Dotmar Engineering Plastics isn't merely a supplier of engineering plastics, machined parts, and conveyor components. In a joint venture approach, Dotmar provided a complete solution for a cooling tunnel to a contract filler, allowing the client to focus on their core strength—production—while Dotmar handled the task of maximizing production efficiency and minimizing safety concerns.
The contract filler processes aluminium, glass, and plastic containers, including hot fills. Cooling is essential in the hot fill process to ensure timely solidification of the product. The cooling rate is crucial for the production line's efficiency and directly impacts profitability.
The existing cooling tunnel design caused significant air leakage, necessitating slower conveyor speeds to ensure product solidification before exiting the tunnel. Additionally, the system couldn't accommodate different container sizes effectively, requiring manual lifting of the enclosure. This not only increased air leakage but also posed Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) risks.
The 8.5m long cooling tunnel has multiple lanes that allow the product to go back and forth many times to maximise the cooling effect, with each lane being separated to maximise the cooling rate. The design of the polycarbonate guarding provided accurate alignment ensuring all lanes received adequate cooling, together with access windows so operators could easily work on the line during both production and maintenance periods.
Dotmar’s proprietary NGE conveyor chain was utilised to provide the lowest driveline friction, the best wear life, and smoothest possible operation. To help further improve chain life, and therefore reducing downtime, new return rollers with flanges were included which ensured chain alignment, further contributing to a smoother operation of the entire system.
