Cellulose film creation helped by viscometers
A
Hydramotion product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Apr 25, 2006
Intrinsically safe in-line viscometers play critical role in the production of polymer-coated cellulose films for speciality packaging, labelling, graphic arts and security products.
Intrinsically safe in-line viscometers from Hydramotion are playing a critical role in the production of polymer-coated cellulose films by a major UK manufacturer.
Cellulose films are used worldwide in speciality packaging, labelling, graphic arts and security products.
During the manufacturing process, the film is coated with a solvent-based lacquer that controls the barrier properties of the finished product, for example permeability to aromas, gases or moisture.
Maintaining the correct viscosity of the lacquer is vital for ensuring a constant and controllable coating laydown by the gravure coater.
In this case, a Hydramotion XL7 viscometer is mounted in a 90-degree bend at the entry to the lacquer storage tank on each line in the production facility.
As lacquer circulates between the tank and the applicator, the temperature-corrected viscosity signal from the XL7 is used by the process PLC to modulate the addition of virgin solvent, maintaining lacquer viscosity at the correct level and reducing downtime.
Hydramotion was initially selected because it could supply intrinsically safe viscometers certified for zone zero (class one, division one, group A) hazardous area operation.
In addition, the XL7 in-line viscometer has no moving parts, simplifying maintenance.
One of the engineering managers at the site said: "The construction is robust and easy to install and maintain".
The Hydramotion viscometers were first installed ten years ago, when the customer opened a lacquer production facility with the aim of streamlining production and reducing the number of shifts from three to two, with consequent savings in labour costs.
At that time, the customer was relying for viscosity measurement on a crude timed falling plunger system, which was described as "vastly inferior in terms of accuracy, reliability and operability".
The old system had no temperature compensation, calibration was regularly affected by mechanical wear, and the equipment required frequent cleaning and maintenance.
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