Wood drying with the vacuum method: from the Pagnozzi patent to today
Being able to carry out industrial vacuum processes for vacuum wood drying has been, since the early twentieth century, a need that many have tried to address but which seemed destined to find no solution. In 1962, the engineer Vincenzo Pagnozzi decided to carry out a research that was certainly original in order to try to give a concrete answer to the need for drying timber with the vacuum method. We were in Turin when, three years later, the studies and dedication of Eng. Pagnozzi led to the creation of an industrial prototype that was the first ever in the world. Filed the patent, the engineer began to receive the first important orders. It was 1968 when Fiat decided to give the contract for the drying of the floor covering in the workshops, which he built thanks to the first industrial plant of six vacuum machines in the world.
The success led to the establishment of the Maspell company (acronym of MAcchine SPEciali Lavorazione Legno): a starting point for new solutions that are increasingly technologically advanced and capable of anticipating the ever increasing demands of a market that was beginning to see, in wood drying. at an industrial level, an important opportunity to speed up every production process. Since the beginning of the activity MASPELL has been committed to continuous innovative research that lead it to produce cutting-edge machinery. In the first decades of activity it manages to file 89 patents. The passion for the study and research of new wood drying systems of the engineer Vincenzo is inherited from his son Ernesto Pagnozzi, who in 1972 joined the company, of which he is today the director. Graduated in electronic engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin with an experimental thesis based on the research of the mathematical model of vacuum drying of wood, Eng. Ernesto Pagnozzi, brings with him the desire to face and win new important challenges in the wood drying sector, with research and studies that are increasingly in step with the times. His entry into the company is marked by a first important debut: that at the Interbimall Fair in Milan, where he presented his first heating plate vacuum drying machine made in 1965 and subsequently optimized to the whole world. The PRIMO model, which marked the beginning of a very important production process for woodworking, achieved enormous success, sealed ten years later by the creation of a vacuum dryer with longitudinal ventilation. This allowed the wood to be loaded into piles without heating plates: a requirement of the woodworking industry that leads to process optimization. Presented at the Nagaya Fair in Japan in 1975, this innovative machine marks MASPELL's first step towards a panorama capable of crossing European borders. This was followed by participation in important fairs and events, such as that of the LIGNA Fair in Hannover in Germany in 1977, in which Maspell presented the BS dryer, a side ventilation drying machine. Speed and ease of working processes see an audience divided between incredulity and satisfaction: the new technology invented by the Pagnozzi family is undoubtedly a decisive step forward towards the optimization of woodworking processes!
The BS dryer conquers an increasingly numerous audience, proving to be a successful model capable of offering great constructive strength and extraordinary ease of use: even today it is possible to find examples of BS dryers in operation in some of the many companies that have chosen. this extraordinary specimen.
Innovation goes on and Maspell is always careful to keep up with the times. In 1983 the first vacuum dryer with microprocessor management was born, which marks another important milestone. The discontinuous vacuum process thus becomes a continuous drying process, also introducing another important objective: that of energy recovery. The following year sees a further turning point: Lo.La (lateral longitudinal) arrives, a machine capable of optimizing the flows inside the cell thanks to the possibility of loading standard or traditional industrial stacks. The machine thus makes it possible to find a concrete answer to every single need.
The heating plates return to the press dryer, which speed up the processes and return perfectly flat wood. The success is also taken up in the media by the main national channels, which do not take long to define the dryer as a perfect tool for small carpentry, but also for the sawmill.
The success achieved beyond the Alps led to the establishment, in 1990, of MA.FRA (MASPELL FRANCE), and by engineer Michael Jacquier who still represents the flagship for the French market today.
1992 is an important new year for the company, which in honor of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America as part of the Colombo project builds the Goliah dryers. These are two machines with a capacity never seen before: 50 cubic meters each.
In 1994 the company WDE (Wood Drying Engineering) was created in parallel, which works to bring the machinery to the highest quality and construction levels, using stainless steel for the body of all the dryers.
Three years later, in 1997, WDE and Maspell merge, giving rise to the company that we find today under the name of WDE-Maspell, and which represents one of the leading brands in the wood drying sector in the world, with over 5000 satisfied customers. From the merger comes the stimulus to overcome, which leads to the creation of a vacuum dryer capable of offering a capacity of 100 cubic meters. We are talking about SQUARE 100, a plant destined to mark the most recent history of a company that has been able to make experience and innovation its flagship.
The arrival of the new MCP 2000 microprocessor, in 1998, marks another important step towards optimization by allowing the selection of as many as 40 programs that can be edited and connected to a PC to export and read data even remotely (via internet modem). The parameters relating to wood species, thickness and humidity can thus be set to ensure a customized drying process.
In 2000 the WDE Maspell construction and distribution network in China is supported by the partnership of G.M.I. TIMBER DRYING EQUIPEMENT MANUFACTURING LIMITED, while two years later WDE MASPELL BRASIL becomes a reference point for the Brazilian market.
2005 marks a new arrival in the company: Dr. Umberto Pagnozzi, son of engineer Ernesto and nephew of engineer. Vincenzo Pagnozzi, joins the WDE - Maspell staff. With him comes the evolution of multimedia dissemination channels and the introduction of management and technical software that allow 3D rendering of machines and even greater optimization in production. Years pass and WDE MASPELL always remains a cutting-edge company, thanks to continuous innovative insights always attentive to environmental issues. The wood is subjected to vacuum treatments that make it inert and resistant to biodegradation without adding pollutants. The Termo Vuoto is a machine capable of giving 100% ecological thermally transformed wood and is the ninety-first patent filed by the company. In 2010 the first industrial plant of six cubic meters installed in Italy, at the CNR IVALSA in San Michele all'Adige, marks the beginning of the new process, which then continues with the presentation at the Xylexpo Fair in Milan and at seminars and events held by the WDE MASPELL independently.
MCP 2000 is also improved, with the addition of various controls, resulting in the new Total Vision PLC and touch screen system.
The European interest in the innovative heat treatment systems proposed by the company are the basis of ECO-INNOVATION's decision to grant a loan of over 1.5 million Euros to consolidate the market for vacuum heat treated wood. All this has led to the characterization of different wood species, as well as to the registration of the trademark for the wood subjected to the Thermo Vuoto process, the VacWood. Participation in the HORIZON 2020 program brings two important awards, including SEAL OF EXCELLENCE, one of the most prestigious awards issued by the European Union reserved for the most deserving projects.
The path that began in 1962 continues, on a path that leads WDE MASPELL to the continuous search for new goals. Today there are many vacuum systems installed all over the world and that scientific and customer oriented approach that has accompanied the brand from the very first steps is consolidated today in a pre and post sales consultancy and assistance service which aim to completely satisfy the customer. customer in all his needs.