APPLICATION CRITERIA:
Need a new oven or heat bank and don’t know where to start? Infrared- Convection- Short wave- Long wave- Medium wave- Gas- Electric? For most people, specifying and purchasing a process heat bank or oven is not an everyday task, and sorting through the hype and conflicting advice to select and specify the heating equipment for an application can be the most difficult part of the process. But it can be easy if you start by giving us the information we need. Fostoria Sales Engineers can help determine what you need, but usually we won’t know your processes and production needs like you do. Rather than first selecting the heat bank or oven type and then trying to fit it to your application, we start by defining what needs to be done and then look for the heating system that will do your process. In most cases, when your process requirements are described in sufficient detail, your heating selection will be obvious.
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Step 1: COLLECT INFORMATION
The first step is to clearly define all the products that will be processed in the heat bank or oven, including dimensions, shapes, materials, weights and your part’s temperature limits.
Second, identify the heating category that best describes your process - each has its own requirements and characteristics that will dictate a specific type of heat bank or oven. Some of the major categories are:
The first step is to clearly define all the products that will be processed in the heat bank or oven, including dimensions, shapes, materials, weights and your part’s temperature limits.
Second, identify the heating category that best describes your process - each has its own requirements and characteristics that will dictate a specific type of heat bank or oven. Some of the major categories are:
- Drying – Removing water or solvent from a material, product or coating.
- Curing – Bringing a product or coating up to a specified temperature to cause a chemical reaction.
- Preheating – Raising the temperature of a product prior to another operation such as forming, coating, laminating, pressing or welding.
- Annealing – Heating a metal or plastic part through a specific time/temperature profile to achieve better material properties.
- Shrinking – Applying heat to plastic parts such as tubing to cause them to shrink around another part.
Many heat-processing applications involve a coating or adhesive that is dried or cured. The amount of coating or adhesive being used and its specific temperature characteristics impact oven selection, so the customer must find out what product will be used, along with its processing requirements. Solvent-based, water-based, powder, high solids, plastisol and catalyzed coatings have different heating requirements that the oven designer must consider. Also, we need to know the coating thickness, solvent or water content, and the amount and types of emitted vapors.
Step 2: TEMPERATURE PROFILE TESTING
The process time/temperature profile needed, required temperature tolerances and how the temperature will be measured during the actual processing; also affect heating equipment choice. In many cases you may be working with a new process and may not know the time/temperature profile or tolerances required to produce a consistent, quality product. Fostoria Process Equipment will provide testing with different heating parameters. For example, the time temperature profile to cure a coating when tested in a convection oven will vary from a profile generated in an infrared oven. And, a profile generated in a short-wave infrared oven will be different from that generated in a medium or long-wave oven. The only way to determine these differences is to test your product.
The process time/temperature profile needed, required temperature tolerances and how the temperature will be measured during the actual processing; also affect heating equipment choice. In many cases you may be working with a new process and may not know the time/temperature profile or tolerances required to produce a consistent, quality product. Fostoria Process Equipment will provide testing with different heating parameters. For example, the time temperature profile to cure a coating when tested in a convection oven will vary from a profile generated in an infrared oven. And, a profile generated in a short-wave infrared oven will be different from that generated in a medium or long-wave oven. The only way to determine these differences is to test your product.
Step 3: ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
When the final process is defined, we will test for optimum methods to achieve the desired results. The parameters to be monitored will include:
FOSTORIA INDUSTRIES application engineers will be glad to work with you on your process, whether it is new or existing. Please contact an application sales engineer to review your project and schedule a test in our state-of-the-art test facilities; plus arrange for shipment of your product samples and coatings. We look forward to working with you to develop a solution to your process heating needs.
When the final process is defined, we will test for optimum methods to achieve the desired results. The parameters to be monitored will include:
- Final temperature
- Time and temperature
- Test for dryness
- Test for cure
- Test for appearance
- Test for physical properties
FOSTORIA INDUSTRIES application engineers will be glad to work with you on your process, whether it is new or existing. Please contact an application sales engineer to review your project and schedule a test in our state-of-the-art test facilities; plus arrange for shipment of your product samples and coatings. We look forward to working with you to develop a solution to your process heating needs.