Radiant Heaters For Textile Heat Setting And Drying

Problem:

Papermaker's felts are large woven textile conveyor belts manufactured to transport pulp mash through the various stages of paper making. Uniform temperature is a key requirement in heating an area 4-feet (1.2 m) long by 40-foot (12.2 m) wide on the moving felt. Heat causes the synthetic fabric to heat set and shrink. Shrinkage across the entire 40-foot (12.2 m) width must be kept uniform.

Solution:

Watlow radiant panel heaters have met the stringent temperature profile requirements for processing this textile. The radiant panel heaters are claimed by the felt manufacturers to increase product quality by supplying a more uniform and controllable heat. Watlow radiant panel heaters have replaced tubular-reflector assemblies, quartz lamp heaters, gas fired radiant burners, open coil elements and steam heated systems at several felt manufacturing plants.

The radiant panel system which replaced the gas fired burners is operating at 50 percent of the previous BTU/Hr (kW).
The first radiant panel system of 48 panels-15 feet wide by 35 feet long each (4.6 by 10.7 m) for this process have been in operation for three years without a single emitter failure, compared to lamp heaters with an average lamp life of only ten months.