Carbon infrared heating system

A carbon infrared heating system from Heraeus Noblelight is reported to have enabled Smith & Mclaurin to more than double line speed and improve quality on one of its paper coating lines.

One of Smith and McLaurin's products requires a water-based adhesive to be applied to high value stock before a laminate is applied to the adhesive. Previously, the adhesive was dried in a warm air oven but this sometimes caused problems when drying coloured adhesive.

To solve the problem Heraeus installed a 32.5kW infra-red heating system equipped with five carbon medium wave emitters immediately before the existing warm air heaters. The emitters are individually controlled so that they can be switched on and off according to the coating weight.