The start of summer is the perfect time to gather with family and friends for good food and fun times. This year, celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence safely! For our summer safely series this week let's go over everyone's favorite July 4th pastime, fireworks.
Summer officially began this week, which means lots of fun & excitment but also gives rise to special safety concerns unique to the elements of the season. For the next few weeks we'd like to discuss the different ways we can all summer safely, both at home and in the workplace.
The key hazard in solvent based printing applications is an explosion from the buildup of solvent vapors in the oven or dryer atmosphere.
This buildup could occur by a malfunction in the production process such as: a sudden or improper amount of coating, a change in ventilation controls or excessive speed. In any of these cases, the concentration of flammable vapor has an opportunity to rise above safe levels, creating a potentially explosive mixture of vapor in air.
According to the flexible packaging association, the Flexible Packaging industry is the second largest packaging segment in the USA, with $31.1 billion in sales in the United States in 2014, while directly employing approximately 79 thousand people.
Flexible packaging converters range from small manufacturing companies operating a single facility, to large integrated corporations with up to 34 individual plant locations.
We are excited to introduce the CalorVal BTU Analyzer Brochure to our library.
The CalorVal is our micro-combustion calorimeter. Because of its unique construction and operating technology, it is the optimum analyzer for directly measuring the total heating value of varying waste gas streams of industrial processes.
Fire codes and safety laws limit the maximum solvent concentration allowable to 25% of the LFL under worst case operation. Large volumes of ventilation air must be heated and circulated to keep the solvent vapors in the ovens at safe operating levels.
However, if a flammable vapor analyzer is installed as a safety control, the maximum allowable concentration is 50% of the LFL, which means not as much air has to be heated to dilute the vapors.
For the past few weeks we've talked about the problems that plague the coil coating application, including: maintenance, sensor accuracy, and response time. However, there is a solution to all three.
Coil coating line managers report that they experience three basic problems in solvent vapor monitoring, we've discussed the maintenance and accuracy issues, now let's look at response time:
Coil coating line managers report that they experience three basic problems in solvent vapor monitoring, last week we looked at maintenance issues, this week the focus is on accuracy:
Sensor accuracy is a problem. Because most analyzers have a wide solvent response factor, they must be checked and adjusted whenever there is a change in the solvents or coatings being run.
Coil coating line managers report that they experience three basic problems in solvent vapor monitoring, this week let’s address the first one:
Coil coating ovens typically operate at high temperatures, with some zones at over 800°F. This temperature range is needed to cure organic polymer coatings to their substrate materials.
