Gas-Fired Conveyor Drying Oven for Egg Trays in New Zealand
A compact case study of a continuous gas-fired drying tunnel designed for wet molded pulp egg trays, paper pulp packaging, and similar tray-type products requiring stable hot-air drying.
Project Introduction
A molded pulp packaging producer in New Zealand needed a continuous drying solution for wet egg trays after the forming process. The trays still contained moisture and required controlled hot-air drying before stacking, packing, and storage. This project belongs to the broader industrial drying oven application range.
Instead of using manual batch drying, the customer wanted a conveyor-based drying tunnel that could connect better with the production flow and reduce repeated handling of soft wet trays. For line-based production, this is closer to an industrial conveyor oven than a conventional batch oven.
- Location: New Zealand
- Industry: Molded pulp packaging / egg tray production
- Application: Continuous drying of wet molded pulp egg trays
- Oven Type: Gas-fired conveyor drying oven / conveyor belt dryer
- Conveyor: Metal mesh belt for tray transfer through the hot-air chamber; see conveyor belt options
- Related Products: Egg trays, egg cartons, fruit trays, cup trays, and paper pulp trays
For this type of application, the key is not only heat. The oven also needs stable air circulation, suitable conveyor speed, moisture exhaust, and enough drying residence time to help the trays leave the tunnel with more consistent moisture condition. Similar projects can start from Oven System Planning to confirm tray size, output, fuel type, floor space, and target residual moisture.
Main Challenge: Wet molded pulp trays are soft and easy to deform before drying. The drying tunnel needed to remove moisture continuously while avoiding unstable heating, excessive manual handling, and unnecessary energy waste.
ZonHoo Solution
ZonHoo supplied a customized gas-fired conveyor drying oven with a metal mesh belt and forced hot-air circulation. Wet egg trays are placed on the conveyor and pass through the drying chamber in a continuous process. The layout follows the logic of continuous ovens: the drying result is controlled by line speed, residence time, air circulation, and exhaust.
The system was designed around the customer’s tray size, moisture condition, production rhythm, available fuel supply, and required drying result. For similar molded pulp packaging projects, ZonHoo can also build a custom continuous oven around different tray dimensions, output levels, drying times, heating sources, and plant space limits.
Drying Focus
Continuous mesh belt conveying, stable hot-air circulation, moisture exhaust, and adjustable drying residence time for wet paper pulp trays.
Application Focus
Suitable for egg trays and similar molded pulp packaging, including egg cartons, fruit trays, coffee cup trays, and industrial paper trays.
- Gas-fired heating system for continuous drying production
- Forced hot-air circulation inside the drying tunnel
- Adjustable conveyor speed for different drying times
- Metal mesh belt conveyor for smooth tray transfer
- Moisture exhaust design for wet pulp tray drying
- Customized chamber size according to tray layout and output
For non-standard tray size, high moisture load, limited floor space, or special fuel conditions, this type of project should be handled as Special Oven Customization instead of a fixed catalog dryer.
Results
The gas-fired conveyor drying oven provided the customer with a more practical and continuous drying method for molded pulp egg trays. Wet trays could be transferred through the drying tunnel on the mesh belt, reducing repeated manual movement during the drying stage.
By combining conveyor transfer, hot-air circulation, and moisture removal, the drying process became easier to organize around regular production. The same oven concept can also support other molded pulp packaging products when drying temperature, conveyor speed, and chamber length are adjusted for the product. For broader moisture-removal projects, see Industrial Drying Oven and Conveyor Belt Dryers.
Continuous
Wet egg trays move through the drying tunnel on a mesh conveyor belt.
Stable
Forced hot-air circulation helps improve drying consistency across the tray surface.
Scalable
The same design can be adapted for egg cartons, fruit trays, cup trays, and paper pulp trays.
Related Oven Pages
This case should not stand alone. It is linked to the main oven categories and support pages that buyers may need when comparing molded pulp tray drying solutions.
For continuous production lines where residencetime and conveyor speed control the heating or drying result.
For continuous moisture removal from trays,sheets, parts, and other products moving on a belt.
For moisture removal applications requiringcontrolled temperature, airflow, exhaust, andprocess repeatability.
For engineered drying tunnels with special length, width, heating source, belt type, and lineintegration requirements.
For selecting belt type,tracking,support structure, and maintenance points in continuousoven systems.
For preparing RFQ details such as tray size,target output, moisture condition, fuel type, and available space.
Project Images
