Metal washing machines and Masterblower drying: what are the chracteristics of “good drying”?

When we have to choose a product or service to buy, we need to be clear about what we want, what results we want to achieve, what characteristics the object we are looking for should have.

 

This example relates to the selection of an industrial drying system for metal parts.

Our customer is a manufacturer of metal-cleaning machinery with whom Apply has been working for years on the supply of vacuum pumps.

These machines are often combined with drying systems, which is exactly what our customer asked us: first of all, what are the characteristics that define ‘good drying’?

 

• The quality of the drying itself is fundamental to preserve the characteristics of the treated surfaces, avoid their deterioration or negative consequences such as sedimentation that causes halos and clearly visible aesthetic defects. It is essential to achieve total drying in every smallest part of the components to be washed and this is possible thanks to a correct dimensioning between air flow and pressure, to be evaluated according to the quantity of water to be removed and the surface of the material to be treated.
• The duration of the drying cycle: it is logical to consider that optimising the timing of each stage of the process has a production advantage in terms of the total costs of the production line.
• The costs deriving from the energy consumption of the machines being used: the lower the energy consumption and the resulting expenditure, the greater the total cost saving.
• The recovery of the residual water removed from the dried material also implies a saving in terms of consumption: being able to reuse the same water for several washes inevitably leads to both economic and environmental savings.

 

Apply’s solution for this customer is as follows: our MasterBlower model 2300-11 with three Stainless Steel air knives, each 1000 mm long.

 

The technical features of this MasterBlower model allow it to achieve a total flow rate of 2300 mc/h with only 11kw of power used.

The same air flow rate that was previously achieved by applying THREE side channel blowers with 7.5kw of installed power, each!

In addition, the MasterBlower always works in tandem with an inverter: the possibility of modulating its intensity of use makes it possible to find the ‘right’ working point, avoiding dispersion and optimising consumption according to the actual needs of the system.

This is potentially a very powerful object (see technical specifications Mb2300-11), but it can adjust this intensity according to actual needs.

The quality of drying is also determined by another factor: using Stainless Steel air knives with a ‘thin‘ profile leads to a perfect rolling result.