Ircon-Solaronics was selected by the Pak group / Macedonian Papel Mill MEL to improve the coat drying in their mill in Thessaloniki. The project consists by replacing an electrical infrared dryer supplied by Ircon-Solaronics more than 25 years ago by a new gas infrared UniDryer system.

For this project, Ircon-Solaronics offered solutions to reduce drastically the energy costs by:

1. Changing the energy: (electricity to gas): an important factor for the energy savings.
2. Installing efficient emitters: The Ircon-Solaronics Gem12E emitters are the most efficient high powerful emitters on the market which results in a lower gas consumption

1. Installing the UniDryer technology: The convective part of the UniDryer handles the mass transfer by blowing hot air coming from the emitter’s flue gases
2. Reusing the hot air: the hot air evacuated from the UniDryer system will be reused as energy source for a hot air gas heated air dryer in order to reduce its energy consumption.

This kind of project has generally a return-on-investment of less than 2 years. Ircon-Solaronics is pleased to participate in this project which confirms its position as technology leader in optimizing the drying after coating stations.

About MEL: Today, MEL S.S.A. is a leader in the production of recycled cartonboard in Greece and the Balkans, Europe, and countries of North Africa and the Middle East, while it is also the only industrial facility in Greece to produce recycled cartonboard, with an annual coated carton production of 120,000 tons.

About Ircon-Solaronics: Ircon Drying Systems AB (Sweden) and Solaronics SAS (France) have joined forces and operate under the brand name Ircon-Solaronics as of summer 2018. The non-contact drying solutions are based on gas or electrical infrared and air drying / heating technology and have served the paper and board industry since more than 50 years.