APR dryer: a more compact Anjou dryer for a more flexible production organization and higher production capacities
APR dryer: a more compact Anjou dryer
Ceric Technologies which has initiated a large number of the most significant inventions for the past 30 years in the heavy clay engineering sector (casing kiln, Anjou dryer, hydrocasing, dry and semi-dry preparation), has brought a new innovation to the heavy clay sector with its quick dryer with reduced tray spacing (APR).
With hundreds of references in the production of hollow and hourdi bricks, pan and cover tiles or interlocking flat tiles, the Anjou dryer is the most widespread dryer throughout the world. To allow its customers to increase their production capacities or extend the use of fast drying to other products, CericTechnologies has launched an innovative dryer: the Anjou dryer with reduced tray spacing (APR) a more compact fast dryer whose spacing between trays has been reduced.
Three dryers are under construction (one in France and two in Algeria). “To reduce the footprint of our quick brick dryer, we chose to reduce the spacing between the trays which had been up to now comprised between 1 and 3 metres,” explains Patrick Hébrard, CEO of CericTechnologies. A patent has been filed for this new dryer, which directly derives from the Anjou dryer. It has been designed by André Vegnaduzzo, a staff member of the equipment manufacturing company who is an experienced ceramic engineer.
APR: a flexible and compact dryer
The dryer consists of a lower tunnel and an upper a tunnel connected at each end by a well. The products to be dried are placed on rectangular trays that hang from a chain conveyor in the middle of their width. Products first go through the lower tunnel and then through a well. Afterwards, they are sent to the upper tunnel before passing through another well. The new drive mechanism combines different kinds of pulleys (transmission, bypass, auxiliary) and ensures a smooth and regular transport of the trays without any risk of collisions between them.
The advantages of this new version of the dryer Anjou clearly lie in the flexibility it offers to manufacturers who wish to either increase production or complement their manufacturing range with new products that until now could not undergo a fast drying cycle. For the new plants that brick (or roofing tile) manufacturers may wish to build in the future around the world, this means that they can achieve a greater production capacity with a limited footprint. For existing lines, upgrade investments can be done without foreseeing a special budget for additional civil engineering works or new buildings.
Dryers to be commissioned
Two dryers are under construction in Algeria, one has already been commissionned in France . A French brick producer wishing to complement its product range with large size rectified bricks has already decided to introduce the new dryer of CericTechnologies. Last March, an APR dryer has been commissioned on one of its production sites. By reducing the spacing between the trays by 30%, the quantity of trays has been increased from 48 to 72 trays, and the dryer has been extended by 15 meters only. The destacking device had simply to be moved to allow the installation of the new dryer.
On the construction side, no civil engineering works were required. Similarly, no changes had to be done to the building. Thus, the return on investment will be achieved more quickly. Two Algerian brick producers also chose to install an APR dryer on their manufacturing sites to increase their production capacity from 600 to 800 tonnes/day. The commissioning should take place at the end of the year.