An OEM that specializes in the production of air treatment systems was looking for an improved spray application to optimize their production process.
The filters they are using are made out of silica fiber. To optimize the performance of these filters they need to be sprayed with a specific mix that contains 46% ethanol and 24% isopropanol. So in the past, whenever they received a new roll, they unrolled it and manually sprayed the mix onto the filter by using a garden hose.
Obviously this approach causes a lot of issues:
- • Slow application process
- • Unreliable nonhomogeneous results
- • Dangerous to the operator as the solution is highly inflammable
To optimize the process the OEM started to look for an automatic solution that would deliver better results and not put their employees at risk.
AutoJet® ATEX-certified Ethanol Spraying System
As the leading experts in spray technology we were consulted to come up with a solution that would deliver on the OEM’s expectations. Spraying a mix of ethanol and isopropanol is especially challenging because of the risks involved. Because of this we will always use ATEX-certified products for these types of applications.
After a series of on-site tests to demonstrate our technology and its capabilities the customer decided to run an in-line test to validate the performance during a normal production run. The tests showed that the filters were treated according to the specifications but that some of the mix was left over on the conveyor belt. With our wide array of spray solutions that was easily fixed so the final solution contained:
- • AutoJet® E1850+ Spray Controller - ATEX version
- • 2x PulsaJet® 10000AUH-03-ATEX nozzle
- • ATEX pump
- • 2x VeeJet® headers for easy cleaning of the conveyor belt at the end of the day
Result
The old manual solution was replaced by the automated and much safer AutoJet® ATEX system. Our customer found that production was a lot more efficient:
- • 50% drop in the amount that was being sprayed
- • Almost no filters needed to be scrapped because of the more reliable production process
- • Conveyor cleaning is no longer a manual task
More importantly though the new system is a lot safer than the old one. Operators are no longer at risk and can be relocated to other tasks and there’s no longer a severe risk of explosions.