Contiweb Hot Air Dryer

Contiweb, a specialist manufacturer of drying and web-handling equipment, and provider of integrated technical solutions for web offset printing, digital inkjet printing and packaging production, announced today that it has streamlined its dryer product portfolio – this is in response to its customers asking for the most environmentally friendly and cost-effective solutions. All types of the Ecotherm, Ecoweb and Ecocool will therefore be replaced by equivalents based on the latest Ecoset technology. This move exemplifies Contiweb’s commitment to more ecological, cost-saving dryers, and enhancements that obtain the same benefits for dryers from a previous technology era.

“We have noticed that the gas crisis has acted as a deciding factor in the increasing demand for these products. This has led us to further focus on the development of new enhancements of this kind and on the discontinuation of dryers that no longer meet today’s environmental requirements,” says Rob Bosman, Sales Director at Contiweb. “Our commitment to our customers and the environment pushed us to take this step and to challenge ourselves in new ways. Only by discontinuing the old, we can focus on further improving the new.”

For many decades, Contiweb has been the market leader in gas dryers for heatset web offset. Contiweb dryers are innovative, reliable and long-lasting, based on a high-air volume, low-temperature process that optimises print quality and productivity by minimising the negative effects of heating the web. They combine high performance with simplified operation and low operational costs.

The cornerstone of the portfolio for web-offset will become the Ecoset dryer for commercial printing applications. It is a hot-air dryer that covers the full range from 16-page up to 96-page (1020-2860mm) applications. The key functions of drying, afterburning, and chilling are integrated in a single unit. The afterburner incinerates the solvents from the ink to minimise emissions whilst the gained thermal energy is effectively re-used in the heating process, reducing gas consumption up to 40%. Chilling functionality has been enhanced by adding integrated web guidance, web break detection, silicone application and remoistening, resulting in less contamination and web breaks. Since its introduction in 2000, the Ecoset platform has been embraced by the industry and continuously further developed. As of today, over 600 dryers are in production.

A further option in the commercial printing portfolio is the Ecodry, an economic solution for 16-page presses, available only with a web width of 1020mm. This model also comes with gas-saving integrated afterburning, but without chilling functionality.

For book and newspaper printers Contiweb offers the Ecobook dryer. The Ecobook applies the same technology as the Ecoset, however it’s working with reduced drying temperatures to make it suitable for the uncoated paper and low ink coverage applications that are typical to publication printing. According to Bosman, although air volumes are smaller than in large format presses, the integration of the different functions still delivers a more sustainable solution at an attractive return on investment.

For its installed base, Contiweb will continue to expand the range of optional upgrades and enhancements. This will enable customers to also equip existing older generation dryers with the best available technologies that Contiweb successfully applies in the Ecoset and Ecobook. Prime examples are the Gas Reduction Enhancement and the Electrical Power Reduction Enhancement.