Unstick Your Food Processing Equipment With The Right Thermal Spray Coating
Where machine reliability is concerned, abrasion, wear, adhesives, and sticky glues are common threats. Production can grind to a staggering halt in order for the damage to be repaired and workers to clean parts and machinery. A company’s bottom line is significantly impacted by continued interruptions such as these. To help solve problems related to machine repair and costly downtime, a large food processing company decided to attack the problem head-on. This food processor understood how the issues just stated impacted their food processing equipment and decided to do something about it.
In conjunction with scientists and thermal spray coating industry leaders, a special coating and application method were created.
A Study In Sticky Machinery
The food processor just mentioned had a particular lunchmeat product that was creating problems. The product was clear film heat sealed in a molded plastic tray. But when the product was being sealed, the sealing plates and film tended to stick together (when packaging mistakes were made). To separate the plates and the film, valuable production time was lost. Ultimately, the plates would end up getting damaged from scrapers and picks used by employees for the removal of the film. The food processor’s bottom line was substantially affected because of money and time lost to repair and cleaning.
This food processor decided that the sealing plates should be PTFE coated, which would help correct the process. The sticky issues would hopefully be alleviated thanks to the PTFE product. But once the sealing process was improved and corrected, the coating fell somewhat short. Because the process was now being done correctly (mistakes were eliminated), the engineering of the coating wasn’t matching the needs of the application. Something else was needed.
A Specialized Coating Process
An electroless nickel coating process was created that would offer corrosion protection and wear resistance on metals. When used for plating, numerous distinct advantages were offered by this electroless nickel coating. The following can benefit from being plated with this coating process:
- Threaded parts
- Valves
- Internal surfaces
- Recesses
- Holes
- Irregularly shaped objects
To pure metals, ductility and uniform deposit thickness are features of this coating. Also making it perfect for industrial applications are its reliable corrosion resistance and high surface hardness. To create the plating by depositing nickel, an auto catalytic reaction is used for the electroless process instead of electronic energy. Depending on the phosphorus content of the coating/plating, magnetic properties can range from nonmagnetic to magnetic.
Advantages of the Electroless Nickel Coating Process
- Compliance with industry standards
- Superior process control and quality
- Superb corrosion resistance (even against salt spray)
- Low thermal conductivity
- Low thermal expansion coefficient
- Surface hardness
- Wide range of operating temperatures
Other Uses and Coatings
Various other industries make good use of thermal spray coatings using a number of materials. Here are both applications and materials in areas other than food processing:
Applications
- Compressors, pumps, valves
- Space exploration
- Bulk solids and powder
- Energy, gas, and oil
- Instrumentation
- Semi-conductors and electronics
- Transportation and aerospace
- Chemical processing
Materials
- Aluminum
- Titanium
- Bronze
- Brass
- Copper
- Steel
- Stainless steel
A&A Coatings And the Food and Beverage Industry
At A&A Coatings, we assist the food and beverage industry each and every day. Through various application methods and with numerous coating choices, we can help your company improve its bottom line. Reduce maintenance costs, lessen downtime, improve safety, and more with our thermal spray coatings. Contact us today to find out more.
