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The latest Conair ResinWorks™ central drying and pre-conditioning system gives users the option to equip each drying hopper with its own 4-inch color touchscreen HMI, enabling independent operation, data monitoring, and other advanced control features.
“This option allows users of new ResinWorks systems to implement advanced control features on a per-hopper basis, even if they are using an older Conair dryer—or certain competitive dryers,” says A.J. Zambanini, Conair’s Drying Product Manager. He explains that the new HMIs, part of a control system upgrade reaching across Conair’s dryer line, offer much simpler, plain-text interaction with hopper features, settings, and help information.
ResinWorks multi-hopper units or sleds, equipped with hopper-specific HMIs, give users instant access to a range of features and control settings, including:
- Auto-start. Users can program automatic start-up for individual hoppers so that pre-drying begins at a set day and time, and under specified drying conditions.
- Temperature control. The HMI can be used to set and monitor different temperatures at each hopper, enabling the system to dry a variety of different resins simultaneously.
- Drying Monitor. The HMI displays data and trends from Conair Drying Monitor™ probes which measure the temperature profile of resin at multiple points in each hopper. It also supports Conair’s “material ready” feature, which prevents material from being conveyed out of a ResinWorks hopper until the control verifies that the material has been properly dried per user instructions.
- Temperature setback. Once desired drying conditions are reached, the HMI supports automatic temperature setback that reduces the temperature in the hopper to a lower standby temperature to prevent over-drying, save energy, and keep resin ready for immediate use.
- Energy consumption and trending. Users can precisely track energy consumption trends in real time for each hopper, then use consumption data from the HMI display to calculate production costs more accurately.
Users who pair the latest ResinWorks equipment with one of Conair’s new Carousel Plus™ dryers have the added option of controlling all hoppers centrally using the dryer control, or locally with the optional HMIs.
