Boddingtons cuts mesh drying time

London -Essex plastics company Boddingtons is using high pressure air knives to cut drying time at its operation for the production of extruded mesh, nets and thermoplastic films for civil engineering, horticulture, landscaping and construction applications. The technology has been introduced on a fine mesh line, where the existing method was unable to remove all the cooling water, resulting in product quality issues - and a wet factory floor.

Having examined various solutions, senior project engineer Jeremy Bond opted to install Meech International¹s JetStream air knife drying system, in which high-pressure air is generated at the blower unit. The air is then discharged from the air knives at a velocity of approximately 100 metres per second, providing an energy efficient drying system.

Boddingtons is employing two air knives on the extrusion line, above and below the mesh, with the blower unit installed behind the extruder itself. This system provides a reliable and controlled way of completely drying the fine mesh.

"Not only does it produce a higher quality product than before, but as it is completely dry, we are also able to provide an accurate product weight," said Bond. "From a health and safety point of view, installation of the [system] has meant no more wet floors therefore reducing the chance of slippage and its incredibly quiet blower unit means we have no noise regulation problems either."