From cloths to cakes - Moeller helps dry them all!

For textile manufacturers, controlling the right amount of moisture in materials during and after processing is essential.

For textile manufacturers, controlling the right amount of moisture in materials during and after processing is essential.

The best way of doing this is using a technique called radio frequency (RF) drying.

Strayfield Fastran, based in Wokingham, UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Radyne Holdings Group, uses this technique in its innovative drying equipment to give consistent moisture quality control, not only for the textile industry but for food, paper and many other industries.

Working closely with Moeller Electric, Strayfield Fastran has developed a range of high-specification RF dryers for the demanding global textile equipment market.

Water is very receptive to the effect of dielectric heating because of its high dielectric loss factor.

This makes the process eminently suitable for drying and moisture control.

In textiles, RF energy is particularly useful because it is preferentially absorbed by water rather than the fibre and is therefore able to provide a more efficient means of moisture removal.

Another advantage is that heating is instantaneous compared to a conventional dryer.

One of Strayfield's RF dryers, the SO100T, has an impressive 100kW of RF output at a frequency of 27.12MHz and a generator efficiency of 67%.

Its power supply is 360-480V, 3-phase 50/60 Hz AC.

The machine employs Moeller Electric's Optidrive to control the conveyor throughput of a wide range of fibres.

The Optidrive's output is used to regulate the conveyor motor while it takes its input from the analogue output of a PLC.

Craig Barrett, Strayfield Fastran's Electrical Development Engineer commented: "Consistent controllable conveyor speed is very important as this will determine how long the textiles are dried.

Optidrive helps to ensure this.

It gives us the precision we need in control and allows the use of a simple three-phase DC motor." Strayfield Fastran exports 95% of its products with 85% going to customers outside Europe.

"As our machines are exported world-wide it is essential that any bugs are identified and resolved on site.

Simple programming and ease of installation are key issues for us and Optidrive meets our needs on both counts", Barrett added.

Optidrive is not only one of the industry's smallest most powerful AC drives in its class but also by far the most user-friendly.

Spanning a 0.37kW to 90kW power range, Optidrive is available in both single and three-phase formats in five case sizes.

Ready-to-run, the new drives have three programmable digital inputs, an analogue input that is selectable for volts or amps, a programmable relay output, and a programmable analogue output.

AC drives are notoriously complicated to set-up, so user-friendliness was high on the list of priorities for the designers of Optidrive.

A 'quick' set-up menu using only the 14 standard parameters, with plain English descriptions, allows the user to quickly configure the Optidrive.

An extended menu with a further 26 parameters is available for more advanced set-ups.

Optidrive has four pre-set speeds and an auto start function.

Other features include skip frequencies, spinning start, silent running in 32kHz mode and mains dip ride through.

A number of other Moeller products are used in the SO100T.

These include PKZ-M0 motor protection and FAZ C circuit protection devices and DIL contactors.

"Moeller Electric's equipment gives us the reliability required to avoid high servicing costs and the need to send engineers to customers distributed around the globe", said Barrett.

Moeller components are used in all of Strayfields Fastran's product range.

A new SO25FV bobbin dryer, custom made for the UK based textile giant, Coates, is another example.

This machine is able to treat 20 bobbins of dyed textiles in approximately 25 minutes and has an innovative vacuum system which draws air through the bobbin and lowers air pressure; thus saving energy by decreasing the boiling point of water present in the bobbin.

This, together with the penetrative power of RF heating and programmable control, ensures a consistent moisture content throughout the bobbin.

The SO25FV RF dryer employs Moeller NZM6 circuit breakers, DIL contactors for the transformer and PKZM0 motor protective circuit breakers.

Summing up Strayfield Fastran's relationship with Moeller Electric, Barrett commented: "Moeller provides excellent support.

The company continues to service older product ranges and keeps us well informed of any future changes allowing us to plan ahead.

Both of our companies serve the global market.

The reliability of Moeller's products backed by its first-class support has provided us with the means to grow.".

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