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Microwave sensors for monitoring of polyrethane injection/casting moulding processes in the shoe industry

Deliverables

The result is comprised of: Two microwave sensor systems for the non-invasive measurement of changes in the condition of raw compound materials used in the polyurethane (PU) manufacturing process. - Sensor type 1 for the polyol or A component, - Sensor type 1 for the isocyanate or B component, During the polyurethane (PU) manufacturing process, it is quite common the alteration of the raw materials (A and B components) respect to their initial state which yields to modifications of the final PU mixture quality. These modifications cause a great amount of waste of this material between the manufacturers of PU systems. This result defines two microwave structures that in direct contact with the two raw materials (A and B components) respectively, provide a different electrical response in function of the degree of alteration of each component. Depending of the sign of these electrical response, it is also possible to identify the main cause of the alteration which gives additionally information about the nature of the source of contamination. - Potential users of this result: The final users of the microwave sensors will be manufacturers of PU systems (components A and B) and manufacturers of PU soles, for the in situ monitoring of the manufacturing process. Other type of sectors benefited of the development of microwave sensors will be the company that manufacture equipment for the PU industry, which may add this technology to their products.
The result of this project is comprised of: Three types of reference materials for the calibration of the three sensors developed during the project: - Sensor type 1 for the polyol or A component; - Sensor type 1 for the isocyanate or B component; - Sensor type 2 for the monitoring of the reaction of both components A and B inside the mould. Calibration is necessary in order to assure the correct functioning of sensors and therefore, to know the reliability of the measurements taken during the polyurethane (PU) manufacturing process. Reference materials for every sensor must fulfil the following characteristics: - To have dielectric behaviour which is stable through time; - To have dielectric behaviour that covers the whole measurement range; - To be easily storable and manipulated in order that this calibration can be easily carried out in the factories. Chemical nature of reference materials is to be determined, although they may possibly be polymers. Calibration procedure for the three sensors (methodology, recommended periodicity...). The final users of the reference materials will be manufacturers of PU systems (components A and B) and manufacturers of PU soles. Especially all those manufacturers who have sensors type 1 and 2 for the in situ monitoring of the manufacturing process.
In the production of polyurethane soles, it is very important to maintain the polyurethane physical and chemical properties constant in order to avoid possible problems of hydrolysis affecting the sole quality. For this it is important to control both raw materials and polymerisation process inside the mould. One of the results of this project is the development of intelligent moulds for the monitoring and control of the polymerisation process inside the mould. The moulds will be fitted with MW-sensors type 2 for the dynamic monitoring of the dielectric changes of the mixture inside the mould during the polymerisation reaction. This way it is possible to monitor the crosslinking degree of the mixture through the relationship between dielectric and physical-chemical properties of the components. The monitoring of the polymerisation process inside the mould will lead to a better knowledge of the optimal process conditions, thus reducing the number of hydrolysis problems of the soles, the wastes, and improving the quality of the polyurethane soles.
This result is comprised of: A microwave sensor system for the non-invasive evaluation of reaction progress of the PU mixture inside the mould where the manufacturing process takes place. Polyurethane (PU) materials are the result of a chemical reaction during a given time from the mixture of two components (polyol or A component and isocyanate or B component). This time of reaction depend upon several factors as the concentration of the components. This result defines the parameters of a microwave sensor installed on the mold that allows the non-invasive monitoring of the reaction progress. This monitoring can give very important information of the manufacturing process such as the necessary time of reaction for some specific concentration of the components. Additionally this monitoring permits to establish a reference rheometric profile of the PU process and detect any deviation which may switch an alarm signal and avoid great amount of waste. As in previous result, depending of the sign of these electrical response, it is also possible to identify the main cause of the alteration which gives additionally information about the nature of the source of contamination. - Potential users of this result: The final users of the microwave sensors will be manufacturers of PU soles, for the in situ monitoring of the manufacturing process. Other type of sectors benefited of the development of microwave sensors will be the companies that manufacture equipment for the PU industry which may add this technology to their products.
In the production of polyurethane soles, it is very important to maintain the polyurethane physical and chemical properties constant in order to avoid possible problems of hydrolysis affecting the sole quality. For this it is important to control both raw materials and polymerisation process inside the mould. The final result of the project is the development of equipment for the control of the whole manufacturing process of polyurethane soles. This equipment will allow to monitor the features of the raw materials, before being introduced in the mould, and the polymerisation process inside the mould. The whole system will allow saves in raw material losses, a better control of the quality of final products, a better adjustment of process though a deeper knowledge of the polyurethane polymerisation.

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