipment to maximize investment.
For more information on infrared heaters from Research Inc., visit www.researchinc.com.

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