Are you using quartz tube infrared lamps in the right way?
Quartz infrared heater lamps consist of heating filament housed in a quartz tube, it is a kind of heating element widely applied to industrial heating and drying production lines because of its high efficiency and environmental friendly.
How to make your heating lamps work more effectively? There are some tips for you.
1. First of all, you need to choose a suitable IR lamp.
What kind of heating lamp is optimal? Heating wavelength matching is the essential factor.
Figure 1:Spectra of various quartz infrared emitters under the same power
The working principle of infrared heating lamps is "When the wavelength of infrared radiation emitted by the lamps is consistent with the wavelength absorbed by the heated material, the heated object can absorb a large amount of infrared light, causing the molecules and atoms in the object to resonate, and the temperature of the object increases, thereby to achieve the purpose of heating effectively".
How to find an effective wavelength to heat an object with infrared energy? It is necessary to perform product testing to identify the wavelengths at which absorption is maximized. Anhui Quickly provides product testing which will help clients to identify the most efficient heating wavelength.
Figure 2: The infrared absorption spectrum of a 0.1mm thickness polypropylene sheet
Figure 2 shows that at approximately 3.4 microns, a polypropylene sheet that is approximately 0.1mm thick absorbs nearly 100 percent of the infrared energy that reaches it. Using this knowledge, it can be concluded that using a heat lamp that operates at a peak output of 3.4 microns would be an appropriate choice to heat 0.1mm thick polypropylene. Looking back at figure 1, belongs to the medium wave infrared radiation region.
2. Reasonable arrangement of IR lamps have a great influence on the heating performance
The arrangement of the lamps mainly involves two aspects, one is the distance between lamps, and the other one is the height of the lamp to the object. In the background of theory and long experiences researches, It turns out that when the distance between the lamps ≤ The height between the object and lamps, uniform heating can be obtained and is an ideal heating effect can be realized.
3. Coatings make the lamp's heating effect double
QUICKLY offers infrared emitters coated with gold and white reflector, they can emit heat directly to the product. A coating on the quartz glass infrared emitters reflects the infrared radiation. Consequently, the infrared radiation impinging on the product is virtually doubled, increasing the effectiveness of the heat output.
There are 2 different coatings provided, gold coating and ceramic white coating.
The reflection efficiency of the gold coating is higher than a white coating, while for the emitters with high watt density or the surface temperature of the tube above 600°C, we suggest using ceramic coating as a reflector because its temperature resistance is up to 1000°C, the gold coating will volatilize at a short time because of its characteristic.
In addition to 180° (half-tube) coating, we also manufacture infrared heater lamps with 270° coating or other customer-specified degrees.
4. Besides coatings on the quartz tube, the following aluminum reflectors can also be used.
For some applications, the shape and size of the objects that need to be heated are irregular. In view of this, we have designed this angle-adjustable reflector. Through the movable device at one end, the entire reflector (Lamp tube) can be adjusted in a 180-degree plane to find the best position where the heated object can absorb the most infrared radiation. (The main body of the reflector is made of aluminum, and some parts are made of stainless steel, which can be up to 3 meters long.) In addition to adjusting the radiation angle, the reflector can also reflect and focus the light source. The heating efficiency can also be used for the installation of the lamp tube, and it also indirectly protects the fragile lamp tube of quartz material.
5. How to make your lamp more durable while having high working efficiency?
5.1 When the working temperature exceeds 300C degrees, the lamps ’ sealing areas and lead wires cannot be placed in such a heating area. The connection material inside of lamps’ sealing area is molybdenum, and the expansion coefficient of molybdenum is smaller than that of quartz material. At the same temperature and heating time, the molybdenum sheet will expand first, but the quartz tube will not, which will cause cracks in the quartz tube and air leakage. Once the vacuum lamp leaks, it can no longer be used. If you have to use place the lead wires at a high temperature exceeding 300C degrees, please be sure to inform the lamps’ supplier, they can particularly use a high-temperature lead wire or take necessary protective measures.
5.2 Correct use of lamp fitting clips
A. For those vacuum lamps such as shortwave IR lamps, halogen lamps,s, and carbon fiber IR heaters, please avoid fixing the mounting clips on the sealing zones and the insulating ceramic head when installing and fixing lamps. Because the sealing area is very fragile after high-temperature firing, melting, and pressing. Besides, please don’t fix the lamp's holders too tightly, leaving a certain space for thermal expansion and contraction of the quartz tube.
B. For the twin-tube medium wave IR emitters, mounting clamps with an L baffle are required, because the medium wave tube is non-vacuum, and the filament in the tube can move. Lamps holders with an L baffle can prevent the extension of the filament caused by the heat expansion and cold contraction and ensure the normal use of the lamp
Otherwise, it will become like this after work.
4.3 Water and air cooling devices
The main purpose of cooling devices is to cool the IR lamps, protecting and prolonging the lamp’s service life. Especially for the lamps with gold coating, it can effectively guarantee the use time of the gold coating and let it play the maximum role. At the same time, air cooling can make the temperature in the furnace uniformly
4.4 Clean up dirt on the quartz tube surface regularly
If there is any stain on the surface of the infrared radiator's tube, please wipe it with a sponge dipped in alcohol while wearing soft and clean sandy gloves when the lamp is not working.
Remove the obstruction of the infrared radiation passing through the radiating object of the quartz tube, and improve the working efficiency of the lamp.
A clean tube won’t block the infrared radiation emitted from the inner, it can improve the lamp’s working efficiency, at the same time, it can reduce the inner temperature of the quartz tube to ensure the service life of the lamp (if the heating source cannot radiate outside normally, the heat will accumulate in the quartz tube, which will cause the temperature inside too high to damage).
If you have more questions, welcome to contact us via quickly3@ir-heater.com
Meanwhile, you can click here https://www.quicklyirheating.com