AFT Fluorotec were recently asked by an innovative company who specialise in the design and manufacture of electrically operated equipment for the construction industry, targeted at the removal of gas and the associated risk of fire.
The project we were approached for was an electric torch system to be used on construction sites as a primary heat source. The electric concept can replace the conventional LPG gas for drying / activating bituminous membranes on the flat, up-stands, pitch pockets etc.
The company designed and had manufactured a prototype version out of aluminium but was looking to continue the design using hard plastics to bring the overall weight of the assembly down without affecting the performance.
We advised a number of plastics before agreeing on a special POM material which ticked all the boxes. This would cover the outer casing of the impeller concept plus the internal machined components, although the fan was still to be made from aluminium at this stage.
We quickly manufactured a set and trialled with great success, with the fan system reaching an air velocity of 103.5km/hr producing 900M3 of air per hour with the fan running at 23800 rpm at a temperature of 378 Deg C. However, there was still room for improvement!
The customer visited us here in WGC to discuss the next steps. We agreed on a brand-new blend of plastic that has self-lubricating properties to avoid any potential wear that the current aluminium fan may encounter. Again, we quickly produced a brand-new set with the above material for the impeller / fan.
The results are in and it’s a winner according to our customer. This new and improved version is now to be used in the production model. It even outperformed the previous design reaching over 32000 rpm.
A very happy customer with lots more orders in the pipeline.
