Image credit: Asaclean
As manufacturers head home for the holidays, care must be taken to ensure a swift and hassle-free start-up again in the new year. There are plenty of techniques for making sure machinery that is out of commission or temporarily not in use is safely preserved, including coatings, purges, and safe storage.
For shorter-term solutions, New Jersey-based Asaclean produces commercial purging compounds to keep thermoplastic injection molders, extruders, and blown film machines safely sealed over a holiday weekend or weeklong break.
Purging and sealing machinery not only enables a quick and efficient start up after people go back to work, italso reduces the amount of scrap that might otherwise be run on the first day back.
Purging compounds from companies like Asaclean, Ultra Purge, and PurgeX are designed to reduce the amount of oxygen to which the machines are exposed, preventing degradation that might occur while the machines sit idle. Their compounds purge the barrel and screw and are also suitable for sealing hot runners and dies, displacing resins from the machine, and preventing deposit buildup or outside contamination. They’re also approved for removing color and carbon contamination.
Chemical purging compounds are not always recommended for all machines, so some research on the proper storage techniques should be considered for individual machines. Asaclean’s own site recommends changing the way you use purging compounds in the blow molding process depending on the specific applications.
Filed Under: Industrial automation
