The world’s only vacuum resin dryer designed for plastics processors has a new brand name that reflects its proven capability to pay for itself through substantial savings in energy costs.

Now named ULTRA, the dryer uses energy at such a drastically lower rate than a comparable new desiccant dryer that its manufacturer, Maguire Products, Inc., says “with costs so low, it’s almost free.”

The energy savings with the ULTRA dryer are even greater in comparison with the many low-efficiency old dryers still operating around the world, the company added. 

Maguire will formally introduce the brand at K 2019. 

Frank Kavanagh, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, said: “Since 2013 the experience of customers around the world has demonstrated that the energy savings achieved with our dryers are even greater than originally claimed. While the energy needed to heat polymer to its required temperature is roughly the same for both vacuum and desiccant dryers, we now know that the ULTRA Low Energy Dryer uses much less energy in the next stage, when the heated resin is actually dried.”

An average desiccant dryer might run at 60 watts per pound of material; the ULTRA Low runs at 19 watts per pound. 

Each system uses the same amount of energy to bring the material up to temperature from ambient temperature – around 15 watts. The energy used to heat the product, however, is dramatically different than that used to dry it. A desiccant dryer would thereby use a further 45 watts, whereas to the same level the ULTRA would only use four.

“Over the course of an average lifespan of a dryer, that equates to $64,944 (~€58,800),” Kavanagh added, “paying for itself just on energy savings multiple times over, without considering other benefits.”  

The energy savings provided by the ULTRA Low Energy Dryer have an environmental benefit too, with estimated savings of 54,120kW per year.