Robert MacNeil No Comments

What is the Difference Between an Industrial Furnace and an Industrial Oven?

A simple rule of thumb to follow is that any engineered heating equipment that generates temperatures over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit is a furnace, and that which generates temperatures less than that is an industrial oven. But there are several other differences as well:

Industrial furnace

Approach to Heating

In an industrial oven, the heat source heats the air and then “pushes” it into the oven. The air is recirculated in the heating chamber to heat the object placed within the oven that requires the heat treatment.

In an industrial furnace, the object to be heated is placed right on, or very, very close to the direct heat source. A good example of this is when a bar of iron gets superheated when placed on top of coals in a coal-fired forge and turns red-hot.

It is easier to heat objects in an industrial oven evenly than it is in an industrial furnace. In industrial furnaces you need to be careful how you place the objects within the heating chamber to assure that they are heated evenly.

What Do You Use an Industrial Oven for?

Because industrial ovens work at a much lower temperature than an industrial furnace, they are used for curing paints, powders, polymers and composites. They also are often used for removing excess moisture for pre-treating and painting, as well as for pharmaceuticals. But the most common use for industrial ovens is preparing food for consumption.

What Do You Use an Industrial Furnace for?

Industrial furnaces are used more often for the heat treatment of metals for processes such as annealing, tempering and carburizing. Industrial furnaces are also used in the pre-treatment of materials prior to the forging process. Industrial furnaces are also involved in processing glass and various types of ceramics.

It Doesn’t Matter if You are Looking for an Industrial Oven or an Industrial Furnace

Epcon can engineer a custom solution that meets your specific needs. Reach out to one of our experts today by completing our simple online Get a Quote form, call us at (936) 273-3300, or send us an email at epcon@epconlp.com.

Robert MacNeil No Comments

How the Medical and Pharmaceutical Industries Use Industrial Ovens

Industrial ovens are common equipment seen in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. They have many different types of uses and are essential in order to meet FDA, as well as EPA, guidelines.

Pharma’s Use of Industrial Ovens

The pharmaceutical industry uses ovens as industrial curing ovens to “bake on” coatings for pills. Some industrial ovens are used in conjunction with thermal oxidizers to “burn off” excess chemicals or waste created in the production of these products. The pharmaceutical industry also uses them to decontaminate the exterior of pre-sterilized products before use in a clean room, and for sterilizing lab testing equipment such as glass vials.

Industrial oven for medical and pharmaceutical industries

Sterilization of Medical Equipment

Another huge task tackled by industrial ovens in the healthcare industry is sterilizing medical instruments and devices. Some examples of the types of medical equipment decontaminated by industrial ovens include: syringes, scissors, scalpels, metallic surgical components such as metal rods and staples, replacement knees and hips, and many other parts.

Industrial ovens used in these industries require the ability to control the temperature exactly to make sure that all bacteria, viruses, microbes and other contaminants are eliminated so that these implements are safe to use.

Need a Customized Industrial Oven for Medical Use?

As you can see, the number and variety of uses for industrial ovens in the medical equipment, pharmaceutical and laboratory is considerable. Chances are whatever you need your industrial oven for will need to be customized to meet your specific requirements. Why not work with the best?

Give us a call at (936) 273-3300, email us at epcon@epconlp.com, or complete our simple online contact form to reach out to one of our industrial oven experts today.

Robert MacNeil No Comments

5 Qualities to Look for in Excellent Thermal Oxidizer Manufacturers

Thermal oxidizers are complex, technical products that many companies depend on to keep their businesses running and in compliance with environmental regulations. But what qualities should you be looking for when selecting an excellent thermal oxidizer manufacturer? Here are some factors to consider:

1 – Industry Specific Knowledge

Thermal oxidizers are a mainstay in many different industries. This includes energy production, oil and natural gas production, chemical, pharmaceutical, and many types of industrial manufacturing just to name a few.

Each industry has its own set of unique challenges and guidelines and standards that need to be followed. An excellent thermal oxidizer manufacturer should have in-depth knowledge of, and practical hands-on experience working on projects within your industry.

2 – Dedicated Engineering Staff

Engineering is the most important component of a solid thermal oxidizer manufacturer. Without excellent chemical and mechanical engineers leading the development on your project, the likelihood of success is greatly reduced. The engineering staff should be involved in every part of the thermal oxidizer manufacturing process, from requirements gathering before the sales through support and service after the sale, having dedicated engineers familiar with your project is essential for its success.

Engineers for thermal oxidizer manufacturers

3 – Maintenance and Support

Getting a thermal oxidizer constructed, installed, up and running is only a small part of the process. Once a thermal oxidizer is active, problems with the process or the hardware will be uncovered. And adjustments, such as replacing parts, re-piping or re-wiring, or modifying a process to improve heat transfer effectiveness or fuel consumption rates will be necessary to make sure that the thermal oxidizer setup is working well.

Having the ability to work on-site to test, troubleshoot and resolve problems is essential in an excellent thermal oxidizer manufacturer. The manufacturer should also be able to train your staff in the proper and safe use of the equipment as well as be available to answer any questions you might have about the installation.

4 – Experience with Different Types of Thermal Oxidizers

There are several different types of thermal oxidizers that can be employed based on a client’s specific needs. Selecting a regenerative thermal oxidizer, a recuperative thermal oxidizer or a catalytic oxidizer is an important decision and a good thermal oxidizer manufacturer should have a lot of experience with each approach to thermal oxidation.

5 – Ability to Customize Solutions

In thermal oxidizer manufacturing, there are no “out of the box” solutions. Every installation will have a unique set of challenges, requirements and environmental factors to consider. So, your thermal oxidizer manufacturer must be able to identify and address these issues quickly and translate them into requirements for your installation.

Epcon is the Excellent Thermal Oxidizer Manufacturer You Are Looking For

At Epcon Industrial Systems, we specialize designing and building “uncommon systems for uncommon applications.” Let our engineering team put together thermal oxidizer design that meets your specific needs. For more information, complete our simple Get a Quote form, call us at (936) 273-3300, or send us an email at epcon@epconlp.com.

Thermal deoilers
Robert MacNeil No Comments

Epcon Delivers World-Class Custom Thermal Deoilers

We have been busy lately delivering custom industrial ovens, direct fired thermal oxidizers, but we’ve recently delivered several custom thermal deoilers based on our patented method of coupling heat processing systems and air pollution control systems to deliver these results.

One of the thermal deoilers was delivered to a company providing stamping oil cleaning services for HVAC furnace and A/C coil and automotive heater core industries, is based on an Oxidizer/Oven patented-Epcon® system and features a burner-less deoiler, a cooling zone, multiple conveyors and platforms. The unit has a built-in secondary heat recovery system that uses a shell and tube heat exchanger design, to recycle the heat from the oxidizer back into the burner-less oven.

The Result: This system’s efficiency has significantly reduced cost by more than 30% when comparing the old method of aqueous cleaning to the thermal deoiling process. This deoiler also eliminated toxic waste water and reduced water consumption as well.

Thermal deoilers

Another system recently delivered by the Epcon engineering team is an integral thermal deoiler design, based on one of Epcon’s patents utilizing a thermal oxidizer and thermal deoiler for the oven. This thermal deoiler is also burner-less and utilizes the secondary heat from the oxidizer. The thermal oxidizer a shell and tube heat exchanger design that reduced the fuel consumption of the oxidizer. In addition, a secondary heat recovery system, that incorporated a plate and shell heat which supplies the heat necessary to operate the burner-less oven.

The Result: This system’s efficiency has significantly reduced fuel consumption and operating cost by over 30%, as well as reduced the amount of water usage and eliminated the production of toxic waste water.

Epcon Industrial Systems also delivered a thermal deoiler to a major HVAC equipment supplier. This integrated system consisted of a processing oven to clean the residual oil present in the HVAC coils, combined with an air pollution control system thermal oxidizer to destroy the solvents evaporated during thermal cleaning process. This processing oven features a dual lane conveyor system with a precision lane adjustment mechanism, and unique air distribution nozzles arrangement to offer high and low-pressure air impingement over specific areas of the HVAC coil. The combination of a higher recirculation rate and turbulence in the Oven processing chamber allowed the end user to achieve proper cleaning of parts in 20% less time.

The unique design of the integrated oven-oxidizer system offered a highly energy efficient solution by using air pollution control equipment as a heat source to the processing oven. The recuperative-style thermal oxidizer with primary and secondary heat recovery arrangements were used to design a “burner-less” oven configuration to recover waste heat generated in the oxidizer.

The Result: This new, optimized system configuration resulted into energy savings of 5.5 MMBTU per hour, which saved the company about $125,000 per year, a much higher ROI than anticipated. Epcon’s patented method of coupling heat processing systems and air pollution control systems is a prime example of how Epcon’s thermal engineering can create significant cost savings by making the process more efficient.

Need More Information About Thermal Deoiler Systems?

Are you looking for a thermal deoiler system that will reduce your energy consumption and cost? Give us a call at (936) 273-3300, email us at epcon@epconlp.com, or complete our simple online contact form to reach out to one of our experts today.

Robert MacNeil No Comments

3 Common Features of Custom Industrial Ovens

3 Common Features of Custom Industrial Ovens

The number of industrial oven designs are almost as limitless as the number of industries and individual companies that use them. But there are some common features that you see used in customized industrial oven design:

Different Fuel/Heat Sources

Depending on your location, industry, or specific operating requirements, your custom industrial oven design can support a variety of different fuel sources. This can be electric, gas or even use an alternative fuel source.

Custom industrial ovens

Air Flow Configuration

A critical component of a custom industrial oven is the duct work that controls the air flow through the process. Since the heat source for this process is delivered by forced air convection (most of the time), this has a significant impact on the overall industrial oven design. The air duct configuration also can help determine if the material being processed is large–a typical configuration is an air supply duct on the side (or horizontal) and a return air duct on the ceiling of the oven (or vertical). For smaller batches of material, a typical air duct pattern uses as “straight through” airflow, either going from top to bottom or from one side to the other on the unit.

Conveyors

The industrial conveyor oven is customized to allow product to move continuously through a system. This is key when stopping production to “load” the oven is just not practical and slows down the process. Conveyors are also a key component of an automated system which moves product through it in a specific sequence. Some examples of this type of use would be for composite curing, powder coat finishing and pharmaceutical applications.

Epcon Specializes in Custom Industrial Ovens

At Epcon Industrial Systems, we specialize designing and building “uncommon systems for uncommon applications.”  We can create an industrial oven design that meets your specific needs. For more information, complete our simple Get a Quote form, call us at (936) 273-3300, or send us an email at epcon@epconlp.com.

Robert MacNeil No Comments

5 Reasons You Might Need a Rental Thermal Oxidizer

5 Reasons You Might Need a Rental Thermal Oxidizer

Why would you ever need to rent a thermal oxidizer? You cannot run your factory if you don’t have one in place, the environmental laws forbid it, and it is a critical part of your business, so what are some of the circumstances when you might consider renting a thermal oxidizer?

1 – Emergency

If your factory is damaged as the result of a natural disaster such as a severe storm, earthquake or other catastrophe, you need to get production back online as quickly as possible, and if the repairs are extensive, you may need a temporary Thermal Oxidizer to bridge the gap until the repairs or replacement of the air pollution control equipment has been completed. This is an excellent situation for rental Thermal Oxidizer.

Rental thermal oxidizer

2 – Maintenance or Replacement of an Air Pollution Control System

If your main Thermal Oxidizer needs to be taken out of service because of routine maintenance or part replacement, that doesn’t mean that you can shut down production. Every minute that the air pollution control system is off-line generates costly downtime. Rental Thermal Oxidizers are the perfect solution to meet such a

short-term need. Contact Epcon Industrial, get trailer mounted oxidizer, complete the service or repair, and then send the oxidizer back when finished. A simple and inexpensive solution to potentially expensive production downtime.

3 – Temporary Use

For Research and Development projects, where Thermal Oxidizers are needed for a short period of time, anywhere from 6 months to 1 year.   Thermal Oxidizer rental is a better solution than buying the Thermal Oxidizer for a short period of time.

4 – “Try It Before You Buy It”

Maybe you want to run a pilot test on a specific type of Thermal Oxidizer to make sure that a particular equipment package will meet your long-term production needs. A pilot program that uses rental Thermal Oxidizers can help you find the perfect air pollution control solution for your production.

5 – Remediation

Some jobs require a rental Thermal Oxidizer on site to deal with contaminated soil and water. Once the site has been successfully decontaminated the job is done and you don’t need a Thermal Oxidizer any longer. Rental Thermal Oxidizers are the perfect solution for these situations, especially a mobile, trailer-mounted oxidizer.

Looking for Rental Thermal Oxidizers?

Then be sure to check out Epcon’s full range of rental regenerative and recuperative thermal oxidizers. All of them, including trailer-mounted oxidizers are fully inspected and backed by our tech support and available for immediate delivery. For more information, just give us a call at (936) 273-3300, send us an email at epcon@epconlp.com, or complete our simple Get a Quote form to contact a rental thermal oxidizer expert today.

Lacie Arthur No Comments

National Geographic: Air Pollution Robs Us of Our Smarts and Our Lungs

We know air pollution is bad for our healthy, but does dirty air have the ability to change the way we think?

In a recent article from National Geographic, the possible affects of air pollution on the brain is discussed, as well as the many other ramifications of long-term exposure to dirty air.

“A study published earlier this week in the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences found that long-term exposure to particulate matter,sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide led to cognitive declines in study participants as they aged. Less-educated men were particularly impacted and had low verbal and math test scores.”

Read Full Article

Climate 101: Air Pollution

Lacie Arthur No Comments

FABTECH 2018 // NOVEMBER 6-8

We are thrilled to announce that we will be exhibiting at FABTECH 2018 with the Texas Governor’s Office! Our team will be set up at Booth A2807 along with other highly esteemed small businesses from Texas.

Come hear about our exciting project updates and the latest news about our contributions to the Metal Finishing industry.

To add us to your list of exhibitors to visit, please click on the button below.