What is a drying hopper?

Drying hoppers, also called hot air dryers, are the best way to dry the surface of pellets of non-hygroscopic resin before melting them. Manufacturers who use these products know that this is an ongoing problem and that if pellets aren’t dried properly, they will have too much moisture, which could cause problems in the final product.

Resins that don’t absorb water are easy to dry because the water molecules gather on the surface instead of going inside the pellet. Most of the time, all that’s needed to dry these things is a hopper dryer, in which pellets are put in a hopper and warmed air is used to dry them.

Most of the time, hopper dryers are used for this, but they can still be used with things that absorb water. A hopper dryer can reduce the amount of water in hygroscopic materials that have been ground up enough to increase their surface area.

How well hot air dryers work is also affected by how humid the air is. You’ll get better results if you use them in places with low humidity. Things that soak up water can sometimes be dried with hot air dryers in places with very low humidity.

A hopper drier may be very helpful when goods have been stored for a long time in large containers, which has caused condensation to build up. When temperatures change from day to night, there may be a lot of condensation, especially in places with high relative humidity.

A hopper drier could also be helpful if something were kept at a low temperature and then quickly moved to a warmer area, causing condensation. When a hot air dryer is used in this way, it is sometimes called a “preheater.”

Most hopper dryers have a way to load resin pellets into the hopper. Most pellet dryers that use hot air have a manual loading system, but this can only dry a small amount at a time. When it comes to larger operations, buying an autoloader may be a good idea; in some cases, it’s already built in.