Induction blow-moulding advances key, says green body

The Carbon Trust said the cash will be available for collaborative programmes of “research, development and demonstration”​ to accelerate the uptake of new low carbon technologies.

The initiative has identified the implementation of induction barrel heating on extrusion blow-moulding machines over traditional ‘heating band’ technology as a key challenge. It believed the induction method could deliver energy savings of up to 75 per cent over the traditional systems.

Induction advantages​

The current industry standard of heat banding involves the heating of a number of metal strips that are wrapped around the outside of the extrusion barrel, a spokeswoman from the British Plastics Federation (BPF) told FoodProductionDaily.com. Inefficiencies arise as heat from the bands is lost during the conduction transfer process which means the method requires greater energy to maintain the internal surface of barrel at the required temperature for blow moulding.

An induction system would generate heat via coils on the inside of the barrel which not only reduces heat loss but also provides greater temperature control inside the barrel. This is important as the barrel is not heated uniformly for the blow-moulding process, added the BPF expert.

The expertise for induction heating is already available and has so far been deployed widely for use in electric cookers.

“This technology is not new but nobody has yet developed a commercial product for extrusion blow-moulding machines”,​ the BPF spokeswoman said. “This funding could help fund work to bring such a product to market to address the concerns of temperature control and energy efficiency.”​

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Funding ​

The funding of up to £250,000 is part of the Carbon Trust’s Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA) scheme. It is open to companies or consortia prepared to undertake research or development work to help drive a step-change in the industry’s carbon reduction.

Consortia could include plastic blow-moulding companies, induction heating technology suppliers, extrusion blow-moulding equipment suppliers and universities. Proposals for funding are required by 4 December 2009.

Peter Davis, director-general of the British Plastics Federation, said: “We are confident that there is an important opportunity to further reduce carbon emissions in this sector whilst at the same time helping bottle manufacturers to identify real cost savings."​

Dr Mark Williamson, Director of Innovations at the Carbon Trust, said: “Our research shows there are some specific processes within the plastics sector where we can have a huge impact on improving efficiency. At the same time, this is an opportunity for companies to unlock major cost savings.” ​