Merillat Industries, Inc. has been manufacturing quality cabinetry since 1946, and with manufacturing plants located throughout the United States and over 4,200 employees, the Company has grown to become one of the nation’s largest cabinet manufacturers and the number one builder-preferred cabinet.

Merillat Industries recently extended its production line. As part of this expansion, they ordered a very unusual Italian drying oven for a new facility but needed a way to heat it with hot water instead of steam. The Italian oven was needed as a finishing/drying operation for a certain line of Merillat’s cabinetry.

This presented a challenge for the company because this was the first time this type of drying oven was ever used in North America. Because of this, obtaining technical information was sometimes difficult. The oven was manufactured by a large European manufacturer, but, at the time, there were few detailed drawings or operating & maintenance manuals available to the North American installation team to allow for planning prior to the arrival of the oven.

Our representative in North Carolina was tasked with designing the entire heating system, including system drawings using two Triad 800-SH-HEP hot water boilers. These are extremely rugged, small-footprint boilers, each with an input of 800 MBH, fired by two gas burners. Boilers from Triad were the logical choice given their rugged and reliable design. The owners felt as if they were getting the design of a large industrial horizontal boiler, but in a very small package. Because this was an industrial application, Triad’s ruggedness was an important factor in the decision–very thick steel and 12-gauge firetubes.

Another benefit was that each boiler is only 22 inches in diameter. This allowed the units to be installed in an unobtrusive place in the facility, saving on valuable manufacturing space.

According to the representative, the first U.S. installation of the oven was a complete success. It is operating at 100% capacity, with the temperature regulating valve open approximately 33%, and the Triad boilers operating beautifully.

The oven manufacturer was so pleased that they installed another oven with Triad boilers at their Virginia plant and are planning to use Triad Boilers in future installations in their nationwide plants.