Preheating systems for MDF and OSB production
Following the pre-compaction of oriented strands or fibers, it is possible to pre-heat the resulting mat in order to raise its temperature before it enters into the press. Mat heating is carried out with a pre-heater developed by Siempelkamp, patented as ContiThermŽ. We recommend the use of ContiThermŽ for the production of OSB and MDF. The ContiThermŽ method for preheating of wood-based mats is based on a steam-air mixture. The goal is to heat up the entire mat quickly and evenly. The desired preheating temperature can be exactly set by adjusting the amount of steam in the mixture. This results in a more economical production of boards with a higher thickness and improved board properties.
Experience report
The experiences we made with our operating MDF ContiThermŽ preheaters demonstrate that the use of the ContiThermŽ system results in a considerable increase in capacity.
Our results show that by preheating with temperatures between 60°C and 75 °C, an increase in capacity of 0.8 % per 1°C temperature increase can be reached for boards with a thickness above 6 mm. In some instances, an increase in capacity of 1.2 % per 1°C temperature increase was achieved. When heating a mat from 30°C to 70°C this result is equal to an increase in capacity between 30 % and 50 %.
