Infra-red heat dries and cures lacquers reliably

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 11, 2005

Heraeus Noblelight will be demonstrating the benefits of infra-red heating technology at the Hanover Fair.

because it is matched precisely to the lacquer system.

Heraeus Noblelight, a company within the worldwide Heraeus precious metals and technology organisation, will be demonstrating the benefits of infra-red heating technology, as well as providing visitors with the opportunity of directing questions at applications specialists, within the framework of the "Surface technology skills centre" at the Hanover Fair from the 11th to the 15th April.

No coating process is like any other but in all coating processes it is important that the lacquers and paints are dried as quickly and to as high a quality as possible.

Many coating stages have requirements which cannot be met with standard heating sources.

Moreover, the lacquering system itself sets the drying requirements.

Water evaporates more slowly than solvent and infra-red emitters dry water-based lacquers significantly faster because they can be matched to the absorption properties of water.

Nano coatings require very high temperatures which can be reliably provided by infra-red emitters.

Powder lacquer on MDF board (medium density fibre board) must be gelled very quickly, as it saves time and money if only the lacquer and the surface are heated.

The boards are then ready for further processing much more quickly.

The specialist exhibition "Surface technology competence centre" at the Hanover Fair in Hall 6, Stand D 46, will concern itself totally to real application questions on the subject of surface treatment.

Within the scope of this skills centre, Heraeus Noblelight will be demonstrating infra-red technology and offers visitors the opportunity to discuss the various emitter characteristics and their applications for different lacquer systems with an applications specialist on the stand.

"It is important to us that we speak directly to the customer", says Rudolf Lembke, Application Specialist at Heraeus Noblelight, "as we match our infra-red emitters precisely with the product and process and not the other way round".

Infra-red radiation is used in many industrial processes.

And heat in the form of electromagnetic radiation is transferred without the need for any intermediate medium.

For lacquer drying, infra-red heat is often far superior to conventional warm air drying, as the radiation penetrates into the material and dries the lacquer film from the inside out.

Skin- or blister-formation on the surface is prevented and drying is speeded up.

The result is a brilliant surface quality.

A careful matching of the infra-red emitter to the properties of the product to be heated, in terms of wavelength, shape and power, is important to achieve the desired results.

Radiation, which is precisely matched to the absorption properties of the lacquer, will then be quickly converted into heat, water or any other solvent will be evaporated off and the material and the surroundings will stay cooler.

The wavelength of the infra-red radiation has a significant effect on the efficiency of drying.

Water and many solvents evaporate more quickly when irradiated with medium wave infra-red, as the medium wave radiation is converted directly into heat in water and solvents.

Heraeus Noblelight offers the complete range of infra-red from near infra-red (NIR) to medium wave carbon technology (CIR) and has the knowhow to determine, either in its in-house applications centre or on site, which infra-red emitter will dry and cure lacquer as quickly as possible, while taking the greatest possible care of the material.