An electric conveyor oven with a custom threading device will be used to dry a special type of impregnated fibers.

The threading device pulls the fibers through the oven — built by Sandusky, Ohio-based Lewco Inc. — with a powered dual-chain strand conveyor prior to being heated. It can thread up to 200 fibers at once.

The 650°F (343°C) oven has two heating zones, each with independent temperature control, and four process-monitoring thermocouples. The combined heating zones measure 39’ long by 10’ wide. An exhaust fan with balancing dampers was employed to control the exhaust rate of each zone.