The family-owned company Harter celebrates its 30th anni-versary and has firmly established itself with Airgenex heat pump based condensation drying. Harter has been in the food sector since 2013. CO2 savings and funding oppor- tunities make Harter‘s systems very interesting for the food industry as well as for the confectionery and snacks business.
By Alfons Strohmaier
When Reinhold Specht developed the first drying systems with the innovative Airgenex technology in 1994, issues such as energy savings, carbon reduction or climate change were not yet anchored in the consciousness of the general public. Three years earlier, Roland Harter and Mr Specht had literally started out in a garage with a system for sludge drying that immediately created significant cost saving opportunities for sludge disposal in the surfaces industry. Harter quickly advanced in the electroplating industry to the position of a respected drying system manufacturer. In 2009, the company also added pharmaceutical/medical technology and packaging to its portfolio. With the addition of Airgenex food for food products in 2013, more industries were added as increasing numbers of companies adopted the Harter philosophy.
This is a result of the way the fundamental situation has changed today. “A few years ago, the fact that a dryer saved energy was little more than a ‘nice-to-have’ in purchasing decisions. Today, with our low energy and low carbon emission heat pump technology we make our contribution towards bolstering energy management and climate protection, issues that have gained much importance globally. Nowadays, saving energy – and carbon emission for that matter – is a high priority matter and, thus, also a reason for investment. Not least because government support money is often available for our integrated heat pump technology,” explains Reinhold Specht, Managing Partner of Harter GmbH, taking pride in the realization of his visions. In the meantime, his mid-sized company and its “drying solutions” have long since assumed a leading position on the market in the drying segment.
Early on, as the technician Specht began his efforts to further optimize drying, he quickly discovered the heat pump principle and adapted it for the pioneering drying technology known as Airgenex. In contrast to drying via heating and exhaust air, Harter systems conduct drying in an enclosed cycle. This gentle process first dehumidifies the air completely, enabling it to absorb the moisture from the products even at low temperatures. Drying is carried out in a variable temperature range of between 20 and 75 °C, whereby temperature control steps up to 100 °C are also possible. Finally, the air is dehumidified once again via a condensation process in a way that enables it to be reused again for the next drying process.
Actually, quite a simple principle one might think, which the specialists at Harter have nonetheless refined enormously and precisely tailored to the specific requirements of each product to be dried. Initially called “Harter Oberflächen- und Umwelttechnik GmbH”, for 30 years now the company has dedicated itself fully to the “art of drying” as embodied in its mission statement. Along with the heat pump as the core element, above all, the air routing is crucial in order to achieve perfect results. Harter GmbH now has a wealth of applications in use, ranging from belt dryers, in-container or tunnel dryers, and chamber dryers in various sizes so frequently used in the food sector today. Mr Specht explains: “Our largest project to date is a 30-meter-long belt system for drying mushrooms”.
With decades of experience and profound know-how, the dedicated team develops, produces and markets the company’s efficient, energy-saving drying systems for industrial clients on every continent. Heat pump condensation drying is also conquering the confectionery and snacks industries, currently especially in the area of dried fruits and the drying of raw materials such as fruits or herbs.
The unique combination of high-quality technology, high vertical range of manufacture, and application-oriented engineering meets the highest demands, as reflected by the loyalty of the company’s clientele for three decades. Examples include Harter drying systems that are in use for apple pomace in Austria‘s Salzburger Land region, sea buckthorn pomace in Mongolia and vanilla pods in Madagascar. Harter is also a market leader in medical cannabis drying, especially in the USA and Canada. More than 1,000 of its systems are in operation around the world, and the company maintains an experienced worldwide after-sales team and a fleet of service vehicles.
“Harter dries everything”: This is the confident motto of the Harter company, which has consistently expanded its headquarters in the village of Harbatshofen/Germany since 2001. Its 80 employees, several of whom did their apprenticeships in-house due to Harter‘s outstanding level of training, are hard at work cultivating the high prioritization of the drying process and also optimizing the quality and cost efficiency for customers. Many of the young master technicians here were trained by Mr Specht himself.
The latest personnel development also reflects the team‘s down-to-earthness. Ten years ago, Regina Mader completed her dual work/study programme in economics at Harter, and later, she expanded her commercial skills in sales and marketing. As the right hand of Managing Partner Specht she obtained an increasingly deeper insight into management and future planning. At the start of 2021, Regina Mader advanced to the position of Managing Director alongside Mr Specht, with responsibility for the further development of the company.
In the testing centre, customers can join with Harter‘s experts in conducting experiments and realizing new projects. This joint effort reveals that the Airgenex technology dries food products in a far gentler fashion, and subsequently provides better results in optics, flavour and biological activity than previous processes. “The customers are often surprised at how our integrated system ultimately ensures intense flavour,” reports Mr Specht. And the condensate contains flavourings and is sold on further as an ingredient to buyers in segments like the cosmetics industry.
