Background
Every day, approximately 2,000 window insulation strips are delivered from 3-C Production. The insulation strip is a Swedish innovation based on bitumen, making it more environmentally friendly than conventional expanding foam. As part of the manufacturing process, these strips must be dried. Previously, the drying room was heated to drive off evaporation, which consumed large amounts of energy.
Previously, two large conventional condensing dehumidifiers combined with heating were used. The drying process worked, but consumed substantial amounts of energy.
As our goal is to operate a completely energy-clean factory, 3-C is constantly exploring alternative solutions. Complete electricity self-sufficiency and zero carbon dioxide emissions are our ultimate objectives!
What problems did Airwatergreen's dehumidifiers solve?
A NEXT unit was installed in the drying room to capture the released moisture. Production occurs in batches, with drying taking approximately 5 days. Because the greatest amount of moisture is released at the beginning of the drying cycle, the NEXT turbo effect is highly beneficial, allowing the unit to temporarily extract even more moisture from the air than its nominal capacity.
To drive evaporation, the NEXT dehumidifier is set to operate at a very low RH, below 40%. Energy consumption has been substantially reduced in two ways: first, the NEXT240 is highly energy-efficient, and second, space heating requirements have been minimized.
Benefits of using Airwatergreen's products versus doing nothing?
Drying of the bait/lure must take place during the production process, so the key question was which technology offered the highest energy efficiency and appropriate capacity. Following a brief fine-tuning period for our NEXT unit, we have been able to reduce heating requirements while maintaining drying capacity and cycle times.