RF Drying Equipment
RF 2x40 kW dryers for cotton and linen yarn packages, bleached and dyed on stainless steel cones, after pre-drying in a pressure dryer, with robotised loading system and supervision by an industrial PC. Unloading by free fall into baskets.
RF 105 kw dryer, water cooled, equipped with modular PP conveyor belt, multi-position upper electrode system and PLC.
RF 150 kW dryer, the biggest one single RF generator in the textile industry.
TCRF 2C/R dryer for filament rayon yarn packages, integrated into a fully robotised dye-house.
RF/C dryer
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"RF" AND "RFA" SERIES DRYERS
More than 800 "RF" (Radio Frequency) model dryers, installed throughout the world since 1981, are presently in operation for the drying, to a conditioned weight, of yarns in packages and cakes, worsted fibres (tops) in bobbin and bump form.
Most combinations of natural, artificial and synthetic fibres, filament fibres or worsted and spun, pure or blended, in every count and form can be dried perfectly, down to the desired residual moisture level, with outstanding efficiency and quality results. Such precision results cannot be achieved with a conventional hot air drying system.
Tops can be dyed and centrifugally hydroextracted using movable stainless steel basket-type carriers or directly on centrifugable spindles. Yarn packages, after dyeing, can be hydroextracted one by one after removal from the dyeing carrier, or directly on centrifugable spindles, or may be simply pre-dried in a pressure (rapid) dryer. All handling operations can be carried out manually, assisted by partial automation or with fully automated systems.
In the "RFA" (Radio Frequency Assisted) series dryers, the RF treatment, precisely controlled in the different phases of the drying process thanks to a special design of the RF application electrodes, is combined with a conventional warm air circulation system.
The STALAM technology allows additional savings in drying costs up to 5-10% compared to the standard "RF technology.
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"RF 105 kW" DRYER
New innovations have been introduced in the "RF" and "RFA" series dryers, such as:
- an extensive use of stainless steel inside the drying tunnel,
- a new conveyor belt tracking and tensioning system,
- the modular polypropylene conveyor belt (Intralox),
- the multi-position upper electrode system and a micro-controller (PLC) with related software for fully automated operation.
Additionally many studies have been dedicated to the development, in exclusive co-operation with the world’s leading supplier of vacuum RF tubes, of new, more powerful and even more reliable generators, which have enabled STALAM to present - on the occasion of ITMA ’99 - the first textile dryer equipped with a 100 kW output power RF generator, now upgraded to 105 kW, either with water cooling or air cooling system.
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"RF 150 kW" DRYER
Introduced to the world markets on the occasion of ITMA 2007, STALAM's new "RF 150 kW" dryer represents, once again, a world record as to output power rated by a single RF generator in the textile industry.
The RF power distribution electrode has been adequately sized in order to maintain the lowest possible power density on the product being dried - compatibly with the purposely reduced machine dimensions - thus ensuring a gentle drying process and the highest product quality standards.
Moreover, the innovative air circulation and evacuation systems assist the evaporation process maximising the moisture removal efficiency while avoiding all dew condensation problems inside the drying tunnel.
The dryer functioning is supervised by the "Twin04+" dedicated microcontroller (PLC) specifically developed by STALAM for the reliable, safe and easy operation of its RF dryers.
The "RF 150 kW" dryer is mostly dedicated to medium and large capacity yarn package dye-houses that will have the possibility, for example, to dry over 8 tons/day of 100% cotton yarn packages in a single-generator machine which is just slightly longer than 10 m - more or less the same length of 85 kW & 105 kW dryers.
The new STALAM 150 kW dryer enjoys the most favourable productivity / space and productivity / cost ratios - as to both capital investment and operating costs - improving further the outstanding economical convenience of the 85 kW & 105 kW model dryers.
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"TCRF" SERIES DRYERS
The "TCRF" (Thermo-Controlled Radio Frequency) model dryers represent the results of the research carried out by STALAM in co-operation with. LORIS BELLINI for RF drying at a controlled temperature of yarn packages and tops in bobbin or bump form. The equipment can be considered as the most sophisticated textile dryer available worldwide.
In the "TCRF" dryers, a suitable air flow forced through the product while submitted to the RF field, making it possible to control the product's internal temperature: in more detail, the RF energy supplied endogenously causes the evaporation of the water within the product, and the air flow passing through quickly evacuates the water vapour, thus avoiding a temperature increase above a certain value, pre-set by the operator. An automatic weighing system stops the drying cycle automatically when the desired final weight has been reached. All working parameters and dryer operations are set and automatically controlled through a PLC or, through a PC.
"TCRF" dryers are available with 1 or 2 trolleys specifically designed for yarn packages. A dryer model with 2 trolleys suitable for both tops and packages, is also available.
Thanks to the accurate drying temperature control, the "TCRF" dryers are particularly suitable for: bleached and optically whitened fibres (such us chlorite bleached wool tops - also after anti-shrinking treatment - and cotton/acrylic blended yarns in light and pastel shades), cotton and viscose yarns dyed with direct dye-stuffs, both fixed and unfixed for all products whose quality parameters are negatively affected by prolonged thermal treatments or by temperatures above a certain limit.
"TCRF" dryers allow a remarkable reduction of overall drying costs: average electricity savings are of 10-25% compared to the standard radio frequency technology, depending on the product being dried. Additionally, the ease of loading and unloading of the trolleys contributes to reduced labour costs. The "TCRF" dryers are also predisposed to be integrated into fully automated dyeing plants with robotised handling systems for dye-columns. |
RF/C SERIES DRYERS
The greatest development that STALAM has disclosed to the world markets for the first time at ITMA 2003 is the "RF/C" model dryer, a continuous type radio frequency dryer for yarn package columns.
The new equipment has a drying chamber constructed with fully screened product inlet and outlet apertures, placed adjacent to each other at the front of the dryer. The RF generator is conveniently located above the drying chamber. In line with the apertures, the drying chamber is dotted with two pairs of vertical electrode plates, such that the yarn package columns enter in the first pair of electrode plates and return out through the second pair of electrode plates.
The package columns are carried in and out from the drying chamber by a carousel system, which is made up of a series of individual supports holding the columns upright and at the same time sliding on lateral rails. The drive system transfers the columns in stepped movements, where the pitch of each step is 250 mm, corresponding to the maximum possible diameter of the yarn packages. The step pace is adjustable according to the drying requirements specific to the product such as: yarn type, package weight, moisture content, etc.
The product loading and unloading station is located at the front of the dryer. In this position the operator - or a robotised handling device - can load the wet columns directly from the hydroextractor (with or without dye-spindles, according to the dyeing and hydroextraction equipment in use) and unload the dry ones to the finished product station.
All running parameters of the equipment (RF power, carousel speed, etc.) are set by a SIEMENS S7-200 series PLC via an ESA VT310W operator panel.
Besides all the well-known benefits of the radio frequency heating technology, this revolutionary drying equipment has several important advantages, specifically related to ease of product handling and simple logistics within the dye-house, as detailed below:
- yarn packages can be processed in the form of columns throughout the entire dyeing - hydroextraction - drying sequence of operations, thus reducing drastically the labour requirements within the dye-house and minimising the risk of yarn spoilage due to repeated handling of individual packages;
- loading and unloading of columns take place at the same (front) side of the equipment, therefore both operations can be carried out at the same work position. This function can be either manual (the operator can lift and transfer the columns with the assistance of a simple counterweight lever) or by means of a fully automated handling system;
- the step movements of the carousel and the designed single loading / unloading station make the implementation of a robotised column transfer system extremely compact, simple, and cost effective, unlike similar current systems presently utilised to automatically load and unload other drying equipment;
- yarn package columns can be handled and transferred to the dryer with or without the (eventual) movable and/or centrifugable stainless steel dye-spindles: this depends on the dyeing and hydroextraction equipment used. Moreover, package columns of any height up to 1800 mm can be fed to the dryer, in any desired random sequence, as they come out from the various size / type dyeing machines. The dryer is therefore suitable to be integrated within any existing or yet-to-be-established dye-house, irrespective of the dyeing machines’ make, type or size;
- the equipment, like all other STALAM dryers, is modular so that more drying chambers / generators (typically two or three) can be installed in-line to form a single high-capacity “drying station”, yet within a relatively limited floor-space area.
The "RF/C" dryer should be considered a real break-through in the yarn dyeing sector and has demonstrated once again that STALAM is the most innovative and advanced manufacturer of RF drying equipment for the textile industry worldwide.
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