A Flexible Friend

A few years ago we completed a vacuum installation for a credit/store card manufacturer. Cards each have an area on them where the chip is housed and it is this recess in the plastic card which has to be milled generating plastic waste.

We designed and installed a vacuum system which allows up to 7 specialist milling machines to be operational simultaneously extracting the dusts at source and conveying them to a reverse jet cartridge filter separator having continuous discharge into the clients FIBC’s with motive air being generated by 2 centrifugal exhausters each powered by a 22 kW motor.

The main reason for the client going down the centralised system route was that they previously had a number of static vacuum cleaning machines within the process area, which generated additional heat. This heat generation meant the client had to provide air conditioning to reduce the factory temperature level which was extremely expensive. An additional bonus from the centralised system means they have the extracted materials automatically bagged into FIBC’s and therefore no need to empty the bins on the vacuum machines and the noise level within the production facility has been dramatically reduced.

Subsequent to the main installation, the system was extended to a card shredding machine where incorrect materials are shredded, this shredded material being pneumatically conveyed to the filter separator and onward to the FIBC below the unit’s outlet for off site disposal.

Download