Infra-red Dryers Help Samsung Shipyard to Increase Productivity

The Problem

Drying and curing of coatings applied to the hulls of ships is a major factor for shipbuilding and repair productivity in South Korea because it can take two to three days for the painting process to be completed. During this time no other repair activity can take place and the problem is an acute one during the Korean Winter.

Infra-red has the ability to heat the product up directly without the need to heat the air in between. It is this that makes it very fast and efficient. 

The 'matching' of the correct infra-red wavelength to the absorbency of the surface to be heated is a very important feature and one that Infra-red Systems prove by live trials to show the many benefits from its use. The use of infra-red equipment at Samsung Shipyard have proved that our rapid infra-red heating system has the ability to dry paint applied to the ship hulls up to three times faster.

Electric Infra-red Heating 

Infra-red heating is based on the transfer of thermal energy by electromagnetic radiation. Infra-red emitters are classified according to the temperature dependent peak wavelength which they emit and can be short-wave, medium-wave and long-wave. Infra-red is both versatile and flexible and finds application throughout the industrial spectrum, from paint curing to print drying and from rubber vulcanising to metal heating. Electric infra-red systems are more compact than convection ovens and are easily controlled. They are also extremely efficient as the emitters are switched on only when required and very responsive because of their rapid warm-up.