Rubber and plastics plants use compressed air across the entire production line: injection moulding, blow moulding, pneumatic conveying of resin, granulators, trimming tools and process control valves. A pressure dip or contaminated air directly affects cycle time and part quality.
Key applications
- Mould clamping and ejection on injection machines
- Blow moulding of bottles and containers
- Resin conveying and drying hoppers
- Robot and automation actuation
- Air knives and part cooling
Air quality
General machine actuation needs dried, filtered air. Applications where air contacts the product or the mould surface, especially food-contact packaging, require oil-free air to prevent surface defects and contamination. Conveying systems need a low dew point to stop resin clumping.
System design
Demand in plastics plants fluctuates with machine cycling, so variable speed compressors with adequate receiver capacity hold pressure steady. Keep pipework generously sized, because conveying and blow moulding create sharp, high-volume demand spikes.