Oven Heat Containment

A radiant preheat zone at the entrance end of the cure oven can be an excellent enhancement. Curing will begin immediately and can be accomplished faster than convection heating alone. Radiant cure can be energy efficient if properly designed because it does not waste Btus to heat the entire substrate or the surrounding air. In most cases where there is a lot of product variety, curing with radiant emitters alone is not practical. The variety of shapes and sizes require convection heating to ensure that all areas reach the cure window temperature and no area is overheated. High purity (quartz lamp emitter) IR ovens are very effective for this purpose and the bring up, or response time, is instant. The emitters can be arranged in zones for different part geometries. Turning on different numbers of emitters within a zone can vary the energy levels. The zone control can be turned on by a remote controller or operated manually. Gas fired radiant emitters work very well also. Like quartz lamps, they can be purchased in modular sections, they can be zoned, and they have a fast response time. The Btus required to operate a gas-fired IR emitter will typically cost less than the kilowatt-hours required for electric infrared emitters. Infrared preheat zones for powder cure ovens are typically around 30 to 60 seconds. For exact process requirements, testing must be performed.

Oven Heat Containment

It is recommended that all ovens have some method to reduce heat spillage (rollout). The best containment is by use of bottom entry/exit on an elevated or roof mount oven. On all ovens with horizontal entry/exits there are two (2) options: 1. Powered Air Curtains. 2. Heat relief hoods with a gravity stack and manual adjustable damper. Powered air curtains will help to reduce the heat rollout from the oven and make it easier to achieve a temperature balance in the oven. They also help to reduce the energy losses that occur as air is heated and expands.

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Oven Heat Containment

Figure 5-6 Powder Air Curtain

Heat relief hoods reduce heat build up in the general area and are the recommended minimum for any oven installation. Powered Air Curtains The conveyor entrance and exit should be furnished with high velocity air to minimize the amount of heated air in the oven escaping to the surrounding atmosphere, and to ensure the optimum efficient operation of the oven. Each air curtain should be equipped with a fan assembly, complete with shaft, bearings, sheaves, belts, and motor. The air curtain utilizes oven air and does not induce an additional fresh air load on the surrounding area. The discharge velocity should be around 2,000 to 3,000 FPM. Heat Relief Hood The conveyor entrance and exit can be furnished with a canopy-type heat-relief hood to capture the majority of the heat spillage from the product opening and disperse it to the outside atmosphere. The hood should be constructed of galvanized steel and be designed to be oven supported, with a manually adjustable quadrant damper in a 24" joint of stack. The entrance of a powder cure oven should have a heat relief hood rather than an air curtain so that the uncured powder is not

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Oven Heat Containment

disturbed. In order for the air curtain to be effective, the discharge velocity should be very high. If the air velocity is reduced to a point slow enough to avoid disturbing the powder on the part, it will not be sufficient for heat containment. There is some concern about the energy losses that occur if the oven does not have an air curtain. A careful review of the facts shows that this should not be a concern. The amount of energy loss around a product opening is typically around 50,000 Btus per square foot. At a typical cost in North America of 0.40/therm, the losses around a product opening of 2 wide x 5 high (0.6 x 1.5 meters) would be $4.00/hour. An air curtain will be around 70% efficient at best. So the same product opening would lose around $1.20/hour with an air curtain. The difference in gas consumption is $2.80/hour. Consider that the air curtain will cost several thousand dollars more than the heat relief hood and that it requires a motor of 10 or 15 horsepower. With the electricity needs of the air curtain and the need to recover several thousands dollars of additional investment the gas losses with a heat relief hood do not appear to be a very important issue.
Figure 5-7 Heat Relief Hood

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