The New World of Drying and Expanding
The HDT 3 dryer
With the development of the HDT 3, which expands and dries tobacco in a single unit, Hauni has achieved a quantum leap forward in flexibility. Compared to its predecessor – the superheated steam dryer HDT-FX – the HDT 3 delivers significant improvements in flexibility.
A much wider spectrum of important process parameter settings is now available, including temperature, moisture content, and mass flow. Moreover, thanks to further advances in automation, these can be adjusted to the specific tobacco quality.
“The HDT 3 is the right answer to the challenges our customers will face in the future,” says Matthias Weber, head of customer projects primary at Hauni. “It opens up a world of new possibilities,” However, it is in combination with the new KT 3 tobacco cutter, which is also capable of cutting very moist tobacco, that the HDT 3 demonstrates its true prowess. The outstanding expansion values achieved by the HDT 3 can reduce or completely eliminate the need to add expanded tobacco.
The advances achieved in the development of the HDT 3 do not just affect the process – they ensure that the tobacco is handled much more gently than ever before and can be integrated into innovative approaches such as soft processing.
“With this technology, the tobacco components are only minimally influenced by moisture content, temperature, and mechanical processes,” explains Weber. Hauni engineers have also reduced process gas speed by 10% compared to the HDT 3’s predecessor. This makes an additional contribution to reducing the mechanical load on the tobacco. The newly developed infeed allows the process gas to flow into the dryer more evenly and thus hold the tobacco better. The bottom line: fewer chemical and physical influences on the tobacco and therefore less degradation and loss of flavor.
The HDT 3 is around 20% lower in height than its predecessor, has a 30% percent smaller footprint, and requires a total of 40% less space. Consequently, it is easier to integrate into the factory environment. Combined with quick and uncomplicated maintenance and mostly automated cleaning processes, these factors have a positive impact on costs.
Furthermore, the HDT 3 offers significant energy savings of up to 10%.
“These achievements are the result of using the latest burner technology as well as introducing sleeping, eco-modes and a number of other innovations,” explains Weber. “They are essential for achieving high drying temperatures cost-effectively.”
More information: www.hauni.com