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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.