SWISS COMBI Belt Dryer

The SWISS COMBI belt dryer utilizes waste heat, making it an excellent fit for the current era of intelligent energy utilization. With over 200 installations worldwide, this drying technology satisfies our customers daily.

Our belt dryer, also known as a Low-Temperature Dryer (LTD), gently dries your product using hot air. Waste heat in the form of hot water, condensate, or saturated steam serves as the heat source, heating the ambient air up to 110°C. Depending on the product requirements, the drying process reduces the moisture content of the product to a range of 40% to 2%.

The SWISS COMBI belt dryer is suitable for organic bulk materials that are permeable to air and have low odor. It features a modular design, low emission values, low power consumption, and low maintenance costs.

Depending on the desired moisture content of the dried product, a single-layer or a double-layer belt dryer is employed. For products with a required moisture content higher than 20% after drying, a single-layer belt dryer is suitable. If the residual moisture needs to be below 20%, a double-layer dryer is ideal.

Depending on the available space, multiple units can be built above or beside each other.

SWISS COMBI Belt Dryer without product recirculation

SWISS COMBI Belt Dryer with product recirculation

Applications of Belt Dryers

Particle board industry

Drying of wood for the production of particle boards or panels.

Pellet industry

Sawdust from the production of wooden boards or other sources is processed into wood pellets.

Sugar industry: Sugar beets

Sugar beet pulp is pre-dried or end-dried on the belt dryer after leaching and processed into a feed.

Sugar industry: Bagasse

After extracting the sugar juice from the sugar cane, bagasse remains, which can be used in the sugar factory as fuel to produce steam and electricity.

Feed industry

Belt dryers are used for drying grass or alfalfa (lucerne) into feed when product quality is very important.

Combustibles

Drying of wet biomass for subsequent combustion in a power plant or boiler, or as preparation for a pyrolysis process.

Advantages of belt dryers

Water evaporation per dryer

45t/h

Max. Residual moisture

2 %

Systems in operation

>200

Efficient use of waste heat through multiple temperature cycles
Gentle product drying
Low dust emissions
Low power consumption
Also available as a compact belt dryer
Applicable for many products
Low maintenance costs

Efficient use of waste heat through multiple temperature cycles

Hot or warm water at approx. 50 - 120°C can be used as the energy source. With water/air heat exchangers, there is also the possibility of integrating one, two or three temperature circuits, depending on the temperatures available.
It is also possible to use steam/air heat exchangers. Then steam with approx. 1.5 - 4 bar absolute pressure is used.

Gentle product drying

The SWISS COMBI belt dryer dries with heated outside air up to max. 110°C. The product to be dried is thus thermally stressed as little as possible and dried particularly gently. At this temperature, the product generally retains its color and odor. The effect of scorching of the finest product fibers, which typically occurs during drying with flue gas, is eliminated here.

Low dust emissions

As a rule, the legal limit for dust is 10mg/m3.
We easily comply with this value with the belt dryer for many products. For more demanding specifications, we have the option of cleaning the exhaust air with filters or scrubbers.

Low power consumption

Each SWISS COMBI belt dryer is individually designed to meet the needs of our customers. In addition to the use of waste heat described above, we use fans, for example, which are designed precisely for the optimum operating point of the products to be dried. This allows us to optimize the power consumption.

Also available as a compact belt dryer

The SWISS COMBI belt dryer is available in three standard widths: 7.2 meters, 6 meters, and 2 meters. The 2-meter wide version is the Compact Belt Dryer (CBT), designed as a single-layer belt dryer. The Compact Belt Dryer was developed based on SWISS COMBI technology in collaboration with Rudnick&Enners and is also manufactured by Rudnick&Enners. A Compact Belt Dryer can achieve water evaporation rates ranging from 400 to 2,000 kg/h. It is capable of drying materials to a residual moisture content of up to 2%.

Applicable for many products

The SWISS COMBI belt dryer is suitable for a wide range of raw materials, as long as they are permeable to air, which is typically the case for bulk materials. In the section “Raw materials suitable for the belt dryer” below, you will find some examples. If your raw material is not included, please feel free to contact us. We can conduct a test using a 5 kg sample to determine if your product is suitable for drying on the belt dryer.

Low maintenance costs

Compared to other types of dryers, the maintenance costs for the SWISS COMBI belt dryer are relatively low. While there is some wear and tear over the years, the parts involved are not expensive to replace.

Raw materials suitable for the belt dryer

When it comes to drying, there are often more possibilities than you might think. We develop and build systems for a wide range of raw materials – as listed above. But we can do more. Do you have a new challenge for us? With a 5kg sample, we can test whether your product is suitable for drying on our belt dryer.

We would be happy to discuss the options with you and find the appropriate drying solution for your needs.

Call us or send an email to learn more about our products and services

The SWISS COMBI belt dryer is the ideal drying solution for air-permeable bulk materials. It utilizes waste heat, enabling CO2-neutral drying.

Selected References.

In its over 60-year history, SWISS COMBI has developed and built over 150 belt dryers worldwide, catering to various raw materials and always tailored to the specific needs of our customers. Each SWISS COMBI system is unique, and each project has presented its own set of challenges. Discover how we have overcome these challenges in the following case studies.

Raw Material:

Wood chips, sawdust

Country, Year:
Germany, 2018

Dimensions:

7.2m x 49m

Water Evaporation:

16 t/h

This belt dryer has been designed to efficiently dry two different products, wood chips and sawdust.
Raw Material:

Wood

Country, Year:
France, 2022

Dimensions:

6m x 42m

Water Evaporation:

14 t/h

With this belt dryer, the product can be dried to a final moisture content of less than 2%. Such demanding drying requirements are often needed in the particle board industry.
Raw Material:

Wood chips

Country, Year:
Croatia, 2019

Dimensions:

6m x 38m

Water Evaporation:

3.1 t/h

The design of this belt dryer allows for the utilization of multiple heat sources with different temperatures and properties. Hot water and steam can be used simultaneously for drying air heating, each in separate circuits.
Raw Material:

Sawdust

Country, Year:
Switzerland, 2019

Dimensions:

6m x 25m

Water Evaporation:

5.4 t/h

With this belt dryer, it is possible to use warm process air and hot water as heat sources. This results in particularly significant energy savings.
Raw Material:

Alfalfa (Lucerne)

Country, Year:
France, 2014

Dimensions:

6m x 36m

Water Evaporation:

9.5 t/h

Exhaust air recirculation guides unsaturated exhaust air from the rear part of the belt dryer to the front area. This optimizes the amount of heat and reduces operating costs.
Raw Material:

Sugar beet pulp

Country, Year:
Austria, 2013

Dimensions:

3x (7.2m x 45.5m)

Water Evaporation:

45 t/h

Especially strict noise protection requirements can be met with our "whisper dryers."
Raw Material:

Sawdust

Country, Year:
Belgium, 2008

Dimensions:

2x (6m x 40m)

Water Evaporation:

2x 8.6 t/h

If the available space for installation is limited, the belt dryer can be installed on multiple levels or floors.

Dark blue: Countries to which belt dryers from SWISS COMBI were delivered.