Manufacturing facilities in the U.S., and globally, are running at capacity. The demand for all types of finished plastics remains high in all markets. Plastics processing covers a broad range of operations. Several of the more common processes include: blow molding, calendaring, compression molding, cutting, grinding on plastics, heat sealing, injection molding, plastic casting, plastic curing, plastic extrusion, plastic machining and plastic welding.
Injection molding, compression molding and blow molding processes are used to convert raw thermoplastics from pellet or powder form into common useable plastic parts such as forks, bottles and cabinets. This process involves heating the plastic pellets or powders to a liquid state and then injecting, or blowing, the liquid plastic into a cooled mold where it is held under pressure until it cools to the solid state again.
Plastic extruding involves forcing molten plastic through a shaping die under pressure. This process starts with solid pellets or powders being fed into a hopper where the plastic is heated to a liquid or molten state. The plastic melt is then forced through the die with the formed material emerging from the die. The plastic is then cooled with water or air and post-processed to create the desired part as necessary.
The last thing you need is your plastic dust and fumes collection equipment becoming a contributing factor to unscheduled downtime and lost production. We want to use our experience to help you. For example, a PVC plant in North America had an elutriator baghouse that needed to move more air to meet their production requirements. Years ago we converted the dust collector to BHA PulsePleat® filter elements, and at the time, it met their needs. Recently, demand increased again, and the plant needed to move 40% more air than the original design. We worked with the customer to design a BHA PulsePleat filter that met their filter-area requirements and prevented the need for new capital projects to replace the dust collector.
Key benefits from air filtration for the mist, fumes, smoke and dust generated by plastic processing include:
- Protecting worker health
- Reduced exhaust air make-up requirements through recirculated conditioned air
- Improved part / product quality
- Reduced housekeeping costs
- Compliance with even the strictest federal, state and local environmental standards