When someone mentions the idea of “vacuum,” they usually say it as it relates to vacuum cleaners, or maybe even the vacuum of space. Vacuum might seem like a strange concept, but we know a lot more about it than you might think. Vacuum technology is common in many different industries. One of the most common forms of this technology is a vacuum dryer. We’re going to look at the many applications and benefits of vacuum drying to learn a little more about this fascinating technology.
Faster Drying Time
Compared to convection heating, a vacuum dryer does its job much faster. By utilizing lower levels of heat and removing any other elements in the drying oven, the drying process flies by much more quickly, allowing you to move on to the next step in the process. Vacuum drying ovens also offer the benefit of much more even drying, which makes it easier to predict when all the products inside of it will be ready to go to the next stage of development. Compare this to standard convection drying, and we can see that the vacuum option is the more reliable and effective method of drying.
Protects Sensitive Materials
Of all the benefits of vacuum drying, perhaps one of the most important is its ability to dry products placed inside of it in a much gentler and safer way than other forms of drying. To get a good idea of why this is important, it’s useful to know what kind of products usually go into a vacuum drying oven. Operators will use these vacuum ovens to dry off certain pieces of electronics, specifically components of electronic systems like semiconductors or motherboards. Because vacuum ovens don’t use as much heat but use vacuum technology instead, these fragile pieces of technology are safe, and the drying process won’t damage them.
Pinpoint Temperature Accuracy
Other kinds of drying ovens, especially convection-based drying ovens, aren’t as reliable when it comes to the reporting of the internal temperature. Turning up the heat on one of these drying ovens is a bit of a guessing game—you can’t always expect the temperature will be exactly where you need it. Vacuum dryers, on the other hand, have much more fine control of the temperature inside of their chambers. The usage of a vacuum pump ensures that they reach the exact temperature they need and that that temperature will hold for as long as they need it to.