LPD 100

Why is the LPD Better?

• Speed of Drying

  Typically the vacuum dryer will dry materials in one-sixth the time of a desiccant dryer. If your desiccant dryer drying time is 4 hours, the vacuum dryer will do the job in 40 minutes. The result is time-savings of 3 hours and 20 minutes every time you start up a dryer. This not only represents reduced energy cost (see below), but could also represent 3 hours and 20 minutes of additional production time.

• Energy Savings

  Side-by-side testing of the vacuum dryer and a desiccant dryer shows reduced energy consumption of 70 - 80%. The key to the reduced energy consumption is that the vacuum dryer does not rely on desiccant. Desiccant, once saturated, must be regenerated by a heating and cooling process so it will again be able to absorb moisture. All energy required to regenerate desiccant is lost to ambient.

• Reduced Maintenance

  Since desiccant degrades over time it must be replaced on a regular basis. This expense is avoided with a vacuum dryer. In addition the need to monitor the condition of desiccant is eliminated.

• Low Material Stress

  Long drying times at elevated temperatures can cause thermal, chemical and physical material degradation. Materials if exposed to prolonged elevated temperature during drying run the risk of degradation including discoloration and/or IV drop which leads to reduced physical properties of the end product. The reduced drying time required with the vacuum dryer dramatically reduces the risk of material degradation. Since the vacuum dryer first heats up the material, then applies vacuum to accomplish drying the heating cycle is only 20 to 30 minutes.

• On-The-Fly Material Change

  Additional savings can be achieved with the vacuum dryer in the form of on-the-fly material changes. Since the vacuum dryer dries in batches a material or color change can be accomplished on-the-fly. This means no downtime related to clean-out of the drying hopper during a material change. Every time you have a material change with a desiccant dryer the dryer must be shutdown and the drying hopper cleaned. This is normally a time-consuming, labor-intensive process. The vacuum dryer will automatically notify the operator when it's time to conduct an on-the-fly material change. No interruption of the drying process occurs during the on-the-fly material change.

• The LPD Dryer Microprocessor Controller

  The LPD controller is very simple to use. The dryer may be operated by simply setting the proper temperature and cycle time on the thumbwheels located to the right. The display will indicate temperature and elapsed cycle time or, alternatively, temperature and vacuum level. If a problem occurs during operation an alarm strobe and horn will be activated and the nature of the problem will be indicated on the display. The controller monitors numerous alarm conditions to ensure proper performance. Comparable to a dew point monitor, vacuum level is always monitored to ensure proper vacuum level is maintained.
  
  As an aid to monitoring dryer performance and documenting operation a printer port is provided on the controller. A printed output of dryer operation may be obtained for each drying cycle.
  
  The controller can be easily removed for service or replacement. If you have a controller problem a complete new control panel may be installed in minutes.

How the LPD Dryer Works: