Wumag Texroll: Energy saving with
insulated housing for cylinder dryers
|
The costs for
energy have been rising drastically and in future the energy
prices are expected to increase significantly. The textile
and nonwoven industry and in particular the finishing plants
suffer from this scenario. Although the manufacturers have
already discovered the advantages in energy efficiency of
cylinder drying in comparison to various air drying methods,
this article by Wumag Texroll explains that an insulated
housing for a cylinder dryer will save at least 10 - 15% of
energy and that the investment can pay back in only 15
month. |
Functioning and effects of an
insulated housing
The cylinder dryer operates in an interactive relationship to
surrounding area and hall ambient. In most cases the evaporated
water is extracted with a simple steam extraction hood. The air
extraction speed underneath the hood has to be set relatively
high in order to avoid steam escaping to the surrounding area.
Furthermore, one has to take care that the relative air humidity
does not reach the saturation limit, otherwise the condensation
of steam within the cylinder dryer or in the hood area would
cause drop spots on the fabric.
In an open installation of a cylinder dryer, energy loss is
caused by radiation and convection. The side plates of
cylinders, uncovered cylinder surfaces and non isolated piping
emit heat to the surrounding area. Due to the necessary
extraction of great quantities of ambient air an even higher
loss of energy is created by convection, therefore cylinders and
fabric loose heat by cold air and eventually, all of that
creates a loss of expensive steam or thermo oil energy.
The Cylinder Dryer with insulated housing is separated from
hall ambient. Due to this feature the quantity of extracted air
is decreased considerably and the temperature within the housing
increases from 40°C upto 70°C. Therefore cylinder and fabric are
surrounded by air with higher temperature and can not cool down.
The steam absorbing capacity of air is increasing from 38g
water per kg air at 40°C to 290 g/kg at 70°C. This implies that
only reduced volume of preheated air has to be supplied to the
production halls.
Conclusion
Wumag Texroll insulated housings are designed to offer the
following benefits:
- Saving of energy.
- Short time of amortization.
- Higher running speed of fabric.
- Relief of hall heating / air conditioning systems.
- Drip free drying.
- Better working conditions in surrounding area of cylinder
dryer.
According to Rüdiger Müller, Sales Director of Wumag Texroll,
“In a current case the amortization time is 15 months only, as
one of our customers has used use an insulated housing for his
20 drying cylinder machines.” In his opinion cost of energy are
expected to increase in the future and thus the energy savings
will be correspondingly higher.
| 
