Experience and continuous development

A wealth of drying knowledge, extensive and many years of experience with heat recovery systems and satisfied customers and retailers characterise the Belt Drying and Sawmill By-Product Drying System Department at the Upper-Austrian drying specialist Mühlböck from Eberschwang. A range of projects were or are currently implemented at renowned Austrian pellets producers.

“With a lot of knowledge and the willingness to constantly develop and finding the best possible solutions for existing and new customers, we have turned from a newcomer in this segment into a technology pioneer. With our revolutionary heat recovery system, which we put in a belt dryer as the first manufacturer in the world, as well as many innovations in the areas of chip drying, we have set a milestone,” says Managing Director Richard Mühlböck. “Apart from many new projects, most of which are currently being implemented or are awaiting commissioning, this is proven by many new projects for existing Mühlböck belt-dryer customers,” Mühlböck proudly proclaims.

50% savings with premium models
In conventional belt dryers, all the incoming air is heated, routed via the stacked timber and discharged again only partially saturated. Thus, a large proportion of the energy introduced via the heating is blown out as exhaust air. Steam vapour hovering above the dryers is a familiar sight. Mühlböck Type 1003 belt dryers utilise virtually 100 % of this hitherto unused exhaust air, wasting no energy in the process. The basic principle of this drying system is explained quickly: The exhaust vapour of a heated drying zone, which remains unused in conventional systems, heats the feed air for another part of the dryer through a process of heat recovery. This pre-drying zone thus obtains the thermal energy required for drying solely from the heat recovery process and does not need any additional energy from the heating system.

Energy efficiency and resource-preservation
Careful handling of resources and energy is increasingly becoming a central topic in Mühlböck's activities. Efficient technologies are more in demand than ever before in the light of rising energy costs and ambitious climate protection goals. “In this context the pellets industry has the chance to become a pioneer as it stands for sustainability and a careful use of naturally regrowing resources,” Richard Mühlböck is convinced. To achieve this, one must focus on high-energy processes and utilise possible saving potentials: “Drying sawmill by-products is one of them,” emphasises Mühlböck. “From very low dust emissions, tailored solutions for reducing noise emissions and many practical and helpful details in the area of sensors and dryer controls to the system’s cleaning units and many other details. We have listened to our customer’s requirements, developed new solutions and are constantly working on improving our system technology,” says Mühlböck, happy about much positive feedback.

Pellets producers rely on Austrian technology
Positive customer feedback confirms that the company is on the right track. Many new pellets production facilities that use Mühlböck drying technology are currently being built in Austria. “The belt dryers for Nawaro Energie's new pellets plant in Göpfritz, at Cycleenergy in Aschach, at Stallinger Holding, at the pellets plant in Frankenmarkt or at RZ Pellets in Vöcklamarkt, to name but a few projects in our direct vicinity, show that we are doing our job well,” Mühlböck says, glad about the trust put in the company. After a system is commissioned, Mühlböck places great importance on after sales service. “For us, projects are not completed after the system was turned on for the first time. We support our customers during operation as well as system optimisation.” “Many customers with many years of experience and high quality requirements give us a lot of feedback which we, in turn, use to further develop our systems,” Mühlböck’s Managing Director summarises the company's strategy and success.