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INDUSTRIES
DRY
ICE BLASTING IN THE PACKAGING INDUSTRY
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Hot
Melt Adhesive Removal with Dry Ice Blasting
A typical line
funnels beverage cans into 12 or 24 pack cardboard boxes (cases).
Warm glue is applied onto the end flaps of each box. The end flaps
are then pressed into position and sealed as the box continues along
its course. The boxes are propelled along the conveyer rollers via
a belt system. The drive belts are rather large, 12 to 14 inches
(30.5cm to 35.5cm) wide by varying lengths (10 ft. (30m), 12 ft.(36m),
etc.). In this packaging process, the warm glue often seeps out
of the boxes and builds up on the drive belts. These drive belts
are constructed from a composite of plastic and cloth material.
Typically, the glue build up on the belts
grows to an unacceptable level in two to three weeks. The current
mode of operation is to dispose of the belts and install new ones.
Cold Jet dry ice blasting can quickly and easily remove the glue
build-up from the belts without damaging or wearing them. The expense
of replacing the belts is gone as well as the down time required
to install the new belts.
Conveyer
Rollers Cleaned
Most packaging
cardboard boxes are printed with a wax or clay based graphic. As
these boxes are transported by conveyer rollers, the box coating
is rubbed off the box and transferred to the rollers. The coating
can then build up on the rollers to a level where boxes will begin
to fall off the conveyor. The wax or clay build up is heaviest on
the rollers making up the turn sections. Currently,
the conveyor is dismantled every 4 to 10 days for cleaning by hand
with solvents and brushes. The Cold Jet dry ice blasting process
thoroughly cleans the wax or clay build up from the rollers while
the conveyor is still assembled. Again, cleaning with dry ice blasting
reduces the downtime needed for conveyor cleaning, thus increasing
line productivity.
Ink-jet
Code Overspray
All packaged
beverage containers have an ink-jet code applied for information
transfer and tracking. As with most ink-jet processes, an unwanted
overspray occurs on nearby machinery, conveyers, belt drives, and
electronics. Consequently, the ink will redeposit onto the package
and create an unacceptable finished product. The
Cold Jet dry ice blasting process gently removes the ink overspray
and therefore prevents scrap or line shut-down.
To
calculate your potential savings click
here to access our calculator.
And for more specific
and technical information see our technical
papers.
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