Gas-Fired Heaters for Plastics Processing. Final Report, October 1990-October 1991.

摘要

The report describes the design, fabrication, and testing of a novel natural gas fired radiant heating system suitable for heating and curing plastic film and sheet. Prior to this, gas-fired systems have not been used widely in the industry because they fail to meet process requirements and provide necessary cost incentives. Recent developments have produced gas-fired radiant tubes that can provide heat flux levels and thermal efficiencies necessary to enter the plastics processing market. These units are not useful for the application unless a means is introduced that efficiently and uniformly transfers radiant tube emission to target surfaces. It is proposed that advanced reflector systems can provide the means needed. The concept tested during the study uses an involute specular reflector to efficiently couple gas-fired radiant tube emission to a target surface. Performance testing shows that the concept will lead to gas-fired heating systems that are nominally 45% less costly to operate than 90% efficient electric units and will be capable of providing target surface heat flux levels and target surface heat flux variations that are compatible with requirements germane to the plastics processing industry.