Bekaert Solaronics has installed two gas infrared drying UniDryer® V3 systems on PM8 after coaters 1&2 at the Condat paper mill of Lecta Group in France.
The investment is to significantly reduce the energy consumption and hence lower the operational costs. The UniDryer® V3 systems replace the existing electrical infrared dryers and are coupled to the hot air dryers by the ERS concept which uses the exhaust from the UniDryer® V3 as energy source for the hot air dryers.
The combined infrared and air dryer UniDryer® V3 is a compact system in which high performance gas infrared emitters are alternated with high temperature and velocity air nozzles. The combination of these features results in rapid heating, a high evaporation rate and ultimately in better paper quality.
Both systems are equipped with Gem12E emitters which have proven their excellent efficiency and reliability for the paper and board industry. Today, more than 7 000 Gem12E emitters have already been installed in manufacturing sites of the world’s major paper companies.
Also the ERS concept is increasingly gaining interest because it significantly reduces the energy consumption of hot air dryers.
About Lecta and Condat
Condat, as well as Cartiere Del Garda in Italy and Torraspapel in Spain, are part of the Lecta Group, one of Europe's leading manufacturers of coated woodfree paper. Condat is specialized in the manufacturing of coated paper for advertising publishing, art books and press. The plant has a production capacity of 450 ,000 tons of paper per year and employs more than 500 employees.
About Bekaert Solaronics
Bekaert Solaronics supplies customized drying and heating systems based on gas and electrical infrared technology to a wide range of industries including paper and board, converting and metal processing applications. Today, more than 1000 systems have been installed worldwide, of which 60% come from repeat orders with existing customers. The company provides service and maintenance options worldwide for the upgrade optimization and improves energy efficiency of existing systems.
About Bekaert
Bekaert (www.bekaert.com) is a world market and technology leader in steel wire transformation and coating technologies. We pursue to be the preferred supplier for our steel wire products and solutions by continuously delivering
superior value to our customers worldwide. Bekaert (Euronext Brussels: BEKB) is a global company with 30 000 employees worldwide, headquarters in Belgium and € 4 billion in annual revenue.