Increased Control for a Paint Curing Oven

Gasmac Incorporated of Ontario, Canada manufactures painting systems used in industrial plants, and the company specifies Munters air-to-air heat exchangers as a regular feature on its lines.

In a recent application, Gasmac constructed and installed a new paint line for a steel processing plant in Slovakia to coat one side of steel sheeting with a decorative finish. The coating requires curing in an oven, and because the process uses solvent-based paint, the plant needed to incinerate fumes emanating during curing.

Gasmac devised a system that uses a natural-gas-fed burner both to heat the oven and incinerate the off-gas fumes. A Munters Thermo-Z® heat exchanger captures exhaust heat at 1400°F to preheat ambient air to 1201°F at the inlet for combustion.

Using this arrangement allowed Gasmac to specify a smaller burner than would otherwise have been required, reducing fuel consumption by 85%. The system also allows more control of the oven temperature and, most importantly, saves fuel for the steel company.