USOO68377O6B2

(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 6,837,706 B2

Straetmans et al. (45) Date of Patent: Jan. 4, 2005

(54) UNIT FOR DRYING GYPSUM PLASTER 2,284.838 A 6/1942 Oholm

BOARD 2,389,586 A 11/1945 Andrews
3.863,361. A 2/1975 Gerhardt ...................... 34/191
(75) Inventors: Cristoph Straetmans, Bad Hersfeld 4,050.885. A * 9/1977 Nowicket al. ............... 432/31
(DE); Ernst-Martin Weichgrebe, 4,472,887 A 9/1984 Avedian et al. ............... 34/496
4,850,860 A 7/1989 Albonetti
Neuenstein (DE) 4.952,145 A 8/1990 Kwiatkowski et al.
5,659.975 A * 8/1997 Bahner et al. ................ 34/459
(73) Assignee: Grenzebach-BSH GmbH, Bad 5,958,330 A * 9/1999 Westman .......... ... 266/252
Hersfeld (DE) 6,581,302 B1 * 6/2003 Philipp et al. ................ 34/633
6,655,041 B1 * 12/2003 Schmidt et al. ............... 34/218
(*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. DE 43 26 877 10/1994
(21) Appl. No.: 10/490,316 GB 602 526 10/1946
(22) PCT Filed: Aug. 23, 2002 * cited by examiner
(86) PCT No.: PCT/EP02/09434
S371 (c)(1), Primary Examiner-Gregory Wilson
(2), (4) Date: May 17, 2004 (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Herbert Dubno
(87) PCT Pub. No.: WO03/025484 (57) ABSTRACT
PCT Pub. Date: Mar. 27, 2003 Modern drying units for gypsum plaster board have a feed
device, comprising Several roller feed units (1) arranged in
(65) Prior Publication Data levels one above the other. The drying Section is generally
US 2004/024.8056 A1 Dec. 9, 2004 divided into several Zones (3 to 7), in particular three
longitudinally ventilated Zones (4 to 6), being two high
(30) Foreign Application Priority Data temperature Zones (4, 5) and a Subsequent low temperature
Sep. 19, 2001 (DE) ......................................... 101 46179 Zone (6). Due to the high production capacity of the upline
production plant and the necessarily long residence time,
(51) Int. Cl. ................................................. F26B 19/00 drying units are very long. According to the invention, black
(52) U.S. Cl. ........................... 432/128; 432/31; 34/210; boards (19) are arranged above and below the individual
34/216 roller feed units (1) in the high temperature zones (4, 5),
(58) Field of Search ................................. 432/128, 137, which extend across the width of the roller feed units (1).
432/129, 163, 164, 171, 207, 31; 34/210, The boards (19) are heated exclusively by means of the
216, 217 flowing drying air to an elevated temperature, and transmit
additional heat to the through-flowing gypsum plaster board
(56) References Cited (16) by radiation. It is possible to reduce the length of the
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
drying unit due to the increased heat transfer coefficient.
1,399.276 A 12/1921 Roberts 16 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets

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U.S. Patent Jan. 4, 2005 Sheet 1 of 4 US 6,837,706 B2

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U.S. Patent Jan. 4, 2005 Sheet 2 of 4 US 6,837,706 B2

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U.S. Patent Jan. 4, 2005 Sheet 3 of 4 US 6,837,706 B2
U.S. Patent Jan. 4, 2005 Sheet 4 of 4 US 6,837,706 B2

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 US 6,837,706 B2
1 2
UNIT FOR DRYING GYPSUM PLASTER air to a temperature that is Substantially higher than the
BOARD temperature of the passing gypsum boards. As a result of this
temperature differential, heat is radiated from the tables to
The invention relates to an apparatus for drying gypsum the gypsum boards. The additional radially effective heat
board according to the introductory clause of claim 1. eXchange depends on Several parameters, mainly from the
The basic system is described in the book temperature. It increases, as calculations and tests have
Trocknungstechnik, 3. Band, Trocknen und Trockner in der proven, generally linearly with the temperature of the drying
Production” (Translated: Drying technique, Vol. 3, Drying air. With a typical average temperature in a high-temperature
and Dryers in Production) by K. Kroll and W. Kast Zone of 200 C. the heat-exchange rate is increased about
(Springer Verlag 1089; pp. 489 to 493). As described clearly 20%. Thus taking as a starting point that the heat eXchange
here, modern apparatuses for drying gypsum board are rate with purely convective heat eXchange is about 40
Subdivided into Several Zones to accommodate the particu W/m K, the radiation effect adds about 50 W/mK. It is thus
larities of the drying process. A Schematic drawing shows an possible for example in a drying apparatus that has two
apparatus with a predrying Zone, two high-temperature high-temperature Zones totaling about 42 m long, to reduce
Zones, a low-temperature Zone, and a cooling Zone. In the 15 length by about 8 m. If the drying apparatus, as is typical, is
two high-temperature Zones, hot air enters at 250 C., in the formed of Sections from w to 2.5 m long, in this manner
low-temperature Zone at 160° C. The temperature at the three to four Sections can be eliminated.
downstream end is between 95 C. and 140 C. According to claim 2 there are two high-temperature
Gypsum-board dryers are usually Set up as multilevel Zones and one low-temperature Zone, and both of the high
dryers. This is necessary to make the drying capacity cor temperature Zones are provided with plates.
respond to the output rate of the upstream production facility Although the additional heat-exchange effect is
operating as a rule at Several thousand Square meters per improved in the low-temperature Zone by the slight flow
hour. Due to the necessary long treatment time of the Speed of the drying air, it is as a result of the temperature
material-20 to 60 minutes-the drying apparatus is very Substantially lower. It is therefore a case-by-case decision if
long. It can be 100 m or more. The two high-temperature 25 the expense for the plates according to the invention is worth
Zones are for example each 20 to 25 m long, the low it. Since the length of the low-temperature Zone is deter
temperature Zone 40 to 50 m. mined by the necessary treatment time, shortening it does
Another drying apparatus with the features of the claim not seem essential in many cases. According to claim 3 there
introductory clause is known from German 4,326,877. This are no plates in the low-temperature Zone. It can however be
apparatus has a predrying Zone, two high-temperature Zones, advantageous to provide the low-temperature Zone with
and a low-temperature Zone. The low-temperature Zone is plates according to the invention. The plates allow a reduc
equipped with plate-shaped heat exchangers above and tion of the temperature for the drying air in the low
below the individual roller conveyors. Each heat eXchanger temperature Zone.
is comprised for example of a number of juxtaposed tubes The emissions coefficient has a Substantial influence on
that extend parallel to the conveyor direction and that are 35 the effect according to the invention. Thus according to
connected together by transversely extending manifolds. claim 4 the plates have a “black' coating, that is a coating
The heat eXchangers can also be made like plates that for whose emissions coefficient is about 1 in the frequency
example are Set together in a flat array. The interior of each range important for the heat eXchange.
hollow heat eXchanger is fed gases from the high According to claim 5 the tables are free of recesses, in
temperature Zones that have a temperature for example of 40 particular of channels for a heat-exchange medium fed in
170° C. Heat is thus transmitted to the gypsum boards both from outside. This is markedly different from the plate
indirectly from the drying air that flows countercurrent to the shaped heat eXchangers that are used in the low-temperature
Surfaces of the heat eXchangers in the low-temperature Zone Zone according to above-cited German 4,326,877.
and directly by radiation from the heat eXchangers. In this Several embodiments of the plates, that are only made of
manner gases vented from the high-temperature Zones are 45 one thickness of material, are described in claims 6 to 10.
used optimally and the heat requirements of the drying According to claims 11 and 12 the plates can be formed
apparatus are maintained low. of parallel closely juxtaposed tubes. They are however not
In the last-named reference there is also in the low connected with an external heat-exchange circuit. They have
temperature Zone a nozzle arrangement for feeding in the according to the invention the advantage that they are
drying air. It is constituted generally of a number of nozzles 50 mechanically strong and, in the embodiment of claim 12,
in the form of flat plate-like hollow bodies which are stacked have an increased Surface area for the drying air flowing
together between the individual roller conveyors. Each hol along them.
low body communicates via a lateral slot opening with a The features of claim 13 facilitate cleaning of the dryer.
distributor or manifold and is provided internally with The drawing serves for illustrating the invention with
flow-conducting Vanes which deflect the transversely enter 55 reference to a simplified drying apparatus according to the
ing drying air through 90 so that this air flows out an end invention.
Slot parallel to the conveyor direction. FIG. 1 Schematically shows an apparatus for drying
It is an object of the invention to improve on a drying gypsum boards,
apparatus for gypsum boards that has the features of the FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the interior of a high
introductory clause of claim 1 and where at least in a 60 temperature Zone;
high-temperature Zone the heat eXchange from the drying air FIGS. 3 through 8 show various embodiments of plates
to the boards being treated is improved and as a result the according to the invention.
apparatus can be made shorter. A conveyor formed of a plurality, here ten to twelve, of
This object is achieved by the characterizing features of roller conveyors 1 arranged one above the other in levels
claim 1. 65 extend in a conveyor direction over the entire length of the
The plates described in the characterizing clause of claim drying apparatus shown in FIG.1. The conveyor direction is
1 are heated Solely by the longitudinally moving hot drying shown by arrow 2. Spaced apart along the conveyors in the
 US 6,837,706 B2
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conveyor direction 2 one behind the other are Several Zones, relative narrow compared to the Section length. The gaps 20
namely a predrying Zone 3, a first high-temperature Zone 4, of the individual levels are directly vertically aligned so that
a Second high-temperature Zone 5, a low-temperature Zone when the dryer is cleaned the dust that collects on the plates
6, and a cooling Zone 7. Each Zone has its own housing. In 19 can fall through the gaps 20 to the floor.
particular the housings for the Zones 4 to 6 are each formed The plates 19 are provided with a coating that has in the
of several structurally interconnected sections 8 each 2 to 2.5 range of the infrared Spectrum which corresponds to the
m long. The Zones 4 to 6 can be different from each other operating temperature of the dryer, an emissions coefficient
with respect to length, that is relative to the number of of about 1. This is used for example also for white body
Sections 8. AS a rule the low-temperature Zone 6 is longer paint that inherently has a relatively low emissions coeffi
than the two high-temperature Zones 4 and 5. Each Zone 3 cient in the optical frequency range.
to 7 is provided with devices for feeding in and conducting The Second high-temperature Zone 5 is similarly con
out drying air as described below. They are connected with Structed and thus needs no description.
an air-handling and heating System, shown by arrows in FIG. The low-temperature Zone 6 can be, Seen from the end,
1, which is set up in the Standard manner So that the drying constructed Similarly to the high-temperature Zones 4 and 5.
air is fed to each individual Zone with the temperature, 15 Since however the plates 19, as mentioned above, are only
moisture, and Speed necessary for the respective drying Step. marginally effective as a rule in the low-temperature Zone 6
The drying air moves parallel to the conveyor direction 2, in but remain quite expensive, according to a preferred
particular inside the Zones 4 to 6 as further described in more embodiment of the invention there are no Such plates in the
detail with reference to FIG. 2, more Specifically opposite low-temperature Zone 6. Instead of the plates 19, as
this direction in the first high-temperature Zone 4 and in this described in above-mentioned German 4,326,877 heat
direction in the Second high-temperature Zone and in the eXchangers can be used with the exhaust gases of the two
low-temperature Zone 6. The two high-temperature Zones 4 high-temperature Zones 4 and 5 flowing through them.
and 5 are Supplied with drying air at temperatures between The plates 19a shown in FIG. 3 are corrugated sheet
200 and 300° C., the low-temperature Zone 6 at a tempera metal plates whose corrugations extend parallel to the con
ture that is substantially below 200 C. and normally under 25 veyor direction 2. Instead of corrugated Sheet-metal plates it
100° C. The predrying Zone 3 and the cooling Zone 7 can be is possible to use corrugated fiber-cement plates or the like.
for example provided with air-Supply nozzles So that the The plates 19b shown in FIG. 4 are trapezoidal sheet
treatment air is projected as perpendicular jets onto the metal plates, that is sheet-metal plates that are formed with
gypsum boards. The Zones 3 and 7 are not the subject of this trapezoidal grooves extending parallel to the conveyor direc
invention. tion 2.
Seen in the conveyor direction as shown in FIG. 2, at the The plates 19c shown in FIG. 5 are planar flat sheet
downstream end of the first high-temperature Zone 4 is a metal plates or fiber-cement plates.
nozzle arrangement 9 for feeding in drying air. It is com The plates 19d shown in FIG. 6 are formed of a plurality
prised of a plurality of flat plate-shaped nozzles 10 that are of parallel closely joined U-profiles that extend parallel to
Spacedly Stacked atop one another. The uppermost nozzle 10 35 the conveyor direction 2.
is above the uppermost roller conveyor 1, the lowest nozzle The plates 19e shown in FIG. 7 are mesh mats 21 that are
10 is below the lowest roller conveyor 1, and the remaining Supported in frames 22. The mats 21 are made of
nozzles 10 are between the individual roller conveyors 1. temperature-resistant fibers, e.g. carbon fibers.
The nozzles 10 extend longitudinally over about two sec The plates 19f shown in FIG. 8 are formed of a plurality
tions 8. Their transverse dimensions are a little more than the 40 of closely juxtaposed parallel tubes with open ends and
width of the roller conveyors 1. Each nozzle 10 is connected having axes that extend parallel to the conveyor direction.
at each side via a slot opening 11 with a vertical manifold What is claimed is:
that is not visible in the drawing. Inside each nozzle is a 1. An apparatus for drying gypsum boards, the apparatus
partition 12 Subdividing its interior into two mirror comprising:
symmetrical halves. The two halves have guide vanes 13 45 a plurality of Superposed conveyors extending at respec
that divert the drying air entering transversely as shown at 14 tive levels in a conveyor direction through an upstream
through 90 so that it flows through an end slot opening 15 high-temperature Zone, a mid-Stream low-temperature
countercurrent to the passing gypsum boards 16 in the Zone, and a down-stream cooling Zone;
high-temperature Zone 4. In this manner the drying air flows means for driving the conveyors and displacing the boards
over the upper and lower Surfaces of the gypsum boards 16 50
downstream in the direction along the levels through
in each level. At the upstream end of the high-temperature the conveyors,
Zone 4 there is a nozzle arrangement 17 that is generally the upstream and downstream nozzles at upstream and down
Same as the nozzle arrangement 9. It draws out air and feeds Stream ends of each level of the high-temperature Zone
it into unillustrated lateral connection conduits as shown by and of the low-temperature Zone;
arrows 18. 55
Between the individual roller conveyors 1 as well as respective arrays of horizontal heat-radiating plates
above the uppermost roller conveyor and below the lowest extending acroSS most of the width and most of the
roller conveyor there is in all sections 8 except for those with length of each of the levels between the upstream and
the nozzle arrangements 9 and 17 horizontal plates 19 that downstream nozzles in the high-temperature Zone; and
extend nearly over the entire width of the roller conveyors 60 means for Supplying hot air at respective treatment tem
1. In order to avoid overdrying the edges, it is preferable to peratures to Some of the nozzles of the high- and
make the plates 19 somewhat narrower. The plates 19 are low-temperature Zones and for with drawing hot air
Secured in lateral Supports on which the bearings for the through others of the nozzles of the high- and low
roller conveyors 1 are mounted. Their length, that is their temperature Zones, whereby the plates in the high
dimension in the conveyor direction 2, is slightly less than 65 temperature Zone are heated by the hot air from the
the length of a section 8. Thus each level has between the nozzles and radiate the heat to the boards passing at the
respective plates 8 of adjacent Sections a gap 20 that is respective levels.
 US 6,837,706 B2
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2. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim 1 9. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim 1
wherein the conveyors define two Such upstream high wherein the plates are of sheet metal.
temperature Zones following each other in the direction 10. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim
upstream of the low-temperature Zone and each Such high 1 wherein the plates are planar and flat.
temperature Zone has at each level respective upstream and 5 11. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim
downstream nozzles connected to the air-Supply means, both 1 wherein the plates are each made of a plurality of closely
of the high-temperature Zones being provided with the juxtaposed and parallel U-profiles.
heat-radiating plates. 12. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim
3. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim 1 11 wherein the mat is made of carbon fibers.
wherein there are a plurality of the plates at each level of the 13. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim
high-temperature Zone and the plates of each level are 1 wherein each plate is comprised of a mesh mat and a
generally coplanar and Spaced from each other by gaps in the tension frame holding the mat.
direction of the conveyor. 14. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim
4. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim 1
wherein the low-temperature and cooling Zones are not 15 1, wherein each plate is made of a plurality of closely
provided with the heat-radiating plates. juxtaposed tubes extending in the direction.
5. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim 1 15. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim
wherein the plates are provided with a Surface coating 14 wherein each tube has a pair of opposite open ends.
having an emissions coefficient of about 1. 16. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim
6. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim 1 20 1 wherein at least one of the heat-radiating plates is provided
wherein the plates have corrugations. above the uppermost conveyor of the high-temperature Zone
7. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim 6 and another of the heat-radiating plates is provided below
wherein the corrugations extend parallel to the direction. the lowest conveyor of the high-temperature Zone.
8. The gypsum-board drying apparatus defined in claim 6
wherein the corrugations are of trapezoidal Section. k k k k k