subject: Mechanism Of Belt Dryer [print this page] A drying apparatus includes a plurality of mesh belt dryer modules, each module creating a drying zone and having a plurality of tubes disposed above and below an upper surface of a conveyor that supports a product within the apparatus for transport therethrough. At least one circulation fan in each module causes heated air to circulate to the tubes, which direct the air flow to impinge upon and dry the product. Each module also includes a burner for heating the air within the module to a desired temperature. The circulation fan and burner of each module are independently controllable, so that the apparatus can produce an air-flow rate and an air temperature in at least one of the drying zones different than the air-flow rate and air temperature in at least one other of the drying zones.
According to the invention, several possibilities are advantageous for the three-dimensional definition of the characteristic: the characteristic differs in at least two regions symmetrically or in at least one region asymmetrically, in particular in random distribution toward the center of the mesh belt dryer, the characteristic differs solely in the two edge regions or in the middle region of the belt and/or the characteristic differs in several regions periodically and/or in several regions across the overall width of the belt. Furthermore, the respective differencing of the characteristic takes place in this case continuously. All these advantageous possibilities of differencing open up a large application spectrum to the inventive belt for fibrous webs with different, possibly machine-specific transverse profiles.
. A method of using a belt of a machine for producing a fibrous web, said method comprising the steps of: providing the mesh belt dryer for transferring an in-production said fibrous web, the belt comprising: at least one textile substrate; at least one coating applied to said at least one textile substrate and touching said in-production fibrous web, said at least one coating configured for obtaining a partial or complete impermeability of the belt, the belt having a plurality of regions, and at least one continuously differencing characteristic in at least one of said plurality of regions across an overall width of the belt; and transferring said in-production fibrous web one of in one machine area of the machine producing the fibrous web and between two machine areas of the machine producing the fibrous web.
