Innovation rewarded

ACI is always endeavouring to find new ways of employing blower power effectively and improve ways of doing things.

Our new ‘DRI-Line PowerPack’ system for drying water cooled cables/extrusions was recognised as achieving this by being awarded one of the prestigious DPA (Design Products & Applications) magazine’s Innovation awards for 2009. The award was made following a vote by readers of the magazine – a prize awarded by our peers!

The ‘DRI-Line Powerpack’ is a new energy-efficient drying unit for water-cooled extruded and coated/insulated products.

It achieves vastly superior drying efficiencies to both compressed air alternatives and other blower-driven solutions available to the industry today.

Impressive payback periods have been demonstrated by extensive customer field trials. When compared to compressed air systems up to 10 fold energy savings have been achieved which potentially equates to savings of £1000s per annum.

Removing water from extruded/coated products during manufacture following extrusion or coating application is difficult to achieve due to the way water adheres to products. The DRI-Line Powerpack delivers air at high velocity very close to the surface of the product breaking the surface tension of the retained water, allowing it to be removed effectively.

Utilising high efficiency blowers, ACI’s DRI-Line Powerpack delivers warm (80o C/176oF) clean, contaminant free air at constant volume and pressures to ensure the drying process is consistent and reliable. It also has the advantage of being ‘plug and play’ as it runs off a 230V, single phase supply. A 110V version will also be available shortly.
The unit has the ability to successfully dry extruded products from 5 to 25 mm diameter at speeds in excess of 300 m/min. Its drying effectiveness is achieved by passing extruded product through a pair of hinged drying heads that deliver the high velocity airflow directly to the product. The hinged heads are sprung allowing any defect/knot to pass through without any requirement for adjustment.