Despatch Ovens Tech Note
The Difference Between Industrial Conveyor Ovens and Batch Ovens

August 2019, MARIETTA, GA ~

Both ovens are heated chambers used for:

• Curing / Bonding
• Drying
• Baking / Heating
• and more.

Essential Facts to Consider Before Making Your Choice
When making your choice between conveyor or batch ovens, the following needs to be taken into consideration:

• Application of the Oven
• Oven Cost
• Operational Floor Space
• Cycle Time and Maintenance

Let’s look at each consideration and provide you with a more comprehensive insight to assist you to form an opinion regarding your choice of an Industrial Oven.

1. Application of The Oven
Batch Oven
Batch ovens are very diverse in their application so if you are looking for an inert-atmosphere, clean-room application, thermal control, and a closed-process machine, batch ovens will be your first choice.

Batch ovens are best suited for items with different sizes, shapes, weights, and thermal requirements. The operation of a batch oven normally involves racks or baskets for transferring the parts for thermal processing into and out of the unit.

Conveyor Oven
If your requirements call for large volumes of items to be processed, relatively smaller pieces and with similar physical size, composition, and shape, then the best choice would be a conveyor oven. The pros to consider:

• Automated process e.g. temperature monitoring, ingress and egress access, even cooling
• Variable speed control and predetermined stop-and-go modes
• Even heat distribution on processed items with the implementation of variable heat zones
• Separate heating and cooling chambers

2. Oven Cost
Whether you are a new start-up company, or in the process of upgrading your existing production line, your financial wellbeing remains the pivot point in your choice to purchase a batch or conveyor oven.

Batch ovens are cheaper than conveyor ovens in the initial startup but taking into consideration the long-term goals you have set for your business; smaller conveyor oven remains a viable option.

If you are a small business, your best choice financially will be to opt for the batch oven because it opens the possibilities for future upgrading as your financial situation gains momentum.

3. Operational Floor Space
Before you purchase an oven, the allocation of operational floor space will be a priority on your checklist.

Batch Oven
In general, batch ovens require less floor space due to their smaller footprint.

A batch oven can be built into corners and walls, therefore, utilizing all available floor space. Keep in mind that batch ovens have additional accessories in the form of carts, shelves, and attachments which will require more operational floor space.

Conveyor Oven
Conveyor ovens may often have a larger floor space requirement but will reduce the need for carts and shelves.

Taking into consideration that a Conveyor Oven takes up larger floor space, it makes up for this by utilizing the space that would have been used for carts and shelving as per common practice using batch ovens.

4. Cycle Time and Maintenance
The type of process you want to implement will have a huge impact on the type of oven you will purchase.

If you intend to use an even and static heating and cooling process, the cycle time of a batch oven will have minimal impact on your production. Because of this advanced process, there are fewer moving parts that can become a maintenance issue affecting your production.

On the other hand, a conveyor oven will have separate compartments where a variation in temperature controls can be implemented and will have a cycle time factor. However, the fact that more moving parts are involved does not deter the use of a conveyor system as the resultant volume of produced products, and state of the art monitoring capabilities will reduce the maintenance component and sustain a satisfactory up-time.

Weighing all the pros and cons between batch and conveyor ovens, the conclusion is that in the long run, maintenance will not have a dramatic impact on your production due to the high production output you will be able to achieve and maintain with the selection of Despatch Industrial Ovens.

In Conclusion
Despatch has a range of industrial ovens that perform the processes mentioned above and many others.

If you would like any more information about Despatch's range of industrial ovens, please contact FLW Southeast sales@flwse.com

Reach out to Despatch ovens to find out more about lab ovens and how they can meet your lab procedures’ needs.