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2025

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Seeking an energy-efficient curing oven for your coating line?

Author:

Chuangzhi Coating


In the energy consumption composition of coating lines, curing ovens are known as "energy hogs" — the heat loss rate of traditional curing ovens is as high as 50% or more. A large amount of heat energy is directly discharged with flue gas, which not only increases production costs but also contradicts the requirements of green production under the "dual carbon" policy. For coating lines operating more than 16 hours a day, an inefficient curing oven may consume hundreds of thousands of yuan in energy costs annually. As a professional coating line equipment manufacturer, our specially developed energy-efficient curing ovens, with high-efficiency curing systems as the core and integrating the synergistic advantages of energy-saving equipment for coating lines, reduce costs through heat recovery, intelligent temperature control, and structural optimization, turning the curing process from an "energy burden" into an "energy-saving breakthrough".

1. High-Efficiency Curing Systems: Heat Recovery for Recyclable Use

The core competitiveness of energy-efficient curing ovens lies in the closed-loop heat design of high-efficiency curing systems, which "turn waste into treasure" through a three-stage recovery mechanism:
  • Flue gas waste heat recovery: A titanium alloy heat exchanger is installed at the air outlet of the furnace body to transfer heat from high-temperature flue gas (300-400℃) to fresh air, preheating the air entering the furnace chamber to above 200℃, replacing traditional electric heating or natural gas direct combustion, and reducing energy consumption for furnace heating by 60%. Measured data from an auto parts enterprise shows that after transformation, the hourly natural gas consumption of the curing oven decreased from 90m³ to 35m³;
  • Furnace body insulation: Adopting a "silicate fiber + aerogel" composite insulation layer (180mm thick) with a sealed furnace door design, the surface temperature of the furnace body is controlled within 45℃, and the heat loss rate is reduced to below 8%, further reducing energy consumption by 15% compared with ordinary curing ovens;
  • Secondary utilization of condensation heat: Medium-temperature flue gas (120-180℃) after primary recovery enters the condensation heat exchange device to heat the degreasing solution in the pretreatment tank (from room temperature to 55℃), meeting the temperature requirements of the pretreatment process and reducing energy consumption of independent heating equipment.
This system enables the energy-efficient curing oven to achieve an overall heat recovery rate of over 75%, far exceeding the industry average of 40%.

 

2. Intelligent Temperature Control Technology: Adapting to Multiple Processes Without Sacrificing Quality

Different coating processes have significantly different requirements for curing temperature and time (e.g., 180℃/20min for home appliance panels, 220℃/30min for auto parts). Energy-efficient curing ovens achieve "precision energy consumption" through intelligent temperature control technology:
  • Zoned temperature control: The furnace body is divided into 3-5 independent temperature zones, each equipped with an infrared thermometer and PID controller, which automatically adjust the temperature (accuracy ±2℃) for different parts of the workpiece (such as corners and planes), avoiding energy waste caused by "over-curing";
  • Dynamic adaptation to production capacity: Linked with the coating line conveying system, when the number of workpieces decreases, it automatically shortens the length of the heating zone and reduces fan power, reducing empty furnace energy consumption by 40%; enters heat preservation mode (maintaining a basic temperature of 100℃) during changeover, shortening restart heating time from 40 minutes to 15 minutes;
  • Process template storage: Built-in 200+ industry process templates, with one-click parameter calling (e.g., 180℃ for powder coatings, 160℃ for water-based coatings), avoiding repeated heating and cooling during manual debugging. After application by a furniture enterprise, energy consumption during changeover was reduced by 55%.
While ensuring coating adhesion (cross-cut test level 0) and impact resistance (no cracks at 50kg·cm), it achieves "no reduction in quality, significant reduction in energy consumption".
energy-efficient curing oven

3. Synergy of Energy-Saving Equipment for Coating Lines: Amplifying Energy-Saving Effects Across the Chain

Energy-efficient curing ovens are not isolated equipment but need to collaborate with energy-saving equipment for coating lines to form an "energy-saving closed loop". Our solution includes three linkage designs:
  • Linkage with variable frequency fans in the spraying booth: Adjusting the spraying speed according to the production rhythm of the energy-efficient curing oven to avoid idle operation of the curing oven due to workpiece accumulation;
  • Linkage with the heating system of pretreatment tanks: Using condensation waste heat from the curing oven to supply heat required for pretreatment, reducing the startup frequency of gas-fired boilers;
  • Linkage with the central control system: Real-time collection of energy consumption data from the high-efficiency curing system (such as natural gas consumption and electric power), generating energy-saving analysis reports to provide optimization suggestions for management.
A hardware coating enterprise achieved a 38% reduction in comprehensive energy consumption of the entire line through the transformation of "energy-efficient curing oven + full-chain synergy", saving 2.8 million yuan in annual energy costs.

 

4. Multi-Industry Implementation: Customized Solutions Based on Needs

Whether it is high-capacity automotive coating lines or multi-batch furniture coating lines, energy-efficient curing ovens can be adapted to needs through customized design:
  • Automotive industry: For 24-hour continuous production scenarios, a high-efficiency curing system with alternating dual furnaces is designed, with a single furnace processing capacity of 50 pieces/hour and a heat recovery rate maintained above 80%;
  • Furniture industry: Small energy-efficient curing ovens are customized for intermittent production of metal tables and chairs, equipped with a rapid heating module (reaching 180℃ from room temperature within 5 minutes) to meet the small-batch and multi-frequency production rhythm;
  • Building materials industry: For long strip aluminum profiles, tunnel-type energy-efficient curing ovens are designed, with furnace length customized on demand (6-15m), combined with chain variable frequency conveying, reducing unit energy consumption to 0.3kW·h/m.

 

Conclusion

Choosing an energy-efficient curing oven for a coating line is essentially choosing "long-term cost advantages" — a set of efficient high-efficiency curing systems, combined with the synergy of energy-saving equipment for coating lines, can not only reduce energy expenditure by 30%-50% but also help enterprises pass environmental certification and obtain policy subsidies. We provide full-process services from demand research (energy consumption auditing, production capacity matching), customized design to installation and commissioning, and after-sales operation and maintenance. We have completed transformations for more than 150 customers, with an average payback period of 12-18 months. If your coating line is still troubled by high energy consumption, starting with an energy-efficient curing oven can turn the curing process into a "new engine" for cost reduction and efficiency improvement.