An industrial oven is used to cure, bake, cook, dry, heat, and perform other functions in factories. In essence, it is like an oven in your house but on an industrial scale. Generally, industrial ovens are used to process raw materials at high temperatures. The typical applications for these ovens include chemical processing, food production, and even the electronics industry. We will discuss 4 of the most common industrial ovens and their applications.
Curing Ovens
This is the type of oven that is used in industries to create a chemical reaction in materials after a particular temperature is reached. Diverse definitions for curing provide viewpoints on the procedure. The main goal of a curing oven is to cure some adhesives, products, or coatings.
What Do I Need to Consider When Choosing the Right Curing Oven?
The first and perhaps the major consideration when buying industrial ovens are budget, and curing ovens are not an exception. However, it is not always true that the low-priced product serves as good. Sure, you might save money, but you’ll pay later for regular maintenance and other operating costs. Therefore, make sure to choose an oven that best suits your industrial needs and get it from a trusted supplier.
Here are some considerations to make in choosing a supplier:
- Electrical capabilities: Make sure the supplier meets the NEC, UL, CE, and other required certifications. Do they have in-house PLC programming? Be sure to check.
- Factory Acceptance Testing: Check if the manufacturer will run a product test before it’s shipped.
- After-Sale Service: Lastly, do they have staff for installing the oven? Do they offer maintenance services?
Drying Ovens
Industrial drying ovens are specially designed to heat materials while withdrawing moisture from them. This process is vital to commercial, industrial, and pharmaceutical applications. Drying ovens are primarily used for batch processes, but varying research requirements are needed for different components.
There is a three-stage operating process that underlines the basic working principle of drying ovens in all sectors. First, a product is placed in the industrial oven where it’s heated to ideal temperatures to draw the moisture; it is then left immersed at that temperature for some time. The oven is then supposed to ventilate the heat in cooler air to reduce the chances of reabsorption of moisture. Drying ovens may be used for incubating temperature sensitive experiments, temperature testing, and sterilization.
Batch Ovens
Industrial batch ovens are designed and customized to meet the processing requirements of a variety of products. An industrial oven manufacturer, Precision Quincy, says that a quality oven should be fabricated and designed to perform an array of functions. Batch ovens are designed to address particular specifications and are commonly used in applications that require varying temperature requirements and extended cycles. Additionally, batch ovens are used for drying, aging, finish baking, sterilizing, treating, and burn-in.
What Makes Batch Ovens So Popular?
Extremely Flexible and Highly Versatile: Industrial batch ovens are used for a wide variety of industrial applications. This makes them highly versatile. Various industries use this equipment for a number of their vital operations. This, their extremely flexible and versatile nature makes them a go-to oven.
Functional at every stage of production: As said above, this versatile piece of equipment can be used at any stage of the production process. In fact, they can be used as early as in the preparation of the materials stage. Plus, they are incredibly reliable in the mid and post-production stages.
Operator-friendly control features: The features on a batch oven are incredible technology, but the operating principle is so simple. These features help operators generate the ideal heating conditions for the processes. The internal conditions of a batch oven can be observed and regulated easily with the help of these features.
Industries where batch ovens are commonly used, are:
- Pharmaceuticals
- Plastics
- Power
- Aerospace
- Sporting Goods
- Ceramics
Continuous Ovens
Similar to batch ovens, continuous ovens perform a wide range of heat treatment processes. This oven is specially chosen for the mass production of the same raw materials that require a consistent heat-treatment process. These ovens have separate heating and cooling chambers to help in the treatment and cooling process. Continuous ovens reduce the processing time, and their results are consistent.
What Features Make Them Great?
- Stainless or aluminized steel,
- Precision in airflow control for efficient temperature conformity,
- Convenient access doors,
- Insulated panels with a guaranteed thermal efficiency, and
- Multiple and independently controlled heat zones for better thermal regulation.
Industrial ovens operate at extreme temperatures; hence their quality cannot be compromised. They are critical for the success of most processes in many industries. Make sure to get one from a reliable manufacturer.