PREFORM PRODUCTION PETplanet Insider Vol. 25 No. 09/24 www.petpla.net 18 Thermoscan technology enables Sacmi to achieve water savings in injection moulding 18% reduction in water flow rate Blow moulding machinery manufacturer Sacmi has significantly reduced water consumption in PET bottle production by integrating BMT’s Thermoscan technology to optimise their injection moulding cooling processes. The Thermoscan, a patented precision offline instrument developed by Blow Moulding Technologies (BMT), measures and analyses preform temperature profiles to enhance resource efficiency, reduce operational costs, and minimise environmental impact. The temperature of the preform after injection moulding plays a crucial role in both its quality and energy consumption. Optimising cooling during injection moulding offers a range of benefits, including enhanced resource efficiency, faster cycle times and reduction in energy usage, which consequently reduce operational costs per part. Scrap rates are decreased and there are savings in raw materials, too, further reducing environmental impact. BMT, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, are pioneers of stretch blow moulding (SBM) technology for sustainable packaging solutions. It believes that data driven measurement is essential for improvement and optimisation. Sacmi identified BMT’s Thermoscan as a suitable stand-alone solution to accurately measure and digitise their cooling process. Thermoscan is a patented precision offline instrument that simultaneously measures the internal and external temperature profiles of preforms extracted from the production line and uses proprietary software to analyse and evaluate through-thickness temperature distribution. It quantifies the influence of key machine parameters on the preform temperature profile and displays their direct impact on the integrated screen. Instant feedback provides operators with the means to systematically explore various process combinations and optimise production lines. “Using Thermoscan, we can get the right data to make critical decisions,” said Francesco Macchia, PET Injection Moulding Specialist, Sacmi. In a recent case study, Sacmi methodically adjusted flow rate to optimise their injection moulding cooling process, with the intention of reducing operational costs. It first configured their machines to a preset process that produced high-quality preforms, then used Thermoscan to measure temperature distribution and establish a reference profile. Sacmi then systematically reduced water flow rate, measuring the preform temperature profile with each change, while maintaining constant cycle times and heating conditions. Thermoscan provided quantitative comparison against the target profile, enabling data-driven decisions and eliminating subjectivity from the process. The graph shown in Figure 1, generated by Thermoscan, displays preform temperature profiles of the initial (reference) and final (optimised) processes. It demonstrates nearly Figure 1: Thermoscan temperature profiles with varying flow rate
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