Width Control of Biplanar Hydranets April 3rd, 2023 Background It is very difficult to make the Hydranets with higher thicknesses than 220 mil to the target width of 14.5 ft. For example, for 250 mil, the minimum attained width was 14.83 ft. By pushing the process conditions to the limits, the net would break, and we lose the line (picture below). The higher width of the net is not suitable for lamination process. Actions so far: - - Reaching out to Fiborsin through email: o Their suggestion is to change the calibrator: 5500+ EURO cost o As a side note, we may want to further discuss with Fiborsin and raised the question that why they never considered this when we ordered the new die. Consulting with Ed Zimmel: o Ed believes we should be able to make the product with the current calibrator o Ed: If the water is too cold, the net will be set too fast and does not have time to settle and adjust its size over the calibrator o Increasing the water T should be helpful (now starting at 16-18C and reached to 2224C). The water bath temperature should be ~40C o Cooling net at very cold T reduces the compression strength. o Ed: if you have a smaller diameter calibrator, you can increase the diameter by designing the resizing cover, so net can slide over it. It should be noted that according to Fiborsin during the line commissioning, the water bath level should be around 1” above the calibrator, but we could never get the product to the right dimensions without filling up the pit up to the top (4-5” above calibrator). 1 Objectives To realize the effect of water-cooling bath temperature and level on the product width and thickness. R&D trial May 10th, 2023 Parameters to be checked: - Cooling bath temperature Cooling bath water level Head rotation direction: To increase the thickness & have more room for pulling the net Other parameters: Depends on the observations, we may need to change some processing conditions like extrusion rate and line speed. Trial details: Product: HN220 (SKU: 5800G5174U0) Resin: Ineos B53-35-011 1- The trial will start the line with the usual specified SOC. a. Water level will be kept high as usual b. Water temp will be chilled as usual c. The cooling system will set to off from the beginning. 2- 2 rolls will be made and the dimensions will be measured. a. Since the cooling system is off, the water bath temperature is expected to increase. b. We should monitor the water temperature and try to keep the temperature around 40C by manually turning the cooling system on/off intermittently. 3- Once the water temperature increased to around 40C, more products will be made (2-4 more rolls). - Dimensions will be measured by QC. - Maintenance will monitor the bath temperature and try to keep it constant. 4- The next step is to gradually reduce the water level a. The water level will reduce to 1” above the calibrator in 2 steps b. In each step, 2 rolls will be made 5- In each step the line speed and/or extrusion rate can be adjusted according to observations. 6- Although changing the cooling process of geonet will affect the mechanical properties, the main parameters that will be measured are thickness and width. The tensile properties will be reviewed as 2nd priority parameter. 2 Cost Estimate for First R&D run Category Resin Additives Others Item Quantity Ineos B53-35-011 7,125 lbs BK001A Black 375 lbs Overhead and direct 7500 labor Recovery from sale of good product* 10 Rolls Net Cost * Considering the products are not defective and sellable Unit price ($/lbs) 0.90 1.8 0.18 Total price ($) 6,400 680 1,350 $1.6/lbs -12,000 3,570 Anticipated Learnings from This Trial - How to control the thickness and width of the product by adjusting the cooling bath temperature and level. Biplanar geonet achievable dimensions window Resources Required The following Personnel will be required to complete this trial: Geonet production - Two dedicated operators - One dedicated QC personnel - One dedicated maintenance personnel Approval to Proceed: Technical Services Specialist Mahmoud Ansari Technical Product Manager Rohit Sati Production and Fabrication Manager Ruben Mellado Director of Operations Hayden Baxter Appendix Weight of each roll – 729 lbs Output – 1560 lb/hr 28 minutes per roll Setup – 2hrs with 4 persons Running – 1 operator and 1.5 helper 3
