Flatwork lines that deliver quality and energy savings

With a clear focus on resource saving, manufacturers have used exhibitions like last July’s Clean Show 2011 in Las Vegas to show how their latest developments can save utilities and water and bring cost benefits.

A new generation of flatwork ironers is emerging, as manufacturers respond to greater demands for high-performance ironers that deliver energy savings.

Greater energy efficiency is only part of the equation – automation and user-friendly controls can help to reduce labour costs and provide greater productivity.

Kannegiesser

With over 25 years’ experience, Kannegiesser produces ironers that address the growing need for high-quality finishing for the increasing variety of linen being used.

All Kannegiesser ironers have a modern graphic control panel, which also assists with maintenance and diagnostics. Effective overall insulation of ironers (optional on the SHM series) helps improve the working environment and increases machine efficiency.

The Kannegiesser HPM series is available in versions with one to three rolls, each with a diameter of 1,200mm, and these can handle a wide variety of applications. The HPM Ironer incorporates a stainless-steel flexible heating band instead of a traditional rigid chest and this design allows consistent contact pressure around the padded roll. The company says that this significantly improves the heat transfer compared with that of a conventional chest. A fully heated bridge uses the gap between two rolls for additional evaporation. A two-roll 1,200mm diameter HPM ironer gives the same output as a conventional three-roll ironer. The HPM three-roll ironers are capable of working at speeds of 50m a minute and capable of processing up to 2,200 sheets per hour.

The HPM Grand 2m single roll ironer completes the range. This also uses a stainless-steel flexible heating band but the single roll avoids the risk of leaving tape marks so it is suitable for very high quality linen.

Kannegiesser’s also produces the SHM range of traditional chest ironers and this is available in 800mm, 1000, and 1,300mm diameter sizes with 11 different performance levels.

Kannegiesser has also introduced an SHM, thermal-oil gas-heated ironer, which allows an ironer line to operate without an external steam or oil supply. Temperature can be easily adjusted to suit different materials.

Kannegiesser has also developed its ECO2 power burner technology. The self-optimising burner provides efficient combustion with high operational reliability.

Efficient heat transfer is achieved by the three-pass thermal oil heat exchanger. The applied “serial flow” of the thermal oil through the chest provides efficient and gentle treatment of the linen. The lower temperature in the second chest reduces the thermal load to the fabrics.

All Kannegiesser ironers can be integrated with its energy management systems (EMS), which are used to pre-heat fresh water for the washing process and lead to further energy savings.

GMP

The E-line ironer from GMP in Italy is said to be ideal for the modern OPL and has been updated with an even more distinctive design.

In developing the E-line, the company discovered from its research that 80% of small rotary ironers are used by inexperienced operators.

Using an ironer incorrectly can lead to the ironer stopping, reduce ironer quality and even damage the linen being processed.

GMP also found that some 80% of maintenance is performed on the roll padding, which is made of steel wool, a material subject to wear and tear.

The E-line range is designed to overcome such problems.

The patented roll-removing system makes it possible to replace the entire roll with an original GMP spare part in just 30 minutes.

The E-line range also has a user-friendly keypad that is easy to understand and features a temperature control to eliminate the overheating that can damage the roller surface and linen.

E-line ironers also feature an aluminium feeding table with an integrated feeding basin to assist in handling longer pieces of linen.

Models have interchangeable voltage so GMP’s distributors can easily adapt them to local conditions and this helps to rationalise stock holdings.

The GMP logo appears prominently, making the ironer line easily recognisable, which assists in marketing the range.

Girbau

Girbau’s range of chest ironers for industrial laundries is available in one-, two- or three-roll versions with 800mm or 1,200mm diameters. Working widths are 3 – 3.5m.

The ironers are available in steam and thermal oil-heated versions and with an integral gas-fired boiler. The rigid chest has been a feature of Girbau ironers for 35 years and the company says that the high-grade steel rigid chest on the PC120 provides optimal thermal conductivity and ironing quality.

The integral thermal oil boiler, designed and manufactured by Girbau, achieves over 93% energy efficiency, so providing greater savings and better productivity.

Easy control is another advantage of the range. The PC120 ironers can be programmed with Girbau’s Inteli electronic controls, which can adjust a full range of parameters including ironing temperatures, ironing speed, motor consumption, the speed differences between rollers, the oil temperature, the steam exhaust and pressure.

The control panel’s graphic icons make it easy to use, while removable panels on the top and both sides of the machine make maintenance easier.

Girbau’s PSN80 is an 800mm diameter ironer available in 3, 3.3 or 3.5m operating widths and in one, two or three roll systems, with steam and oil versions as an option.

Jensen

As example of how its ironers meet customer requirements, Jensen refers to the A-Vask laundry at Taastrup in Denmark.

This laundry provides a high-quality laundry service to the hospitality sector in and around Copenhagen. The medium-sized family company purchased its first Jensen ironer line in 2008 and a second ironer line was installed with a Jenrail system earlier this year and handles high volumes of bed linen.

Brothers Bilal and Mohammed Warrad started the laundry in a disused factory six years ago, initially to clean dust mats.

The laundry now has a high level of automation. Jensen supplied the original complete ironer line in 2008 and this is used to process high-quality table linen for top-class hotels and restaurants in Denmark.

The line combines the Jenfeed Logic Plus, which can feed linen in one two or four lanes, with the quality result provided by the Jenroll EXPG 2000, thermal oil, gas-heated ironer. This is a single-roll model, which avoids tape marks.

The ironer line is also equipped with the quality control system Jenscan MPS, which detects faults such as holes and stains so they can be dealt with before the linen reaches the customer.

On the recently installed second line, sheets and bed linen are fed automatically through the Jenrail 2000 Automatic system.

The ironers at A-Vask are a single- roll Jenroll EXPG with 2,000mm diameter and 3.3m ironing width and a two roll EXPG with 1,200mm diameter and a 3.5m ironing width.

The ironers have a flexible chest, which was designed to use oil as the heating medium and have an integrated gas burner and heat exchanger. Because oil is used as the heating medium instead of steam, a higher ironing temperature is achieved to give a higher speed, while the gas burner allows the temperature to be adjusted to requirements.

The Warrad brothers say they have reduced their energy costs by as much as 30%, which is in line with their corporate philosophy: offering the highest quality for customers using few resources.

Lapauw

Lapauw’s well-attended open days at its factory in Belgium this year provided proof of the growing popularity of gas-heated ironers.

According to Lapauw’s Wim Demeyer, sales for gas-heated ironers are increasing – significantly to countries and regions previously more steam-oriented.

The company’s latest addition is the Duo 1201 TurboFan, a two-roll, 1,200mm diameter gas-heated ironer that features Lapauw’s TurboFan technology.

TurboFan technology tackles a problem encountered in any heat exchange system – counter pressure in the combustion chamber. When hot air is pushed through a heat-exchange system, a certain amount of counter pressure needs to be overcome and the gas burner may lose some of its performance in doing so.

The TurboFan technology brings the counter pressure combustion chamber to the optimum level, irrespective of the actual power output of the modulating gas burner.

As a result TurboFan ironers have a much lower gas consumption than other gas-heated ironers and, more importantly this technology greatly improves ironing performance.

The gas burner is said to provide stable and constant ironing temperatures. The wide range of the modulating gas burner combined with the TurboFan keeps the ironer “on temperature” during breaks or when linen is passing through.

The Duo 1201 ironer is the first Turbo Fan equipped ironer but other TurboFan models will be introduced in the near future, starting with a 1600mm diameter model.

The Duo 1201 TurboFan is also the first machine to be equipped with the Electronic Lapauw System (ELS). This diagnostics system ensures a permanent link between the machine and the main offices at Lapauw, giving the company’s engineers real-time access to the machine.

The ELS system can also be used to install updates on the ironer as needed.

To complement the ELS function laundry managers are supplied with a tablet PC and a link to the Lapauw system.

Danube

Danube International is one of the biggest manufacturers worldwide of flatwork dryer ironers.

Its DII flatwork dryer ironer is the only one with a stainless-steel framework.

The ironer is a further development of a machine Danube launched over a decade ago, brought up to date with the latest energy-saving features.

There are presently four models in the Dll range, each with a cylinder diameter of 325mm and offering ironing widths of 1.4, 1.6, 2.00 and 3.2m.

The company says hourly productivity ranges from 10 – 20kg/hour for the DII 140 to 40 – 50kg/hour for the DII 320.

The DII flatwork ironer range comes in both electrically-heated and gas-heated versions.

Danube International has developed an automatic speed adjustment system that takes into account linen and room humidity, so allowing the linen to go from washer to ironer without any manual adjustment.

The company’s “smart system” measures the residual moisture of the linen at three separate points before it leaves the ironer.

Laco

Last year, Laco introduced a gas-heated version of its M300-1800 ironer, which was previously only available as an electrically-heated machine.

The M300-1800 is described as the smallest gas-heated chest ironer on the market.

According to export manager Wim Opsomer, although Laco currently has no new developments in chest-heated ironer technology to report, it will be introducing several developments at next May’s Texcare International show in Frankfurt.

Electrolux

Electrolux’s C-Flex ironer is well known in the laundry business. This patented flexible chest machine was developed 20 years ago and is still a reference product in its category.

But no matter how good the machine, laundry professionals know that chest-type ironers cannot work at their maximum performance unless they are accompanied by a good folding and a good feeding device.

To this end, Electrolux has now introduced the C-Flex IL vacuum, a large flatwork feeder which is connected to the C-Flex ironer to produce optimum performance.

Stahl

Stahl has increased its range of ironers with the introduction of the Master 2010, which has a cylinder diameter of 2,010mm and a 3.14m ironing path.

The Master single-roll machines are now available in cylinder diameters ranging from 400mm – 2010mm.

An addition to the company’s two- and three-roll Power ironer range, Stahl’s Power Roll ironer a two-roll 800mm diameter flatwork ironer, which is available with several different ironing widths.

The Power Roll takes the design of the Power Twin a step further and Stahl says it sees the Power Roll as its top of the range model for producing a quality finish.

All Stahl ironers, including the Power Roll, can be heated by gas, electricity, steam or thermal oil.