Frequently
Asked Questions
Catalytic infrared processing has proven to be compatible with a broad range of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Examples include the production of edible dried foods with excellent flavor, texture and color, the extraction of vitamins or minerals from herbs (such as rosemary), and the production of botanicals for food, cosmetic or medicinal purposes.
Catalytic infrared energy has proven its value as an efficient and highly repeatable technology that delivers exceptional end product quality, with substantially less heat exposure, in a shorter process cycle, at lower cost, than conventional heating methods.
A typical convection conveyor dryer or column dryer requires as much as 50 horsepower just to move heated air. Flameless catalytic infrared energy is transferred directly to the product without the requirement to heat large volumes of air. Therefore, horsepower requirements are greatly reduced. In typical applications, CDT’s system uses 12 – 25 horsepower to move the conveyor and operate small recirculation and ventilation fans.
Regarding fuel use, conventional convection dryers that use open flame burners or heat exchangers are much less efficient at utilizing all of the energy in the fuel when compared to the direct energy transferred using flameless catalytic infrared energy systems. Of course this requires the proper kind of catalytic system such as developed by CDT. Fuel costs can be reduced 30-50% in some applications due to the efficiency of the direct energy transfer and lower heat losses, which are minimized by vastly reducing the required air handling.