Drying Ovens
Drying ovens are thermal processing machines that use heat to remove moisture from products. Moisture removal is an important process for two main industries: manufacturing and food production. Within those two groups, though, the demand for drying ovens is large.
Quick links to Drying Ovens Information
Industrial Oven Types
Industrial ovens are designed in two main configurations: batch ovens and conveyor ovens. Batch ovens can be small and portable or they can take up all or most of a room. Batch ovens are intended to heat several products at once under the same conditions in order to produce products with uniform qualities. This kind of oven is useful for smaller product runs and for producers who require an enclosed heating space. Because batch ovens are enclosed, they can be designed as vacuum ovens, which reduce the risk of damage caused during the heating process because of unwanted exposure to atmospheric elements. Some drying ovens take advantage of evacuated heating enclosures; these ovens are often used to dry items at a lower temperature than would otherwise be used, and for that reason they are often used in laboratories that use heat-sensitive materials. Conveyor ovens allow for a continuous stream of production. They function by passing products through a heated area using a conveyor belt. Conveyor ovens are good solutions for large scale heat treatment service providers because they require a minimum of technical supervision and can heat large quantities of product efficiently.
Applications for Drying Ovens
A drying oven is precisely that; an oven that is designed for drying. Drying ovens have many uses. In the food industry they are used for drying foodstuffs such as pretzels, crackers, chips and many others. Industrial drying ovens can be used for drying or curing different materials; drying paint and curing rubber or plastics are excellent examples of this. The basic idea of a drying oven is to dry. This specific type of oven dries the objects by removing the moisture from within the oven. They use a monitored temperature to evaporate the moisture from the materials in the oven without cooking them. Efficient ovens use fans to circulate the hot air thus aiding in the drying process. An even more efficient drying oven uses vacuum drying in order to lower the ambient pressure and essentially aspirate the evaporating moisture. Vacuum drying ovens literally suck out or vacuum out the moisture speeding up the process.
In manufacturing, an even greater variety of possible drying applications exist. Heat treatment is a major component in many drying processes. Rubber and plastic extrusions, after emerging from the extrusion process, are sometimes subject to a heat drying process in order to impart desired qualities of strength and hardness into the material. In laboratory and medical equipment settings, drying ovens can be used for sterilization of instruments, particularly of glassware. Drying ovens are also widely used in applications related to the heat treatment of ceramics. Kilns are drying ovens that are used for hardening soft clay and ceramics products once they have been molded or shaped.
Things to Consider When Purchasing a Drying Oven
Drying ovens must be dealt with using caution as with any oven. The evaporation that they stimulate can sometimes be from harmful or combustible chemicals. In this circumstance one must use care not to place any materials containing harmful chemicals that may be ignited into the oven. Heat combined with a combustible solvent may result in an explosion. Drying ovens come in a couple different varieties; some examples of those are continuous and batch dryers. These ovens all work under the same principle of removing moisture from objects. Sometimes it’s food, sometimes it’s drying paint or curing ceramics such as thrown pottery. Regardless of the usage, drying ovens are found in a variety of industries worldwide.