Applying insulation to compression molds can greatly improve safety conditions, save a noticeable amount of energy consumption, improve the mold's heat profile, and lower the temperature of the manufacturing facility.
Safety enhancement in any plant is always a welcome benefit. The surface temperature of a compression mold during operation is usually hot enough to burn human skin immediately upon contact. Insul-Vest® provides a 1" insulated barrier between your employee and the mold. While the mold surface temperature may exceed 300 F, the outside temperature of the insulation will be no more than 110°F. One hundred and ten degrees F will not burn human skin and is not considered a safety hazard. Using Insul-Vest® converts a hot mold surface area safety hazard to a non-burn safety zone.
Cutting energy consumption in a plant has been at the top of many companys' priority lists for quite some time now. Insul-Vest® can cut 42% (average) of the heating elements consumption on a compression mold. If your mold were consuming 3 kilowatts per hour during operation, and operating five days per week at a cost of $.05 per KWH, cutting 42% of that consumption would save $390.09 per year in electrical costs on that mold alone.
Insul-Vest® insulation will reduce the heat soak start up time for your molds. Insul-Vest® will stop the majority of heat loss into the open air experienced by an uninsulated mold. An average mold will heat soak in nearly half the time than that of a mold without Insul-Vest®. This translates into increased productivity and less energy consumption.
A poor heat profile in your molds can cost you parts and production time. Insul-Vest® can assist you in obtaining the best heat profile possible. In the case of molds heated with cartridge heaters, the heat will conduct into the surrounding steel, radiating and diminishing outward until exiting the mold via the outside surface or the molded part. At the center point of the longest distance between two heaters, cold spots can occur. When this is too close to the mold cavity, bad parts are the symptom. In addition to heating plastic in the mold, a significant amount of heat escapes the mold by heating the surrounding air. This escaped heat is pure waste. Molds fitted with Insul-Vest® greatly reduce the ability for heat to escape the mold by creating a path of thermal resistance. The previously wasted heat is now kept in the mold, significantly improving process efficiency as well as smoothing out any cool spots.
The procedure for insulating with Insul-Vest® begins with measuring the mold. Measurements would be taken to provide a layout for a custom fit Insul-Vest® jacket. The jacket would be manufactured to provide a custom fit that would very seldom require removing while mounting, operating, dismounting, and storing the mold. Custom fitting would provide for ID labeling, cutouts for all heaters, cutouts of anchor eye bolts, and thickness variances for the mounting bolts. This feature would greatly prolong the life and provide user friendliness to all involved in its handling. The jacket would then be fitted for a tight snug secure fit.
Insul-Vest on compression molds will provide manufacturing facilities with many important benefits. One of the most gratifying benefits is that the initial investment in Insul-Vest for your molds could pay for itself through energy cost reduction in less than a year.
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