Infra-red installation earns commendation in business energy awards

Citation

(1999), "Infra-red installation earns commendation in business energy awards", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 28 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.1999.12928caf.002

Infra-red installation earns commendation in business energy awards

Infra-red installation earns commendation in business energy awards

Keywords Awards, Coatings, Infrared, Van Leer

Van Leer (UK) Ltd has been commended in this year's East Midlands Electricity Business Energy Awards for its application of infra-red pre-heating to speed up a lacquer coating process and prevent a production bottleneck.

Van Leer's Burton-on-Trent site produces over half a million steel drums a year, for use in the safe storage and transportation of petrochemicals, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products and foodstuffs. Drums are internally lacquered and passed through a stoving oven when they are intended to contain product which might react with steel and hence cause product contamination or when there is a possibility of internal corrosion in use.

The two-stage lacquering process was very much a production bottleneck. It was recognised as the limiting factor on production output and it was contributing significantly to production costs because of the necessary manning levels and because of energy costs attributed to the two mechanical extraction systems.

When new production targets requiring shorter cycle times were set for the Burton factory, it was realised that a new stoving oven was required, as the existing one was already operating at the limits of its capacity. At the same time, it was also established that the lacquer application process needed to be speeded up, first of all to prevent a process bottleneck, but also to solve other process, product and environmental problems associated with the existing layout.

Van Leer had already enjoyed significant success with pre-heating drum lids and bottoms prior to lacquering at its Burton plant and, consequently, it was decided to investigate alternative pre-heating techniques for drum bodies. As a result, induction heating, direct resistance heating, an indirect gas heating oven and short wave, high intensity infra-red were all compared and trials were carried out at the equipment suppliers and at East Midlands Electricity's Technology Demonstration Centre, in Nottingham. At the same time, comparisons were made of the capital, installation, maintenance and running costs of each of the techniques, using a weighted criteria matrix. Overall, infra-red proved to be the best option.

The prime design consideration for the new infra-red pre-heating system was that it should be capable of raising the temperature of a steel drum body to the required temperature within a cycle time of nine seconds. This is achieved by means of 144kw of short wave heaters, fitted within a cylindrical chamber, which can handle four different diameters of drum. Each drum is delivered to the elevated chamber by a lifting table, which forms part of a purpose-designed conveyor and handling system. There are four heating zones within the chamber to cater for the four different heights of drum in the range. Photo-electric cells identify the height of each drum and switch zones in or out to match the heating requirements exactly. The residence time within the chamber is five seconds, while lifting and lowering times account for the remainder of the nine second cycle time.

All lacquering operations are now carried out in-line within a compact, closed cabinet. This has eliminated the need for an intercoat flash-off tunnel, which has greatly improved the working environment. This has saved valuable space and, indeed, a key factor in the selection of the infra-red system was the fact that it required only 30 per cent of the floor space of the alternative gas oven.

Product quality has also been improved, as drums are presented to the lacquering stations at consistent temperatures and without any trace of contaminating lubrication oil that might be carried over from the drum-making process. The infra-red system is energy-efficient, as power is switched on automatically, only when there is a need for pre-heat.

More importantly, the lacquering process is no longer a production bottleneck, as throughput has been increased by 25 per cent. This figure is further increased when the reduction in rework is taken into consideration, with a net result that the company has been able to increase its drum output by a value of £24,000 over a 12-month period. Even without this additional sales income, the savings from labour cost reductions alone have ensured that the payback on the installation is less than a year.

The East Midlands Electricity Business Energy Awards

The East Midlands Electricity Business Energy Awards is an annual competition, which aims to give recognition to those organisations in the East Midlands region, who have used electrical techniques to gain commercial or environmental advantage.

There are two categories: Category One is for organisations in the industrial sector; Category Two is for organisations in the building services sector.

In addition, there are three discretionary awards.

The Technology Award is for companies which have introduced novel electrotechnology or have used existing technology in a novel way.

The Environmental Award is for organisations which have used electrotechnology to achieve significant improvement in the internal or external environment.

The Business Investment Award recognises those organisations which have realised significant commercial benefit from a modest investment in electrotechnology.

Details available from East Midlands Electricity. Tel: +44 (0) 115 901 0101.