TECHNOLOGY | MATERIALS PREPARATION


Above: Touch screen display of the Maguire drying system


cells that monitor the weight of material at two critical points, making possible precise control over material consumption and documentation of process conditions for certification to customers. Maguire Products has also developed new


software for its VBD vacuum dryers to monitor the changing conditions of dryer operation constantly and automatically makes adjustments to ensure the lowest possible power consumption. The company adds that while vacuum dryers are known for using far less energy than conventional desiccant dryers, until now their energy efficiency has been greatest when they were operated at or near their through- put capacity. Actual throughput varies, however, according to the rate that the moulding process demands. Prior to Maguire’s development of the new energy saver software, the vacuum dryer used increasingly greater amounts of energy as through- put decreased, unless the dryer was set up for the lower throughput. At throughputs that were one-tenth of capacity, for example, energy con- sumption could be ten times greater than at full capacity if the dryer was not set up correctly. If operated at the full capacity of 300 lbs/h (136


kg/h), the VBD-300 dryer typically exhibits an energy consumption of 46W/kg/h when drying polycarbonate at 250°F (121°C). Now the same dryer can operate at nearly the same low level of energy consumption at throughputs of only 25 lbs/h (11 kg/h) with no operator intervention. “The new Maguire software eliminates the penalty for low-throughput operation by using data acquired from previous heating cycles to make adjustments to the current cycle, ensuring that the absolute minimum amount of energy is used while achieving adequate and complete heating of the resin,” Kavanagh adds. “We now offer the software as a standard feature on all VBD dryers, and it is available for upgrading existing dryers at no cost.” In addition, all controllers for VBD dryers now include a standard onboard energy consumption display and logging capability. The controller shows both real-time and time-averaged values in the industry standard of W/kg/hr. Moretto has developed the Eureka Plus, a low


energy consumption drying system, combining the company’s X Max, Flowmatik, OTX and Moisture Meter Manager technologies. X Max is a multi-bed dryer offering constant performance, while OTX is a heat exchanger that plays a fundamental role in the dehumidification process. Flowmatik balances the air flow to the hoppers, protecting the polymer from thermal stress and guaranteeing the correct dehumidification temperature. Moretto’s Moisture Meter Manager is a device that measures residual polymer moisture in-line and adapts the drying system operations. The company adds that Moisture Meter Man- ager is able to handle the drying process by creating a fully automatic loop for energy efficiency and guaranteeing production certification. Based on the delta measurement between the initial and


Above: The Eureka Plus drying system from Moretto 46 INJECTION WORLD | March 2018


Above: Moretto’s Moisture Meter Manager www.injectionworld.com


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