Warmth for cold steel

A carbon medium wave infrared system from Heraeus Noblelight is helping Eurobond ensure, in cold weather, the effectiveness of adhesive used in structural panel manufacture at its Cardiff factory.

By heating the steel strip, bonding between two steel layers and an insulating core takes place at the preferred reactivation temperature.

The 117kW carbon medium wave IR system consists of two 58.5kW modules.

One heats the under-side of the upper steel strip; the other the top surface of the bottom strip.

Pyrometers are fitted before the adhesive applicator to monitor sheet temperature, and 4-20mA feedback signals provide stepless regulation of the infrared emitters to ensure a temperature rise of up to 40°C at the steel strip surface at feed rates of 12m/min.