Objective
Industrial ObjectivesThe principle technological objective of this project is to develop a new low cost, rapid, energy efficient microwave basedmoisture measurement and drying system.The prototype development of the microwave based moisture measurement and drying system and the associated controlsystem will improve the competitiveness of the SME plastic processing community consisting of more than 27,000 companiesof which an estimated 98% are SMEs, through the reduced energy requirement of the drying phase of polymerprocessing by 50%, increased productivity of 5% through savings in drying time and reduced waste by eliminatingfaults related to residual moisture as a consequence of inadequate drying. This will provide the plastic processingsector with the necessary momentum to increase our competitiveness against non-EU competition by contributingtowards our efforts to off-set the labour cost advantages of our Asian competitors.The economic objective of our work is to enable the partners and the estimated 10 licences to: Penetrate at least 5% of thecurrent European plastic processing market, generating sales of 19m and 2% of export markets generating sales of 8m.Furthermore our development will facilitate productivity improvements worth 100m and additional savings of 27.5mthrough cost savings from reduced process failures to the EU plastics processing industry.The work programme to deliver the technological objectives consist of work packages to enhance scientific understanding ofhow different polymer types affects the microwave absorption spectrum as a result of moisture content and how water is bound in polymers and of the mechanism behind the different stages of the water transport out of the granules of differentpolymer types under the influence of microwaves.A fast and accurate moisture sensing meter hardware based upon microwave signal loss with PC interface will be created,which will compensate for density variations and allow the operator to select existing p
Fields of science
- natural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciences
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivity
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsspectroscopyabsorption spectroscopy
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresoftware applicationssimulation software
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
Cooperative - SMEs-Co-operative research contractsCoordinator
170 Fredensborg
Denmark
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Participants (7)
Tartu 50107
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Reichelsheim
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Skövde
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Droitwich
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Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire
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München
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Soenderborg
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