Objective
A new polymer for sprayed fluoropolymers in-situ.
A laser heating system for heating of rollers.
A powder deliver system for the application of the polymer.
A prototype integrated system for carrying out the delivery and heating in-situ.
Objectives and content
Objectives and content
A large number of varied industrial production processes
currently rely on process rollers coated with
Fluoropolymer to provide a non-stick, corrosion resistant
surface. Unfortunately the lifetime of these
Fluoropolymer coated rollers in the paper, textile, paper
and film converting industries is very short with the
Fluoropolymer coating failing within 1 year. Failure of
the Fluoropolymer coating results in the closure of the
plant and removal of the rollers which then have to be
sent to a specialist facility for re-coating. The
removal of these huge rollers is a complex and costly
process and the regular requirement to do this at least
once a year results in significant plant down time and
other associated costs in the dismantling, removal and
transportation of the rollers.
The aim of the project is to develop methodologies to
replace the Fluoropolymer roller coating in-situ. This
will alleviate the need to remove the rollers from the
plant or their position in the plant and will hence
vastly reduce the downtime of the plant and bring
economic and safety benefits
In order to achieve the overall goal of coating
Fluoropolymer rollers in-situ the project has two
distinct research goals as follows:
To develop a modified Fluoropolymer with an optimised
melt/set temperature.
To develop an in-situ heating system based on laser
technology to achieve the setting of the above
Fluoropolymer on the rollers
Together these two innovative technical developments will
provide the solution to the problem of roller coatings.
The utilisation of this new technology in paper and
textile plants across Europe will bring a number of
economic benefits. The replacement of Fluoropolymer
roller coatings in situ will vastly improve the
efficiency and reduce the production costs in these
industries, where the replacement of roller coatings
currently causes a hug amount of lost production time.
The economic impact of the introduction of this new
technology has been estimated at over 90MECU per annum.
Environmental and social benefits will also arise from
the implementation of this new technology. There will no
longer be a need for transportation of the rollers to and
from a coating site and safety benefits will result from
the reduction of the need to remove these large, often
contaminated rollers from their production line
positions. To achieve these technical and economic
objectives a research partnership has been formed
comprising industrialists and developers. The consortium
contains 3 SME's, two developers and an end user, an
internationally known end user to provide industrial
acceptability, a further medium sized industrialist to
develop the Fluoropolymer and a research institute to
develop the laser heat application system. The
consortium is therefore capable of providing the highest
level of research expertise, end user and industrial
elements and exploitation capability.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
NG31 9SE Grantham
United Kingdom