Engel recently announced a record turnover of €950 million. 19% was generated in Asia which is considered as the fastest growing market with packaging and medical applications the fastest growing segments. To show its expertise in this field, the company hosted the Packaging Days 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand. More than 120 visitors from Thailand and South East Asia took part in the two-day packaging event on July 8 to 9, 2013, amongst them Plastics' roving reporter, Michael Maruschke. The event was a combination of lectures, presentations, discussions and live demonstrations.
Before the storm: the Engel E Motion 160t injection moulding machine surrounded by Frigel cooling equipment
In the morning session speakers from Engel, Frigel (cooling equipment), Campetella (robots), Matsui (auxiliary equipment), Verstraete (IML labels) and Borouge (material manufacturer) presented the latest trends in the field of thin-wall moulding and in-mould-labelling (IML). From the machinery side, Engel explained the specific requirements when it comes to IML, such as cleanliness, high injection speeds and mould movement accuracy, which are quite different from the production of other packaging products such as closures or buckets, for instance. Advanced technologies such as the "Cube Technology", where a packing tube and cap are produced in the machine, were also briefly outlined.
However, the main focus was on the field of thin-wall moulding and IML. According to different lecturers, this application is being driven by the glass and metal replacement trend. And when glass or metal is to be replaced then "barrier" layers play an important role. Typical barrier materials are ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), polyamide (PA) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) of which EVOH is the most common. With the help of the barrier co-injection technology, it is possible to produce an EVOH layer a mere 0.05mm thick in a typical PP/Tie/EVOH/Tie/PP structure. In this case, the injection moulding machines are equipped with special inspection units ("barrier watcher") to inspect the quality and thickness of the barrier layer.
Dieter Maes, Business Development Manager of Verstraete discusses the different kinds of IML labels.
Another way to provide a barrier layer are the labels themselves. Specially designed IML labels can either provide a full oxygen barrier, or a light barrier which protects against UV rays and helps to maintain the flavour of the food within the container. Approximately 70% of IML labels used for packaging are white while the remaining 30% are transparent, estimated Dieter Maes of Verstraete. The transparent labels in particular have to meet the most stringent requirements regarding gloss and printing quality. IML labels are typically made of PP and are therefore fully recyclable with the PP container. To attract the attention of customers or to provide a familiar look, labels with metallic ink and foils are becoming increasingly popular. Other examples of non-IML labels, for instance, double-sided labels to provide additional information on the "other" side such as recipes or information about competitions. Or labels can be peelable to increase the reusability of the packaging container.
Another topic, not directly related to thin-wall moulding or IML, aroused great interest among the participants: water cooling technology. Frigel, co-organiser of the event, introduced the latest developments in the field of water cooling technology and the advantages of the company’s cooling systems compared to conventional and commonly used cooling towers.
The cooling tower is a heat rejection system that extracts heat from the atmosphere through the cooling of a water stream. The drawbacks of this 70 year-old technology are, beside the high water and energy consumption, the build-up of algae, bacteria and calcium within the water system. Due to the algae and bacteria growth, continuous water treatment and maintenance is needed.
In order to address these drawbacks, Frigel presented the Dry Cooler Ecodrygel system. This system employs, with its “clean” closed-loop function, an adiabatic system that allows the cooler to operate in any kind of environmental condition making it an alternative to traditional cooling systems such as chillers and evaporating cooling towers. This system allows a minimum quantity of water evaporation without any direct contact with the finned coil pack thus eliminating any risk of calcium deposits at the cooler. The system features a worldwide patented "Adiabatic Chamber", an innovative geometry of humidifiers guaranteeing high relative humidity of the air crossing the cooling coils, thus maximising the efficiency of the cooler.
Water and energy consumption can be reduced significantly and previous installations of such systems in Thailand show that the customer can expect a ROI (return on investment) of between 0.8-2.6 years, depending on the specific requirements of the project. Yearly cost savings for the water cooling of up to 8 million Baht (€197,000) are possible according to Per Skjevik, Sales Director of Frigel.
Live demonstration of an Engel E Motion 160 for thin-wall moulding
In the afternoon visitors were able to witness the production of a thin-walled 125ml container, and ask specific questions directly whilst the machines were running. The Engel E Motion 160t injection moulding machine equipped with a Campetella robot and an IML two-cavity mould produced the container with a 2.85s cycle time.
The adiabatic Dry Cooler Ecodrygel EDK 22P provided cooled water to two chillers. Frigel’s Microgel RCM 170/12 SP-L chiller (single zone, set point 12°C) was employed for the dehumidification of the production cell (due to the very high ambient humidity in Thailand) while another Microgel RCM 170/24 SP-L chiller (dual zone, set point 12°C) was used for mould and control cabinet cooling.
www.campetella.it
www.engelglobal.com
www.frigel.com
www.matsui-asia.co.th
www.verstraete.be
