Fiber Mat Curing Oven Hot Air Injection to Cut Burner Emissions
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing manufacturing processes for insulating fiber mats are energy-intensive, leading to high greenhouse gas emissions and operational safety risks, particularly due to the use of gas-fired burners for heating.
Innovation Solution
A crosslinking system that partially replaces hot air produced by gas burners with externally sourced, low-carbon hot air, such as from renewable energy or nuclear energy, to reduce gas consumption and emissions while maintaining safety through continuous burner operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If gas-fired burners are used to heat the curing oven, then the binder is effectively polymerized, but greenhouse gas emissions increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the heating function from the gas-fired burners by introducing an external hot air supply system. The burners are retained for safety but their heating contribution is reduced by supplying hot air from an external source, thereby separating the heating function from gas consumption and reducing emissions while maintaining the polymerization process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces hot air as an intermediary medium to transfer thermal energy into the curing oven. Instead of directly combusting gas within the oven, pre-heated air from an external source serves as the heat transfer medium, enabling temperature control with reduced direct gas consumption and associated emissions.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If gas consumption is reduced to lower emissions, then energy efficiency may be compromised, but the invention maintains energy efficiency through alternative hot air supply
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by pre-heating air in an external hot air generator before introducing it into the curing oven. This pre-heating process prepares the thermal energy in advance, allowing the main oven to achieve and maintain polymerization temperatures with reduced gas consumption from the internal burners, thereby maintaining energy efficiency while lowering emissions.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If burners are completely replaced by electric heating, then emissions are eliminated, but safety risks increase due to loss of continuous flame monitoring
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies partial action by retaining the gas burners in the system rather than completely replacing them with electric heating. The burners are kept operational at reduced capacity to maintain continuous flame presence for safety monitoring purposes, while the majority of heating is provided by the external hot air supply. This partial retention of the original system ensures safety requirements are met while achieving significant emission reductions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Reduces gas consumption by 50% to 70%, significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions and maintaining energy efficiency with minimal impact on the manufacturing process.
Implementation Method 1
said injection system comprises heating means configured to heat said air to a temperature between 350°C and 1000°C
Implementation Method 2
said injection system also comprises means for circulating said air in said curing chamber
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to a system (SYS_R) for crosslinking a continuous mat of mineral and/or vegetable fibers, comprising an oven (14) for crosslinking the mat, the crosslinking oven comprising at least one heating box, each heating box being connected to a combustion chamber. The crosslinking system further comprises an injection system (SYS_I) that is arranged outside the crosslinking oven and configured to inject hot air into at least one combustion chamber of a heating box, the injected hot air replacing a given fraction of hot air produced by at least one burner that is attached to the at least one combustion chamber.