Zero pollutant fabric coating machine
In 1997 during the Fourth Framework Programme (FP4), a project was established with the aim of producing industrial equipment capable of manufacturing plasma processed fabric and non-woven material. This project comprised a diverse group of companies covering every spectrum of the chemical coating, woven and non-woven industries. One of these companies, WEB Processing (M/C) Ltd, developed the manufacturing equipment that would realise the productivity objectives for this project. Prior to this project, the commonly accepted methods of coating various fabrics and polymers resulted in wasting energy resources, chemicals used; and an unacceptable level of environmental pollutants discharged. Today, with demonstration trials completed, WEB Processing (M/C) Ltd have produced equipment capable of applying PlasmaTex to a multitude of material processing requirements - pollutant free. For the Plasma application to be pollutant free, the application process has to apply the plasma in its gaseous state, which is otherwise known as the "fourth state of matter". The technology that has been developed is able to harmonise the specific material requirements with regards to plasma composition and the processing conditions required. This machinery itself employs a continuous processing system which starts in the oven and is completed at an unwind station. The oven has the ability to control the air plenums so that both sides of the fabric are coated simultaneously because the nozzles are only 85-90mm from the substrate. The fabric then travels through the remainder of the equipment encountering the laminating/capstan unit, which has a two-roll water-cooled nip with flexible hoses and rotary joints. The fabric continues to a water-cooled S-wrap capstan and the process is completed at the unwind station complete with a flip-flop bar, and tension and tracking system. The machinery itself is about 6.2 metres long, 1.65 metres wide and 2.2 metres high; with a weight of just 320 kilograms. Furthermore, this is a multi-functional operational system that can adapt to flexible processing requirements, including novel and experimental materials. Web Processing (M/C) Ltd has the exclusive rights for this pollutant free processing system, and they are actively seeking a collaboration agreement for information exchange.
