Curing oven DTI–1361

thermalchamber

Our customer wanted a means to safely heat and cure resin soaked honeycomb composite blocks that produce volatile organic compounds (VOC) as a byproduct. These volatile organic compounds can cause an explosive atmosphere and cannot be introduced into the atmosphere. The orientation of the honeycomb was such that airflow had to impinge the product horizontally. The customer also wanted the oven to have a vertical door that was controlled by the PLC and could be opened without power in case of a power outage. DESCRIPTION The DTI-1361 cure ovens were designed with indirect fired heat sources to ensure that there was no source of ignition inside of the ovens. Thermal oil was used to heat the oven circulation air and the oven intake air was heated by an air-to-air heat exchanger. Both the thermal oil and air-to-air heat exchangers used waste heat from the process exhaust of the catalytic thermal oxidizer that was used to destroy the VOC in the process airstream. The oven airflow through the product chamber was left to right with a variable design velocity to account for the pressure drop through a variety of block sizes and to provide uniform heating throughout the block. The product was supported and transported into and out of the oven by a wireless powered cart with adjustable baffles to direct airflow through the block. The vertical door utilized a pneumatic over hydraulic lifting system controlled by the PLC during normal operation which allowed electronic locking and automated door control. In the event of a power loss to the oven, the door could then be opened by an emergency pneumatic push button energized by an air tank located on each oven.