TAPPI Fiberglass Mat Technology
TAPPI (Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry) is an organization in the USA, best known for its commitment to the Pulp & Paper Industry. Less known is TAPPI’s “Nonwovens Engineers & Technologies Division”, www.tappifibertech.org . The Fiberglass Mat Technology Committee has been gathering papers to be presented in November in the annual conference. Due to company travel restrictions, the conference is held virtually on November 2, 4, 9, 11, 16 and 18. Claus Robberts, Founder and CEO of ProJet, was invited by the Committee to give one of the training sessions. ProJet has been designing and supplying the most innovative Wire Cleaning Systems to the Fiberglass Mat Industry on a global level for the past 25 years.
Wire Cleaning in Fiberglass Mat Manufacturing processes
In a typical Fiberglass Mat Manufacturing process, three conveyor wires are being used:
- Forming Wire
- Saturator wire
- Oven / Dryer Wire
Clean conveyor wires, with consistently high air permeability, deliver important productivity and performance advantages for all sections. In the Forming and Saturator Section, clean wires ensure proper mat formation and binder distribution. A clean Oven Wire gives a substantial improvement in available oven curing capacity and will eliminate any sheet quality issues (marking of the mat by contamination particles).
Wire contamination and especially oven wire contamination is becoming an increasingly more important parameter in the production process. Given the enormous demand for building products around the world, runability and line speed of the production lines is extremely important.
ProJet’s Wire Cleaning System
ProJet is a company with over 25 years experience in designing and manufacturing innovative process wire belt cleaning systems. The ProJet system consumes very little water, compressed air, and electrical energy. This innovative cleaning system is being used successfully by Glass Mat Manufacturers around the globe. Each ProJet system is designed for its specific position in the production line, i.e. Forming-, Saturator or Oven Wire application.
Applying a ProJet Wire Cleaning Solution guarantees consistently clean wire belts from the beginning to end of usable wire life. Consistently clean belts insure the following significant manufacturing advantages:
- Mechanical brush roll or natural gas burner cleaning systems are not required to maintain wire cleanliness.
- No shutdowns will be required for wire cleaning. This will provide increased manufacturing productivity and profitability.
- Maintaining consistently high oven wire air permeability increases available oven capacity reduces natural gas consumption.
- Better CD glass mat profiles will be maintained.
- Sheet curling, caused by uneven drying, will be eliminated.
- Wire life will be improved.
All ProJet Systems use High Pressure Water, Air knives and Vacuum to effectively clean the Wire Belts.
The presentation at TAPPI’s Conference will highlight all specific technical details, features and benefits of each ProJet Wire Cleaning System.
Besides Wire Cleaning Systems, ProJet has a range of Mat Cutting Systems, allowing operators to effectively start-up the production line, cut clean and sharp edges during production and position the glass mat on the Wire Belt as desired.
ProJet Technologies, www.pro-jet.nl and www.projetinc.us