Radio Frequency Company of Millis, MA, has introduced a new radio frequency drying system. In an RF dryer, the product is conveyed between two high frequency electrodes that are changing polarity at a rate of forty million times per second.  This causes polar water molecules to rapidly reorient themselves causing instantaneous and uniform heating throughout the thickness of a product including continuous nonwoven webs, battings and foams.

This volumetric form of heating causes the water to evaporate in-situ and escape through the surface as a gas rather than a liquid moving to the surface by capillary action like conventional types of dryers.  This unique characteristic of RF drying prevents the migration of coating solids to the outer surfaces thereby increasing product strength, coating uniformity and product quality.

Because the polar water molecules are so receptive to RF heating, the RF energy will preferentially heat and dry the wettest sections of the product such that the material will be uniform in moisture content throughout, regardless of the non-uniformity going in. 

The rapid volumetric heating provided by RF energy eliminates the long dwell times required by conventional dryers, minimizing factory floor space requirements.  These dryers are typically one-fifth as long as conventional dryers. Also, they require zero warm-up time, are instant ON/OFF, are extremely energy efficient and produce no greenhouse gas emissions.   

Founded in 1946, Radio Frequency Company specializes in developing and manufacturing high frequency heating systems to improve efficiency in many industrial applications. Process development testing and feasibility testing can be provided in their state-of-the-art heating and drying laboratory in Millis, MA.