Bühler launches ground-breaking inductively heated wafer oven
While traditional electric heating has been in use for decades, inductive heating provides greater energy efficiency and new possibilities for precise control.
SWITZERLAND – Bühler Group has unveiled OptiBake, the world’s first inductively heated wafer oven, which represents a significant advancement in industrial baking.
This innovative solution, suitable for both flat and hollow wafers, sets a new benchmark for the global wafer industry, helping customers achieve operational excellence and sustainability in their production processes.
“With OptiBake, we aimed to provide more than just a new wafer oven. We challenged ourselves to combine exceptional wafer quality with unparalleled flexibility, allowing our customers to contribute to sustainability,” said Sandra Lutz, Head of Business Unit Wafer at Bühler Group.
OptiBake offers numerous unique advantages that distinguish it from conventional gas-fired and electric wafer ovens.
OptiBake’s induction heating system uses electromagnetic fields to generate heat directly within the baking plates, eliminating the need for open flames and combustion.
This process produces no direct emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), or nitrogen oxides (NOx).
When compared to gas-fired or electric wafer ovens, energy consumption can be reduced by up to 50%, minimizing environmental impact.
These emission reductions may also result in tax and licensing advantages, as well as increased eligibility for subsidies.
The environmental benefits of the oven are even greater when it is powered by a low-carbon electricity mix, significantly reducing CO₂ emissions and supporting broader sustainability goals.
By eliminating dependence on natural gas, the system also enhances energy security and supply resilience.
Enhanced Quality and Efficiency
At the core of the oven’s performance is a newly engineered baking plate design developed specifically to deliver the highest quality wafer sheets in conjunction with the inductive heating system.
Coupled with an innovative system for individual plate temperature control, it ensures precise and consistent heat distribution throughout the baking process.
This ability to fine-tune temperatures on a plate-by-plate basis not only improves product quality but also allows for exceptional flexibility and responsiveness—essential for accommodating recipe changes or varying production demands.
Induction heating lays the groundwork for precise process control, enabling the system to swiftly adjust to fluctuating production requirements, ensuring consistent product quality and optimized energy usage.
The lower baking chamber temperatures reduce life-cycle costs by minimizing thermal stress on components such as cables and bearings.
OptiBake also creates a quieter production environment by eliminating burner nozzle flow noise and simplifies heat recuperation due to the absence of combustion products.
Additionally, the new oven allows for 100% raw material utilization, as baking scraps do not burn and can be repurposed.
Its operation is safe with no fire hazards, as there are no open flames in the baking chamber.
The system is also designed to operate without posing any electromagnetic compatibility (EMV) risks, ensuring safe and interference-free integration into industrial environments.
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