Lingl Drying technology for Duravit China

Lingl was again commissioned by Duravit to supply a set of 10 chamber dryers for the new production plant in Chongqing, China.

Following the successful installation of a continuous dryer at the Duravit factory in Meissen, Germany, Lingl was again commissioned by Duravit to supply a set of 10 chamber dryers for the new production plant in Chongqing, China. Designed in accordance with the latest Industry 4.0 criteria, the Chinese facility has set a new standard in digitalisation of the sanitaryware production process.

The Lingl dryers are designed to automatically dry 750,000 products per year, the intended production capacity of the plant’s first operation phase. To ensure “rhythmic drying” of the wide variety of products (washbasins, urinals and WCs), the dryers are equipped with rotary fans consisting of a drive and a reduction gearbox for fan and cone rotation. This patented design saves on electrical energy and reduces maintenance costs.

The main characteristic of Lingl’s drying technology is that the dryers are loaded as soon as the products are stable enough to be transported. This avoids the need for pre-drying time in often uncontrolled and unstable climatic conditions, saving space and time inside the production facility as well as reducing drying rejects.

The dryer control system operates each chamber drying process independently, taking into consideration the actual product mix to calculate the chamber load and water content. The energy demand in each drying phase is calculated and controlled to ensure the optimal drying curve. This proprietary control system, based on the Siemens WinCC programming platform, communicates automatically with the AGV control system, exchanging signals to automatically operate the dryers’ doors and start the drying process.

The heat source for the dryers consists of superheated water supplied by a single hot water boiler plant. Ten individual water-air heat exchangers provide the hot air for the chambers.

Dryer installation and commissioning was completed perfectly within the timeframes requested by Duravit, giving excellent results for all types of products.