Lamination Optimization Case Study: Foil Insulation Board Company generated production gain of 35%

Foil Insulation Board Company generated production gain of 35% with Comaintel’s Induction Roll Heating system implementation

The Challenge:

Our client (a manufacturer of Foil Insulation Boards) was looking to replace its heated oil roll process with a technology that would allow them to increase their production capability by 25-35% and would also improve overall quality of the lamination process (reduce or eliminate bubbles under foil).

Main challenges:

• Increase mill productivity by 25-35%;
• Improve lamination quality output (better finished product);
• Reduce maintenance required on the machinery.

The Solution:

Comaintel’s Induction Roll Heating System (IRHS) is a technology unknown in the Converting Industry. Nevertheless it is increasingly used by companies looking to improve their mill productivity, their product quality and consistency along with the energy savings. It is also very much valued for heating up rolls to specific temperature through narrow zones (60, 75, 120, and 240 mm), allowing profiling and roll temperature uniformity.

Comaintel started by analyzing the energy requirements based on the client’s equipment and lamination process. The recommended IRHS was established as a 48 kW system distributed on two (2) rolls. Since our client was experiencing non-uniform temperature across the rolls length, we’ve designed the IRHS so each roll would be heated by four (4) independently controlled zones. The system layout was optimized to uniformly heat the roll for optimal lamination quality.

It is very difficult to uniformly heat up a roll using a wide single energy source (like hot fluids, hot air blower, electrical resistance, IR, etc.) because of localized convection and radiation losses along the roll. Comaintel tailors each system with the proper heating zone profile (60, 75, 120, and 240 mm). The system layout is designed to address the optimal power density, temperature, and zone sizes matching client’s processes.

Comaintel’s Solution implemented:

• Twenty-four (24) Comaintel’s Legacy 120 mm coils (three 120 mm in series for 360 mm zones) on two 58” wide roll;
• Eight (8) Comaintel’s OptiDriver 6 kW Power Modules;
• One (1) Electric and Electronic Cabinet housing eight (8) OptiDrivers;
• Comaintel’s Serial Link Server to connect to the monitoring and control systems (ModBus);
• PLC and HMI programming.

In summary, the heat applied to the roll using induction corrected heat uniformity across the entire roll length. By using Comaintel’s IRHS, they have been able to increase mill speed to meet their objective and could even exceed it whenever the production line will be optimized for a faster throughput.

 

The Results:

Comaintel’s IRHS brought tangible results to this client which generated significant payback:

• Increased Mill Speed significantly (+35%);
• Improved product quality (lamination process) leading to less waste;
• Reduced maintenance costs on heating device to a minimum;
• Faster start-up time, heating roll surface 2-3 times faster compared to previous system.