3 Ways Using Temperature Control
Can Provide Instant Savings
3 Ways Using Temperature Control Can Provide Instant Savings
In one of my earlier blogs (What’s the Cost If You Don’t?), I touched on a few ways Saint Clair Systems is determined to help customers avoid unnecessary costs in their manufacturing process.
In today’s world, the need to operate in certain ways and the shift in working conditions is driving more manufacturing companies toward environmental friendliness. Reducing the need for additives that change viscosity, and the costs associated with them, is becoming more important. A lot of companies are even required to monitor their solvent use and emissions to comply with national health and safety regulations.
But I bet you didn’t know that reducing additives will also help you to reduce costs.
In manufacturing facilities that produce or work with metal and plastic parts, solvents are often used to dissolve and remove unwanted material during cleaning and degreasing. Solvents are also used to dissolve and/or separate the components used in the coating formulation. This process gets the coating to a desired consistency as it’s applied to avoid potential defects – and that, in turn, causes rework.
This is where focusing on temperature control to adjust viscosity will be helpful.
1. Product Quality
The same still holds true today as it did when Mike Bonner wrote about the dichotomy of solvent use in his blog, Saving Solvent with Temperature Control (Pt. 1 of 2):
“When the viscosity of a coating or paint is too high (which is often the case when it is cold), it is commonplace for a coater to add solvent to reduce the viscosity so that it can be used. But solvent can be expensive, and it can also present environmental issues.”
Effects on solvent losses and quality are problematic among various coaters and printers, regardless of the various material brands, different colors, and substrates being used. By controlling the temperature of any of these materials, manufacturers will get improved quality, throughput, and cost benefits. They’ll also take a major step in the right direction toward becoming environmentally friendly.
Solvent evaporation, or emissions from being exposed to the atmosphere, can’t always be controlled and eliminated by special air ventilation and filtration equipment. The only sure-fire way is to minimize (or even eliminate) hazardous air contaminants that are harmful to human health – and, of course, the environment.
2. Environmental Benefits
Monitoring and controlling how much solvent you use will provide substantial benefits to your processes and your business. There are several ways to reduce solvent use and waste, including delivery, storage, on-site handling to production, cleaning, and waste retrieval/recycling and removal. Some of these reduction methods can be applied quickly, with little to no extra cost. Others, however, will most likely take an initial investment for you to see significant long-term savings.
In many applications, the key SCS competitive advantage is keeping your material at the correct viscosity when it’s being applied to the substrate.
As you are already aware, temperature is a process variable, and controlling material temperature has many more benefits than just predictable solvent usage.
I spoke with a coating supplier a few years back. One of the things he said will always resonate with me because it comes up so much in my world: “We have a summer and winter blend.” Have you heard this before? If you’re reading this, I’ll bet you have. The supplier also said that his day would be a lot easier if he didn’t have to deal with warranty claims and nuisance calls after the formula alteration.
I’m no chemist, but I’d be willing to bet that the difference between a summer and winter blend has something to do with the viscosity of the coating, paint, ink, etc. The material supplier might even specify that material should be applied at a certain temperature with a certain amount of solvent. And, as we learned a few minutes ago, solvents are primarily used to adjust viscosity. But doesn’t viscosity also change with temperature?
I think you’re starting to get the point.
Monitoring, reducing, and controlling your solvent usage will:
- Directly affect the bottom line of costs of materials purchased and disposal.
- Instantly increase product quality and personnel productivity.
- Greatly improve working conditions and employee retention.
When evaluating whether to use process temperature control in in your application, ask yourself some important questions about cost:
- How will less solvent consumption affect my treatment systems, rework processes, and regulatory costs?
- What is the cost of adding process temperature control to my application?
- How much do I spend on solvent each year?
- What can I do with the manpower I gain from not having to manually measure, add, and adjust viscosity multiple times per day?
- Could I benefit from better/consistent quality and gains in throughput?
3. Consistent Application Conditions
We believe there’s a better way. When you control material temperature and create a consistent application condition, you can bring your coatings in ready to use.
That means your coating won’t need its viscosity to be adjusted with solvent at all. In fact, you won’t even need to take that measurement (a manual and frequently inconsistent process).
Let an SCS specialist evaluate your process. We can employ a variety of tools to help you achieve the high-quality results you’re looking for.
We’ll also make it easy for you to do your part in keeping our air and water streams free from unnecessary exposure to volatile materials,