Configurations of Conveyor ovens
The conveyor system is mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one point to another. A conveyor system can be engineered to suit your specific applications so that products can move along vertical or horizontal axes. Horizontal Conveyor ovens are the most common and they are used by many industries involved in powder curing, food processing, drying and stress relieving. Conveyor ovens can be configured with a monorail system that uses hooks to suspend products during transport so that they do not have to touch any surface. The overhead conveyor system is ideal for unusually shaped and large products like automotive interior assemblies. An inclined conveyor system transports products through an angle that changes its elevation while proceeding to the oven. This system is ideal if the product has to be transported to an upper level before it slides into a hopper to the oven. In the spiral conveyor system, the product moves in a corkscrew pattern. This is the best option for a facility that has limited space for thermal processing or if the product requires longer dwell time.
How to make Conveyor ovens more efficient
Design
The conveyor oven can be designed as a continuous conveyor oven or indexing conveyor oven. In the continuous oven, the conveyor system will move the product at a steady rate which is most ideal for high volume thermal processing. In the indexing conveyor oven, a stop and go system will move the product through the heating and cooling sequence.
Energy source
There are different energy sources available for industrial ovens from electric which is the most common to natural gas, LPG or radiant heat that is more known as infrared energy. When selecting the energy source, the best option would be what is already available in the facility. If necessary, the conveyor oven can be equipped with 120/240 dual voltage operation.
Range of temperature
It is important to determine the temperature that is necessary to heat the product as well as the minimum and maximum operating temperatures. As the need arises, the industrial conveyor oven can be designed with multiple heat zones and PLC controller to regulate temperature if there is a need for the product to reach different temperatures at various points in the process.
Heating and cooling profile
The most important consideration in the conveyor oven is the heating profile or how fast the product needs to heat, how long it has to stay heated and whether it will require cooling and reheating during the process.
Airflow arrangement
Airflow patterns must facilitate quick time-to-temperature and transfer heat more efficiently to parts so that temperature uniformity can be ensured throughout the oven.