because a large portion of the exhaust gas is recirculated to the burner unit 14 only the remaining portion of the exhaust gas needs to be delivered to the afterburning device 41 the energy portion to be introduced into the afterburning device 41 is consequently reduced because it depends upon the quantity of the exhaust gas delivered to the afterburning device in connection with the dryer according to fig2 to 5 it should be determined that the respectively depicted dryer is operated in accordance with the counterflow principle i e the web travel direction and the gas flow direction are opposed to one another naturally the embodiment according to the invention can also be used in dryers which are operated in the uniflow mode i e the web travel direction is the same as the flow direction fig2 shows a simplified view of the dryer according to the invention inlet and outlet openings 4 and 5 are provided inside the housing 6 of the dryer 1 and the material web 2 moves through these openings in the direction represented by the arrowhead 3 a burner unit 14 possibly a process air burner heats the process gas inside the first pipe section 15 1 to a temperature of approximately 700 u00b0 c the first pipe section 15 1 shields the flame and the process gas against the atmosphere of the dryer interior against partially evaporated volatile solvent components so that cracking of the volatile solvent components cannot occur in addition because a temperature of approximately 700 u00b0 c can be maintained along the length of the first pipe section 15 1 heated gas at this temperature is delivered to a first ambient air.