James Cropper Converting Ltd, part of James Cropper Plc, the Cumbrian papermakers have invested in a new drying system from Compact Engineering to increase the speed of the laminator at their Burneside, Kendal mill.

Compact have a great deal of expertise and experience in drying heavyweight sheets and understand exactly how to get the water out of the sheet without over drying it or scorching the surface. Based on this experience, James Cropper Converting Ltd had little hesitation in placing an order for the supply of one of Compact’s special laminator dryers to double the existing machine speed.

The customers of James Cropper Converting Ltd are particular about the appearance and quality of the final sheet. This is because some of the laminated sheets are used for point of sale displays and mounting boards and as such are subject to the scrutiny of many a passing eye and the quality of the board conveys an unspoken message about the quality of the products being promoted.

The system delivered by Compact Engineering had to meet certain criteria in addition to the efficiency of the drying operation. The infrared dryers had to be installed so that they had the minimum impression on the existing machine footprint while still catering for the fact that the machine is fed by hand, ruling out the possibility of extending the sheet run vertically above the factory floor.

When the dryers were commissioned at the end of April, the infrared was turned on to its lowest setting to start and the laminator was run at its normal operating speed and a check of the sheet moisture made. The sheet was too dry, so the laminator speed had to be increased. Both the laminator speed and the power from the infrared were increased until the drive limit on the laminator was reached, about twice the normal operating speed.

The infrared has additional capacity available should the machine drive be upgraded at some time in the future.

James Cropper Converting Ltd laminate a very wide range of basis weights and colours, both of which have an influence on the drying rate when using infrared as a heat source. The flexibility and unique wavelength of the infrared dryers from Compact Engineering means that they are able to cope with the extremes of colour and weight presented to them, while delivering the desired dryness at the dry end of the process.

Compact Engineering makes a wide range of dryers for papermakers and converters from edge dryers to high-intensity Corona dryers for full width CD moisture profile control and Titan dryers for energy efficient coating drying. All of Compact’s dryers are engineered to fit seamlessly into the existing process.

In addition to their award winning infrared dryers Compact also make emitters to suit their competitors infrared dryers. These replacement units are quick and easy to install and typically save at least 50% of the running costs.

The latest changes to the design have involved two of the most important components of the dryer, the reflectors and the lamps.

The new reflectors deliver an improvement in the cooling airflow through the emitter ensuring an equal distribution of air to the full length of the lamps and an improvement in the speed with which the dryers cool down when the systems are switched off. The time taken for the front of the emitters to cool from full operating temperature top hand touchable is now less than 2 seconds.

The orientation of the reflectors has also been slightly changed to retain more of the reflected infrared within the confines of the dryer. This is important, as any infrared that is scattered by the sheet and not reflected by the reflectors, is lost to the drying process and this hampers energy efficiency.

The material used to make the reflectors and the process of manufacture have also been radically changed resulting in a more robust construction as well as improvements in heat transfer efficiency.

The lamps that are used to generate the infrared and that are designed and made by Compact are also benefiting from slight design changes that will result in a slightly longer wavelength and a corresponding increase in the proportion of the output that will be absorbed by the sheet.

The replacement emitters are designed and manufactured to be direct replacements for the existing emitters so no changes are required to the existing electrical supply or cooling air system. Compact currently manufacture replacement emitters for IRT, Impact and Itronic systems and in all cases to date the energy savings have been at least 50%, providing a payback on the investment in under a year. Changeover is both quick and simple, with Compact’s replacement emitters using the existing fixing system to secure the emitters in the frame. This means that to change the emitters and start saving energy takes as long as it normally takes to remove an emitter and replace it with a spare one.

It isn’t just energy saving where the replacement emitters are proving popular though. As they remove twice as much water per kilowatt consumed, they evaporate much more water than the existing emitters. This fact is making them the emitter of choice for machines where the poor CD moisture profile slows down the machine and has a negative influence on the efficiency of the subsequent converting operations.