MATERIALS PREPARATION | TECHNOLOGY


amount of energy as a comparable desiccant dryer to bring resin up to drying temperature, it uses much less energy to actually dry the material. While the Ultra dryer would run at 19 watts per pound in the drying cycle, a late-model, energy-efficient desiccant dryer would typically run at 60 watts per pound of material, and a new desiccant dryer with only standard energy performance could run at 100 watts per pound. As for a 10- or 15-year old desiccant dryer that a new Ultra dryer would replace, the energy use might run as high as 150 watts per pound. On the basis of energy savings alone, a new Ultra dryer could pay for itself in a matter of months.” Founded in 2001, Jasplastik has two injection moulding facilities, the main one being in Galanta, Slovakia; a new and growing facility is located in nearby Nitra. The company is a Tier One moulder for Jaguar Land Rover and a sub-supplier to Audi, General Motors, Porsche, Volkswagen, and other automotive OEMs. Jasplastik produces television panels for LG, Samsung and Sony. Wittmann has extended its ATON segmented wheel dryer series. The company says that while the original overriding goal was to achieve constant dew point behaviour even under the most difficult conditions, users soon started to demand particularly energy-efficient solutions. In order to cater for the increasing trend towards production equipment integration, an interface solution was created for Wittmann 4.0, and the Wittmann dryers were also equipped with larger touch screens. Wittmann ATON segmented wheel dryers are compact beside-the-press appliances that can handle a dry air volume ranging from 30-120 m³/h. The company has also developed a battery dryer model with a segmented wheel that was presented for the first time at K2019. The ATON H1000 battery dryer, already frequency-controlled in the standard version, is the first segmented wheel dryer for central plants. It can handle a dry air volume of 1,000 m³/h, which is capable of drying 500-600 kg of plastic granulate per hour. The ECO drying wheel, consisting of numerous segments, is loosely filled with a desiccant. Similar to compact appli- ances, it is rotated via a low-maintenance chain drive. In this way, a molecular sieve which is always fresh is available for the air to be dried, in order to maintain a constant, low dew point.


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The ATON H1000 comes with several different adjustment options, including dew point-con- trolled drying. The different ambiLED light colours inform operators at a glance about the current status of the dryer. The appliance is claimed to be easy to operate via its plain text touch screen user interface, where the temperatures and the dew point are displayed clearly. Conair has upgraded the GasTrac process air


heaters, allowing plastics processors to replace electricity with natural gas as a heat source for dehumidifying dryers and realise energy cost savings of up to 70%. Available in three sizes (350,000, 500,000 and 700,000 BTUH input), GasTrac heaters can be paired with Conair Carousel Plus central drying systems or used to retrofit a wide range of existing electri- cally heated dryers. Upgrades to the heaters include a new 4-inch colour touchscreen, linked to an advanced control system that enables users to operate and


monitor both burner and process controls without opening the GasTrac enclosure. The new control package automatically interprets and displays all operating, alarm and warning information in plain text, eliminating the need for error-code look-ups and making this gas-fired process heater as easy to operate as an electric unit. When GasTrac units are used to provide


process heat for Conair Carousel Plus central dryers, the company says that the new control package makes integration seamless. “When you connect a GasTrac unit to a large central dryer equipped with a Premium control, you can manage the GasTrac heater in three different ways,” says A.J. Zambanini, Conair’s Drying Products Manager. “Locally through the integrated HMI, through the HMI on the dryer, or remotely using Conair’s SmartServices cloud-based monitoring


Right: Upgrades to GasTrac process heaters from Conair include a 4-inch touchscreen HMI, an advanced control system, and plain-text operating, diagnostic, and alarm messages


March 2020 | INJECTION WORLD 39


Left: The ATON H1000 battery dryer from Wittmann


IMAGE: WITTMANN


IMAGE: CONAIR


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