Category Archives: Industries

Mould electrical heating solution for foundries

June 29, 2016IndustriesNadine LAURET

Introduction

Standard practices in industry heat the moulds using gas burners, infrared panels or ovens. However, it is difficult to accurately control the temperature of the mould with indirect heating processes.

Electric mould heating solutions already exist with heating cartridges but power delivered is much lower ; therefore the temperature is less homogeneous than the Thermocoax heating solution.

Mould heating solutions are requested in many industries : metallurgy, glass, thermoplastic.

The Challenge : offer a mould heating solution with Thermocoax mineral insulated cables

Several heating zones
Reaching high temperatures quickly enough.
Optimize the heat transfer on steel moulds, stainless steel or cast iron by optimization of :
- the cable design and the cable repartition on the support
- the specific fixation solutions developed by Thermocoax to fix the cables depending on the application and the mould material

Our ability to integrate elements on rotary systems.

The benefits of Thermocoax MI cable heating solution

Process adapted to metals, glass and thermoplastic industries
Ability to follow complex 2D & 3D forms
High temperature homogeneity
Low electrical consumption
Fast temperature ramp-up
Electrical insulation and low leakage current
Low maintenance required

Main heating parameters for THERMOCOAX MI cable heating solutions :

Homogeneity

Due to their specific design, the Thermocoax Mineral Insulated Cables have the advantage of generating uniform temperature.
The homogeneous distribution of heat over the entire mould is guaranteed by the design and cable fixing solution.
The design and fastening of cables is specific to each application and depend on the support materials.

Implementation of the Thermocoax heating solution :

The heating elements can be directly brazed to the mould to favour heat exchange and temperature increase.
This fastening system also makes it possible to meet the demands of moving moulds for applications of roto-moulding for example.

Halve shells and heating plates can be designed to be removable.

Temperature control is carried out by thermocouples and a specific electrical control system provided by THERMOCAX.
Several thermocouples can be installed in different places of the mould to measure its thermal profile in real-time.

Adaptability of the Thermocoax heating solution to specific designs :

The mechanical properties and the small bending radius of Thermocoax mineral insulated cables make it possible to cover any type of complex geometry with different heating zones.
Each zone can be controlled independently.

Conclusion

Thermocoax developed an innovative mould heating solution.
This solution can be adopted on rotary systems.

The heating elements and thermocouples are welded directly onto the prints, they are an integral part of the mould.

The temperature can be controlled with extreme precision.

Thanks to appropriate positioning of the heating elements, the THERMOCOAX heating solution provides the homogeneous temperature that moulding industries require.

The Thermocoax heating solution makes it possible to reach temperatures of up to 700 °C, which are necessary to process various materials or to maintain the temperature of metals during the moulding process.

Thermocoax mould heating solution applications :

Shell foundry: Pressure or gravity foundry
Glass moulding: mould preheating, temperature control

Rotational-moulding of thermoplastics using a rotating Process

MI Cable welded onto the print

We would be more than happy to present you our mould heating solutions – You can contact us through our website www.thermocoax.com or directly at : + 33 1 41 38 80 61

Silicon filter heaters solution

February 16, 2016Industries, ISOPADNadine LAURET

Heating Jackets for Water for Injection (WFI) and High Purity Water (HPW) Filtration Processes

Filtration is essential in many different processes throughout almost every industry in terms of separation and prevention. Filtration is critical to the process and the quality of the product. When using water for injection in production of food, beverages or pharmaceuticals the focus is on process stability and prevention of downtime. The good manufacturing practice (GMP or cGMP) and Federal Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines set standards in terms of design and inspection of WFI and HPW systems. When it comes to filtration processes, the vent filters, installed in line of the system, play an important role during phases of design and inspection. The vent filter is an essential component, which the following paragraph by the FDA describes:
“The one component of the holding tank that generates the most discussion is the vent filter. It is expected that there be some program for integrity testing this filter to assure that it is intact. Typically, filters are now jacketed to prevent condensate or water from blocking the hydrophobic vent filter. If this occurs (the vent filter becomes blocked), possibly either the filter will rupture or the tank will collapse.”

Most common in rigid stainless steel systems for food, beverage and pharmaceutical production are steam jacketed vent filter housings. A good and reliable solution, but in terms of investment and installation, steam jacketed systems are costly. It is also very time consuming during replacement sessions of the inner filter cartridges. At the end, these systems are not very flexible once installed in a production process.

One alternative that provides easy handling and replacement are electrical vent filter heating jackets. They provide a maximum on safety with accurate temperature control and are easy to install on the vent filter housing. One may say that electrical heaters are a potential hazard and are not suitable for use in such environments, but these heating jackets are of unique design to fit exactly those stringent requirements.

The one-piece molded design is formed out of a two-component silicone rubber compound that fits around the filter housings without any fixation methods that may be not compliant for use in those production processes. The design provides a high level on ingress protection safety and is fully functional even 24 hours after submerging into potable water. The construction also focuses on minimizing potential voids to prevent formation of residue and microbes. By using only silicone rubber compounds for the complete design one benefit is that the complete heating jacket can be easily cleaned with most common detergents used for cleaning WFI and HPW systems.

A second advantage is that the silicone rubber heating jackets are following latest EHEDG and 3-A Sanitary standards for food production processes. Finally, they pass FDA and BfR specifications concerning silicone rubber materials and all components pass latest RoHS and REACH requirements.

Different Scales of Production for Biopharmaceutical Applications and Processes

More benefits of the electrical heating jackets arise when we move towards latest biopharmaceutical applications. In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for single use technologies in different scales of production. From prototyping, through tabletop applications all the way up to large reactor systems, these processes also require high purity water injection that use special vent filters. The vent filters used for single use systems are typically made of polymers instead of stainless steel design. Diversity in design, shape and size make it inapplicable to use steam jacketing. Since the same regulations apply for any WFI system, those filters need to be heat traced in order to prevent dew formation inside and clogging of the lines. Electrical heating jackets provide the one alternative for any production scale whilst remaining all benefits in regards to safety and necessary design requirements.

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Thermocoax IR sources with metallic shield for non-contact and low-pollution plastic welding – White paper

August 7, 2015IndustriesIR source, IR weldingNadine LAURET

Introduction

We have received an order from our automotive customers wishing to weld plastic complex shapes (2D & 3D) with non-contact IR sources.

IR welding was chosen because they needed to weld without introducing polluting particles into the weld bead (due to PA66 35% GF), a process which could modify the properties of the material and possibly pollute the future content of the welded element (Conformity to Euro 6 standard). With the IR welding process, the weld bead offers a higher bursting strength.

The solution has to be easily implemented on a production line, be accurate and reliable, be adaptable to complex 2D & 3D geometry shapes and requires little maintenance.

It was difficult to find a conventional welding solution that meets all those parameters, especially in terms of welding of complex shapes, low-pollution welding and reliability over time.

The Challenge: The Metallic Shielded IR Source for clean welding

The challenge for Thermocoax was to design an IR source able to lower this pollution rate and generate a clean welding solution, with low maintenance.

The Thermocoax innovation team designed an IR source using Thermocoax’s Mineral Insulated Cables Technology, which meets customer needs. It can be easily implemented in a production line, and is accurate and reliable over time.

The infrared sources (heating elements at a temperature of 850°C) are placed a few millimetres from the 2 elements to be welded. When the welding zones reach their melting temperature, the IR source is removed. The two parts are then pressed against each other to complete the weld.

The benefits of Thermocoax Shielded IR Sources

Advantages of Thermocoax IR sources heating elements :

Ability to follow complex 2D & 3D forms
The Thermocoax IR sources’ emission wavelengths match perfectly with the major plastic absorption wavelength range.
Welding materials acceptable: thermoplastics, polyethylene, PVC, polypropylene, composite reinforced plastics, polyamides &c.
Low electrical consumption
Fast temperature ramp-up
Electrically insulated and low leakage current
Low maintenance required
Soundless

Main heating parameters for obtaining high quality non-contact IR welding :

Homogeneity of shielded IR source

Due to their specific design, the Thermocoax Mineral Insulated Cables have the advantage of generating a uniform temperature.
The design of the Metallic Shield specifically developed by Thermocoax plays an important role in ensuring uniformity of the IR emission sources.

The IR source Shield, made of a specific alloy, resists chemical attacks caused by projection of plastic and fibre glass particles. Thanks to the Metallic Shield IR innovative technology, the source retains its physical properties throughout the welding cycle and over time. Low maintenance is required.

The binding system used to fix the sources and the brackets have been specially designed to reduce thermal bridges while retaining mechanical robustness.

Thermal regulation is achieved with a thermocouple inserted inside the IR source. It prevents temperature deviation.

An innovative Metallic Shield

The metallic structure developed by the Thermocoax Innovation Team to manufacture the shielding of the IR source allows complex 2D & 3D geometrical shapes to be produced.

Dimensional accuracy

The IR Shielded Sources are sized at both high and low temperature to anticipate expansions of materials and maintain perfect alignment at 850°C with the element to be welded. The dimensional accuracy of the IR source allows heating specifically at the weld bead location.

Conclusion

The Thermocoax Shielded IR Sources meet the requirements of non-contact clean welding.

Because of the shield structure and innovated design, the Thermocoax Shielded IR Source is a powerful plastic welding technology offering high performance industrial welding solution over time.

The Thermocoax non-contact IR welding solution is clean and homogeneous, the weld bead looks good to the eye, and the welding has no impact on the colour of the materials – Low maintenance required.

Specifications and Applications of Metallic Shield IR sources

Mechanical accuracy
Fusion of complex shapes (2D & 3D)
Small bend radius IR design
Low pollution, high bursting resistance
Width of seam from 2-6 mm
Dedicated to major plastic materials

These sources are used primarily in the automotive, medical and packaging industries and can be adapted to suit other industrial sectors.

Due to NDAs signed with our customers we are unable to present our 3D Specific Metallic IR Sources in this white paper – For all your requests, please contact us at : www.thermocoax.com
Phone : +33 141 388 061 – e-mail : nathalie.delattre@thermocoax.com