This past summer, AirBTU, Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, had the opportunity to help a major manufacturer of residential and commercial insulation dry their stainless steel conveyor belts. These conveyor belts are used to support and carry the product through the ovens and curing stations used in the manufacturing process. A critical part of this operation requires the continuous washing and drying of the belt, as no water or residual glass fibers are allowed when the belt returns to re-enter the glass forming side of the process.

The system that was replaced utilized a 300-horse power air compressor with nozzles. Jim Shook and his staff at AirBTU, managed to upgrade this with a pair of Republic RB1200-20 horse power blowers and two, 108” long high efficiency air knives; one on top and one on the bottom of the conveyor belt. Jim had special inlets installed due to the length of the air knife and configuration of the equipment so the air was distributed from the backside opposite the air knife gaps.

Previous System 300 horse power air compressor – 300 hp x .7457 = 224 KW

Energy Cost 224 KW x 24 (Hrs/Day) x 7 (Days/Wk) x 52 (Weeks/Yr) x $0.040 (Energy Cost) = $78,275/yr.

Republic System 40 BHP x .7457 KW/HP = 30 KW.

Republic Cost 30 KW x 24 (Hrs/Day) x 7 (Days/Wk) x 52 (Wks/Yr) x $0.040 (Energy Cost) = $10,483

This came out to a payback of $67,792 for the customer and another “job well done” for Jim Shook and the staff at AirBTU.