Abstract: A drier with a curvalinear chamber having a heat transfer surface at one end and baffles at the other end. A fan is provided to circulate air within the chamber. In the process for drying, the product to be dried is positioned within the chamber and air circulated across the heat transfer surface, toward the baffle, past the product, and back to the heat transfer surface.

Abstract: A combination product cooling and flux management apparatus is mounted above a reflow soldering oven. The apparatus has a sealed housing with four openings: an ambient air inlet, an ambient air outlet, a recirculating gas inlet and a recirculating gas outlet. The recirculating gas blower is mounted in a first end of the housing and draws air into the recirculating gas inlet, through a recirculating gas side of a gas-to-gas heat exchanger and out the recirculating gas outlet, where it is recirculated through a product cooling chamber and back into the recirculating gas inlet. The ambient air blower is mounted in a second end of the housing and draws air into the ambient air inlet, through an ambient air side of the gas-to-gas heat exchanger and out the ambient air outlet to the surrounding atmosphere.

Abstract: A longitudinal continuous kiln (1) for drying and vulcanizing rubber profiles includes a lower chamber (3), provided with a conveying belt (11), and an upper chamber (2), carrying hot air. A plurality of convectors (8) heated by the hot air of the upper chamber (2) are arranged aligned inside the upper chamber (2), each of the plurality of convectors furnished with a diffusing nozzle (9). A conduit with a plurality of unitary derivations (7) branched from the conduit (6) are connected to each of the plurality of convectors (8). Pressurized hot air, heated in the plurality of convectors, is delivered through the conduit (6) and is directed toward the lower chamber (3) for purposes of drying and vulcanizing rubber profiles (10).

Abstract: A method and apparatus for drying solid foodstuffs is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a housing in which a gas permeable conveyor carrying the foodstuffs is arranged. The housing is divided into at least one drying section and at least one cooling section near the discharge end of the conveyor. Each section comprises means for generating a flow of drying or cooling gas along the foodstuffs, perpendicular to the conveyor. After passing along the foodstuffs, the gas is recirculated to drying or cooling means arranged in each section. The foodstuffs are thus first heated and then cooled down, so that the temperature thereof at the discharge end is substantially equal to the temperature at which the foodstuffs are supplied. The drying and cooling means are arranged such, that the temperature of the foodstuffs does not exceed 40.degree. C., and that the foodstuffs leave the apparatus at a temperature of less than 5.degree. C.

Abstract: A method for drying wood by placing the wood in a dehydration chamber in which the temperature, humidity and pressure are controlled. Air and or gasses are circulated in the chamber to wick away moisture while the wood remains frozen. Both the internal temperature and the circulating air are kept below freezing during the drying process. Atmospheric pressure is manipulated to enhance drying and may be either increased or reduced. Exposure to the volume of dry air (air with zero percent humidity) varies with the drying process and depends on the species, the quantity of wood to be dried and the initial moisture content of the material.

Abstract: The present invention is intended to artificially break pit membranes in cell membranes of cells constituting wood and then to readily attain dryness of the wood. In view of the fact that one pit or the other pit of pits in the form of a pair is blocked with the torus 1 in felled wood to cause poor removal of water in cells, it is intended to prevent the blockage of the pit membrane, i.e., to break the pit membrane per se, thereby facilitating easy escapement of water in cells after the breaking. In the present invention, wood fuel is burned, and subject wood is allowed to stand in a treatment chamber filled with smoky wood gas generated by the combustion for a predetermined period of time, to expose the subject wood to far-infrared radiation and components contained in the wood gas.

Abstract: A method for drying wood by placing the wood in a dehydration chamber in which the temperature, humidity and pressure are controlled. Air and or gasses are circulated in the chamber to wick away moisture while the wood remains frozen. Both the internal temperature and the circulating air are kept below freezing during the drying process. Atmospheric pressure is manipulated to enhance drying and may be either increased or reduced. Exposure to the volume of dry air (air with zero percent humidity) varies with the drying process and depends on the species, the quantity of wood to be dried and the initial moisture content of the material.

Abstract: The objects of the present invention are a barn and a procedure for curing Virginia type tobacco. The barn consists of an air heating device with an impulsion fan (9) connected by means of an inlet duct (10) to several curing units (1-8) where the Virginia type tobacco leaves are contained said curing units (1-8) being mutually connected. The heated air introduced into the barn by the fan (9) flows continuously and sequentially through the curing units (1-8), said air thereby acquiring the adequate moisture and temperature for each step of the Virginia type tobacco curing process.The barn and procedure of the invention provide improved fuel efficiency and ease of management.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for operating a dryer used to reduce the moisture content of sheet material such as a jet veneer dryer. A drying chamber is provided and includes a plurality of individual, juxtaposed drying sections. Each drying section circulates air in a path substantially transverse to the path of movement through the dryer. A single point exhaust system extracts the exhaust from the first drying section. A wet seal section located at the input end of the dryer includes an exhaust passage through which a gas sample is drawn by a sampling fan. Gases within the wet seal section are a combination of ambient air drawn through restricted passages at the entry to the wet seal section and exhaust gas that bleeds into the wet seal section from the drying chamber. A controller monitors the temperature of the sampled gases and ambient air and adjusts the rate of exhaust flow from the main exhaust system as a function of the temperature differential.

Abstract: A no-vent dry kiln for drying wood products such as lumber. The kiln has a dehumidification unit to remove excess moisture from the air utilized as the drying media. The dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures of the air within the kiln enclosure are precisely monitored to control the conditions of the atmosphere within the kiln enclosure. The kiln has a dehumidification unit to remove excess moisture from the air and to retain the sensible heat of the air stream passing through the dehumidification unit. The air stream, under a controlled flow rate passes through a first coil which removes the sensible heat from the air stream to lower the temperature of the air stream to at or below its saturation temperature. The heat removed by the first coil is transferred to a third coil down stream. A second coil downstream from the first coil lowers the temperature of the air stream well below the dew point causing the condensing of moisture. The condensed moisture is removed by a condensate removal system.

Abstract: A pass-through convection oven having a series of gas jet distributors and an exhaust system adjacent later distributors in the series to gather gas for the initial distributors in the series. A distributor in the series is formed of a pair of plenums in series in the gas flow path with a cumulative area of the passageway between them exceeding the cumulative area of the orifice from which the gas jets are formed in that distributor.

Abstract: The invention relates to an air-exhausting and pre-pressing apparatus for laminated glass sheets. In the manufacture of laminated windscreens, the glass sheets are carried on a conveyor in a substantially upright position through a heating tunnel. The suction tubes included in a suction track adjacent to the conveyor are coupled with suction rings surrounding the edges of the laminated glass sheets. A preheating station, a heating station, and a recooling station are set successively to define together a heating tunnel, the conveyor extending through the heating tunnel. The preheating station and the recooling station are linked with each other by at least two air circulation ducts for circulating air from the recooling station to the preheating station and from the preheating station back to the recooling station. The arrangement saves heating energy and achieves a uniform heating and cooling of glass sheets.

Abstract: A drying apparatus for rubber boots and other items comprising hollow housing equipment with open front and rear surfaces, disinfectant spraying equipment a low-temperature dehumidifier connected in free communication with the housing equipment, wherein the housing equipment is partitioned into rows and columns of housing boxes by partition frames and has its bottom surface designed to serve as slit shelves so that the drying apparatus for rubber boots and other items can dry, in particular, rubber boots used at work, or outfits such as golf bags and ski wears at low temperature, which does not damage the material, by forcible air convection and the disinfectant is carried on the air stream and distributed throughout the housing equipment to perform sanitary drying and dehumidification.

Abstract: An apparatus for incubating and/or incubating shaking biological test specimens having a detachable autoclavable chamber. The main incubating chamber is provided with a support plate and diffuser plate for directing a controlled flow of heated air to the biological test specimen. A transverse blower is provided to assist in providing uniform air flow within the main incubating chamber.

Abstract: An oven employing a group of identical modular oven units, each unit divided into a main cavity with a first upper auxiliary chamber and a second lower auxiliary chamber. A barrier plate separating the upper chamber from the main cavity is gas pervious and serves as a filter to separate micron size particles and larger from entering the main chamber as the particles are carried by heated inert gas or air passing into the main cavity. The barrier plate separating the lower chamber from the main cavity is also gas pervious and serves as a sink to adsorb particles of sizes up to 100 microns. The group of modular ovens is partially surrounded by a heat transfer wall which allows heat to be rejected from the modular ovens and removed by a fluid coolant in contact with the wall.

Abstract: An oven for converting raw plums into prunes by desiccation comprises an enclosure (1) with a double heat-insulated wall arranged as a tunnel and provided with air curtains (2 and 3) at its inlet and at its outlet. The air-agitation means recirculate a portion of the air within the enclosure, after filtration and condensation of water vapor on a cold wall. Electrical heating elements (65) are placed downstream of the device for condensing water vapor (60). The recovery duct (51) and blower duct (71) are placed laterally on opposite sides of the tunnel.

Abstract: An indirect fired oven system for curing coated products, particularly metal product such as coiled sheet steel or coiled sheet aluminum, is provided. The oven line comprises at least one oven zone though usually at least two or three zones are present, through which the coated product travels, and the oven line is operated at elevated temperatures. An indraft is induced at the entrance and exit ends of the oven line by a balance air fan which captures the indraft air at both ends almost immediately that it enters the oven line, and feeds part of the indraft air to a heat exchanger and then back to the oven zones, and part of it unheated directly back to the oven zones. The temperature in the oven zones is controlled by the influx to each zone of heated air.

Abstract: A drying furnace for drying a paint coating on each of automobile bodies successively transported therethrough comprises a generally tunnel-shaped housing having entry and exit openings defined at the opposite ends thereof respectively. This housing has an indirect drying zone defined therein adjacent the entry opening, and a direct drying zone defined therein adjacent the exit opening, and also has an intermediate drying zone defined therein between the indirect and direct heating zones that can be used as an extension of either the indirect drying zone or the direct drying zone depending on the speed of successive transportation of the painted automobile bodies.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for heating selected portions of an article include transport means for moving the article into a heating compartment. Shroud means, which are disposed within the heating compartment and located adjacent to limited portion of the article, direct a stream of heated gas toward a marginal portion of this article. Supply means deliver a volume rate flow of heated gas to the shroud means, and discharge means remove a volume rate of exhaust gas flow from the heating compartment. The discharge means is constructed and arranged to provide a volume rate of exhaust gas flow from the heating compartment which is greater than the volume rate of heated gas flow supplied into the shroud means.

Abstract: Double-flow dehydration tunnel characterized in that it comprises, above an intermediate space (5), a collecting and channelling means (20) arranged to collect separately the current of hot air (10) coming from the recycling duct (7) containing the heater (9) and the current of less hot air (15) coming from the recycling duct not containing a heater, to divert these two substantially horizontal currents into substantially vertical currents and to channel them in the form of a multitude of laminar streams (32, 33) parallel to the vertical axial plane of the tunnel, the streams (32, 33) from one source and the other being in alternate positions and axially offset at least on one edge, in such a manner that their mixing produces an air current comprising two zones (34, 35) at different temperatures in the axial direction and substantially homogeneous in the transverse direction, the less hot zone (35) being oriented on the side where the parallel flow section (4) is located.

Abstract: A method of producing concrete articles comprises reclaiming a portion of the heat energy from the kiln atmosphere during the curing of the concrete articles, and then utilizing the reclaimed heat energy to pre-heat mixing water used to form other concrete articles, or to add to boiler feed water used to generate low pressure steam, or both. In the case where two or more kilns are operated simultaneously at staggered curing cycles, the high temperature kiln atmosphere from the kiln undergoing cool down is intermixed with the low temperature kiln atmosphere from the kiln undergoing heat up thereby reclaiming heat energy from one kiln and using it in the other kiln thereby reducing the total energy consumption required for curing.

Abstract: Solvent-treated objects are dried in a drying chamber having a drying zone and at least one transfer zone for introducing into and/or removal from the drying zone of the object. The drying zone is created by recirculating drying air at high air flow rate by selectively sucking air from and blowing air into the drying zone and by removing recirculated solvent-carrying air from the drying zone by suction to provide a negative pressure in the drying chamber with greatest negative pressure in the drying chamber in the drying zone. Removed drying air is preferably passed through a solvent recovery carbon filter.

Abstract: Disclosed is a chamber which defines a constant gas flow environment for passing objects therethrough carried by a conveyor. The chamber comprises an elongate housing having an inlet opening and an outlet opening in the longitudinal direction and a moving conveyor which runs the length of said housing for transporting object from said inlet opening through said housing and thereout through said outlet opening, the space below said conveyor being enclosed and connected to a source of exhaust for exhausting gaseous substances therein. The space above the conveyor comprises an inlet zone, a central gas zone, and an outlet zone. The inlet zone and the outlet zone both are of a bi-cameral containment arrangement comprising an outer adjustable gate for determining the inlet opening, a central adjustable baffle gate, and an inner deflector wall. The space between the outer gate and the baffle gate is connected to a source of exhaust.

Abstract: A tobacco curing bin for use in a tobacco curing kiln is provided, the said bin comprising a box-like structure with opposing ends, a top, a front, a back, a floor, and having tynes adapted to pierce and support the tobacco leaves therein; each said end being adapted to be impervious to the flow of curing air; the said front being adapted with holes to receive said tynes and having at least one gate to permit loading and unloading of the bin; the said back being adapted to provide a support for the tobacco leaves in the bin when the bin is being loaded or unloaded and further adapted to receive said tynes; the said tynes being adapted to pass through the holes in the front, to pierce the tobacco leaves and to engage with the said back to support the tobacco leaves within the bin; the said floor being adapted to be pervious to the flow of curing air and being characterized in that said floor is adapted to slope upwardly from the ends to a middle portion in said floor to permit an improved flow of curing air th

Abstract: In the drying of printed or coated webs of moving material with the aid of heated air, the air is cycled through drying chambers or hoods until it is laden with solvents up to a predetermined value of saturation such as 50% of the lower explosion limit, whereafter it is extracted.

Abstract: Disclosed is a chamber which defines a constant gas flow environment for passing objects therethrough carried by a conveyor. The chamber comprises an elongate housing having an inlet opening and an outlet opening in the longitudinal direction and a moving conveyor which runs the length of said housing for transporting object from said inlet opening through said housing and thereout through said outlet opening, the space below said conveyor being enclosed and connected to a source of exhaust for exhausting gaseous substances therein. The space above the conveyor comprises an inlet zone, a central gas zone, and an outlet zone. The inlet zone and the outlet zone both are of a bi-cameral containment arrangement comprising an outer adjustable gate for determining the inlet opening, a central adjustable baffle gate, and an inner deflector wall. The space between the outer gate and the baffle gate is connected to a source of exhaust.

Abstract: A body of pulverulent material is confined in a receptacle, and a screw conveyor having a vertical axis conveys a predetermined quantity of the material per unit of time in the upward direction. The amount of the pulverulent material which is being conveyed is such that it fills the space between the turns of the helical conveyor screw of the screw conveyor, which is surrounded by a jacket, only in part, thus leaving a passage in the screw conveyor through which a stream of drying air is conveyed in contact with the pulverulent material so that the drying air withdraws moisture from the material. The rotational speed and/or the pitch or spacing of the consecutive turns of the conveyor screw is so selected that only such an amount of the pulverulent material enters through an opening in the jacket of the screw conveyor while the space between two consecutive turns is juxtaposed with the opening as to only partially fill such a space.

Abstract: A large scale, industrial system and method for dehydrating fruits, nuts or other produce. The system includes two long air tunnels which are placed end-to-end. Each air tunnel has a conveyor which is used to transport the produce through the air tunnel. As the produce exits one air tunnel, it is dropped from one conveyor onto the other, thus permitting the produce to be turned over before it enters the second air tunnel. Each air tunnel is divided into a number of separate air chambers in which the heated, circulating air is confined so as to reduce heat loss, thus increasing the energy efficiency of the system, and also providing for separate control of the air temperature and humidity levels in each air chamber. Countercirculation of air between adjacent air chambers aids in confining the air through the separate air chambers, as well as the use of resilient flaps which are used to enclose the ends of each air chamber through which the conveyor enters and exits.

Abstract: A housing having propeller type fans in the housing adjacent to an object or objects to be dried. Shafts, carried by sleeves projecting through the side walls or top wall, rotate the fans. Motors externally of the housing drive the shafts.In one form of the invention, the air circulated by the fans is heated by steam coils adjacent to the periphery of the blades of the fans. In another embodiment, an open flame gas or oil burner, disposed in a combustion chamber, heats air, which is subsequently directed by ducts to the fans. Exhaust blowers and exhaust ducts exhaust the fume laden air from the chamber. Still another embodiment shows pairs of juxtaposed oppositely blowing fans carried by shafts protruding through the walls of the oven and spaced heaters between the fans. Still another embodiment shows opposed fans for drying a cylindrical member passed through the chamber.

Abstract: A conveyorized, electrically heated oven provides controlled top and bottom heating for pizza or other food products. Cooking is accomplished in two ways. The top of the food is cooked with heated air circulated within the oven, while the bottom of the food is heated by electric heating elements located between live conveyor rolls. Heated air within the oven is recirculated. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, two parallel conveyor lines are provided, with controls to permit use of one or both lines. Because of the heat recirculation system, the oven does not require a heat vent and energy consumption is reduced.

Abstract: A fruit dryer comprising a roller conveyor passing through an elongate drying chamber is disclosed. An air plenum having a plurality of transverse nozzle openings is disposed above the conveyor and directs a series of curtain-like air streams on the fruit below. The major portion of the air within the dryer is recycled by a fan while a smaller portion of said air is exhausted by a second fan. A heater heats both the recycled air and fresh air introduced as make-up for the exhausted air. A means is provided to rotate the individual rollers of the roller conveyor as the conveyor is advanced in order to expose all sides of the fruit to the air streams.

Abstract: A sintering machine for pulverulent ore concentrates containing sulfidic metals including an ignition zone, a sintering zone and at least two cooling zones wherein there is total recirculation of cooling gases between two cooling zones and including a recuperative heat exchanger for cooling the exhaust gas from the first cooling zone, prior to its introduction to the second cooling zone.

Abstract: An oven is disclosed as having a plurality of chambers which are sealed from the ambient atmosphere, and to which gas, heated to a high temperature outside the chambers, is circulated to each of the chambers for admixture with gas which is cool compared to the high temperature gas, to produce in the chambers a mixture of hot and cool gas at a predetermined temperature. The hot gas is circulated to the chambers at a certain desired pressure, wherein the cool gas is circulated to the chambers at a certain rate of flow. Gas is exhausted from the oven also at a fixed rate of flow. The gas pressure in the first oven to be encountered by an element passing through the oven, is monitored and triggers a change in the flow of cool gas when the pressure varies from a desired norm. This change in flow of cool gas influences the temperature which is also monitored. A change in the temperature produces a corresponding change in the mixture of hot and cool gas to return the oven temperature to the desired level.

Abstract: Wet plasterboard to be dried is advanced along a path. At an upstream portion of the path, air is heated and directed towards the plasterboard for initial drying of the latter. A portion of the heated air is withdrawn and passed through one section of a heat exchanger whose other section contains water which exchanges heat with the heated air. The heated water is passed through a section of another heat exchanger whose other section contains fresh air which is heated by the heated water. The heated fresh air is directed towards the articles for further drying of the latter at a downstream portion of the path. A portion of the heated fresh air is exhausted and recirculated at the downstream path portion.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for drying articles, such as fruit, which are treated with an aqueous coating such as a wax composition to preserve and to enhance the appearance of the article. The drying apparatus comprises a plurality of housing sections, each providing substantially closed chambers through which a conveyor means carries and advances articles to be dried at a selected rate of speed. The conveyor and a strata of articles carried thereon form a perforate zone in each housing section. Drying air is directed downwardly into a side passageway means at one side of each chamber to pass into a plenum chamber below the conveyor means and to then flow upwardly and substantially uniformly through the conveyor means and strata of articles thereon. Drying air is drawn from an upper chamber above the conveyor means by a blower which directs the drying air into side passageway means downwardly and into the plenum chamber of the next adjacent downstream housing section.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for removing moisture from a porous textile web. The web is passed sequentially through a plurality of drying regions, dividing each of the drying regions into an upper drying zone and a lower drying zone. Air is drawn through the traveling web by variable speed fans disposed in the drying regions, the air forced by each of the fans into an air passageway having fluid communication with all of the upper drying zones and separated into air channels by divider panels.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of drying with hot air where the drying is divided into at least two partial processes, in parallel or in series with each other, and the circulation flows of the two partial processes are conditioned to substantially different wet temperature levels, and the spent air in the partial process with higher wet temperature is heat exchanged with the circulation air in the partial process with lower wet temperature, in combination with that the spent air flows from the two partial processes thereafter are mixed with each other and caused to pass a heat exchanger common for the processes in order to preheat the supply air to the partial process with low wet temperature and after the passage through the heat exchanger to partially constitute supply air for the partial process with high wet temperature.

Abstract: A grain drier comprising a plurality of horizontal conveyor belts arranged one above another in staggered relationship so that grain delivered to one end of the upper conveyor belt will drop onto the lower conveyor belt when it gets to the other end of the upper conveyor belt and will then travel along the lower conveyor belt in opposite direction before being discharged. Hot air is supplied by a hot air generator through conduits to a position below and along each of the conveyor belts, passes upwardly through the conveyor belts which are formed of wire mesh and through the grain thereon and is extracted through discharge conduits from above the conveyor belts. The flow rate and temperature of the hot air may be varied. Heat from the extracted air may be recovered and recycled into the hot air generator. Also heat from the dried grain may be recovered and reconducted by means of a blower fan through a conduit onto the incoming fresh grain.

Abstract: Apparatus wherein tobacco is dried in several successive units each of which contacts a continuous stream of tobacco with hot air. The moisture content of tobacco is measured between a preceding unit and the next-following unit, and the temperature of hot air which is supplied by the next-following unit is respectively increased and reduced when the monitored moisture content of tobacco respectively rises and decreases. The temperature of air which is admitted by the preceding unit is maintained at a constant value. The temperature of air which is supplied by the next-following unit is further influenced, when necessary, in dependency on measurement of such temperature and in dependency on differences between the final moisture content of tobacco and a preselected optimum moisture content. The detector which monitors the moisture content between the preceding and next-following units is built directly into the conveyor which transports the tobacco stream through the drying units.

Abstract: An inlet duct is provided for recirculating grain dryers of the type which have a drying column area, and a recirculating blower mounted in a room portion of the dryer, with an open side of the room communicating with the drying column area. The inlet duct is connected with an intake portion of the recirculating blower, and has an open end thereof disposed adjacent to the open side of the room, whereby during a full recirculating condition of the grain dryer, air is drawn into the recirculating blower substantially wholly from the drying column area. The inlet duct has an aerodynamically streamlined interior shape with walls which taper inwardly toward the blower intake portion for efficiently guiding the flow of air from the drying column area directly into the recirculating blower intake.

Abstract: This installation for drying, by controlled evaporation, humidified and agglomerated caster sugar comprises an oven with a plurality of sections. Conveying means are provided for passing the products to be dried successively through these sections, between the entrance and exit of the oven. Means are provided for extracting the air, said means being connected to the median part of the oven, in order permanently to suck in the ambient air through the entrance and exit of the oven, which are left free. In each section of the oven means are also provided for producing an auxiliary air stream oriented perpendicularly to the direction of displacement of the products to be dried.

Abstract: The moisture content of tobacco, particularly greenleaf tobacco, is reduced to an accurately determined value by conveying a continuous tobacco stream through three successive sections of a transporting system wherein the tobacco is contacted by air currents. In accordance with a first embodiment, a relatively hot current of air is conveyed countercurrent to the direction of tobacco transport in the first section of the transporting system; in the second section, the flow of hot air is concurrent with the direction of tobacco transport; in the third section, the tobacco is contacted by relatively cool air having a relatively high moisture content. The air which is conveyed through the third section can be withdrawn from the first section, and the temperature of air in the second section is regulated as a function of deviations of moisture content of partially or completely conditioned tobacco from a desired moisture content.

Abstract: A housing having propeller type fans in the housing adjacent to an object or objects to be dried. Shafts, carried by sleeves projecting through the side walls or top wall, rotate the fans. Motors externally of the housing drive the shafts.In one form of the invention, the air circulated by the fans is heated by steam coils adjacent to the periphery of the blades of the fans. In another embodiment, an open flame gas or oil burner, disposed in a combustion chamber, heats air, which is subsequently directed by ducts to the fans. Exhaust blowers and exhaust ducts exhaust the fume laden air from the chamber. Still another embodiment shows pairs of juxtaposed oppositely blowing fans carried by shafts protruding through the walls of the oven and spaced heaters between the fans. Still another embodiment shows opposed fans for drying a cylindrical member passed through the chamber.

Abstract: A forced draft fan creates within a furnace fuel cell a pressure which is high enough to provide a pressure gradient effective to force the combustion gases from the cell all the way to the dryer. The combustion gases are provided by waste wood products which are forced by a special feeding system into the fuel cell against the resistance of the relatively high air pressure within the cell, to create a burning pile. The feeding system blocks most of the smoke and combustion gases from back-feeding through the fuel passageway, and then removes the part that is not blocked. The combustion gases during the drying process become wet. A part of these wet gases are vented at the dryer but a recirculation fan effects the return of a portion to a blending chamber where they are mixed with hot combustion gases to be again directed to the dryer. The other portion of the wet gases is directed to the combustion chamber for augmenting its operation.

Abstract: A process for heat-treating and, in particular, for drying and/or fixing a continuously moved fabric web in a treatment unit comprising at least two treatment zones through which the fabric web successively passes, using a hot gas stream recirculated in the treatment unit, a certain quantity of waste gas being continuously removed from the treatment unit and freed from constituents present in it and some of the waste gas thus treated being returned to the treatment unit after reheating, the rest of the waste gas being released into the atmosphere.

Abstract: An apparatus for the heat treatment of textile material comprises a plurality of nozzle boxes extending across the operating width at least on one side of the length of material. The nozzle boxes are fed from a front face and have openings discharging in a direction towards the length of material and a fan is disposed at the feed end of these nozzle boxes. The fan is a radial flow fan. It is arranged with its axis of rotation at right angles to the plane of the length of material on the long side of the apparatus.

Abstract: The system for drying wood products includes a heat source for providing heated gases at a constant temperature. The heated gases are supplied to individual dryers through a common supply plenum connected to individual dryer inlet plenums. The system includes means for adding ambient air at the dryer inlet plenum to temper the heated gases so as to maintain a constant temperature at the dryer outlet while varying the dryer inlet temperature as a function of the amount of moisture to be removed.

Abstract: A coating containing a vaporizable solvent on a strip passing through an oven apparatus is dried or cured at least in part by means of a radiant heater disposed within such an oven apparatus. Solvent-carrying gases are removed from the oven and incinerated to oxidize the solvent vapors contained therein and to provide gases at an elevated temperature and with a reduced solvent vapor content. Such heated gases are then passed through the radiant heater which receives heat from such gases and radiates heat toward the strip. Optionally, openings are provided in the radiant heater to allow for the flow of hot gases from within the radiant heater through such openings for impingement on and direct heating of the strip.

Abstract: The moisture content of tobacco, particularly greenleaf tobacco, is reduced to an accurately determined value by conveying a continuous tobacco stream through three successive sections of a transporting system wherein the tobacco is contacted by air currents. In accordance with a first embodiment, a relatively hot current of air is conveyed countercurrent to the direction of tobacco transport in the first section of the transporting system; in the second section, the flow of hot air is concurrent with the direction of tobacco transport; in the third section, the tobacco is contacted by relatively cool air having a relatively high moisture content. The air which is conveyed through the third section can be withdrawn from the first section, and the temperature of air in the second section is regulated as a function of deviations of moisture content of partially or completely conditioned tobacco from a desired moisture content.

Abstract: An improvement in the method of grain drying wherein grain is dried in a first drying bin and removed to a holding bin, the improvement comprising withdrawing hot air from the holding bin and circulating the hot air to the drying bin.