SCHWING offers solutions for the following industries:
In the meltblown technology (meltblown spunbond process) for the production of nonwovens, liquid polymer emerges from a spinning bar (nozzle bar, nozzle block) under high pressure and is blown and swirled into the finest fibers (microfibers) by means of high-speed hot air and cooling air, which are collected by a carrier screen and transported onwards.
Due to the micro-fine nozzle holes and geometries, cleaning the often meter-long spinning beams or nozzle beams requires a cleaning process that is as gentle as possible. The fully automatic, thermal cleaning system VACUCLEAN from SCHWING, for example, first heats the tool slowly and particularly gently, whereby a large part of the cooled polymer melts on the outside and inside and flows out.
The perfect cleaning of complete spin packs and spinnerets, spinning pumps and the often meter-long melt lines is an important success factor in the production of chemical fibers, as this not only ensures a flawless production process, but also a long service life of these sometimes very complex production tools.
SCHWING offers the ideal cleaning system for every requirement; any thermal or mechanical damage to components and parts is excluded.
In the meltblown technology (meltblown spunbond process) for the production of nonwovens, liquid polymer emerges from a spinning bar (nozzle bar, nozzle block) under high pressure and is blown and swirled into the finest fibers (microfibers) by means of high-speed hot air and cooling air, which are collected by a carrier screen and transported onwards.
Due to the micro-fine nozzle holes and geometries, cleaning the often meter-long spinning beams or nozzle beams requires a cleaning process that is as gentle as possible. The fully automatic, thermal cleaning system VACUCLEAN from SCHWING, for example, first heats the tool slowly and particularly gently, whereby a large part of the cooled polymer melts on the outside and inside and flows out.
In the production of polymers such as polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP), halogenated polymers such as PVC or PTFE as well as in the production of high-temperature plastics such as LCP, PEI, PPS, PI, these are cooled after polymerization, dried and then granulated.
The extrusion and granulation tools used here must be regularly cleaned of any plastics adhering to them in order to keep the quality of the manufacturing process at a consistently high level. The same applies to the production of color granules and additives (masterbatches), for example to increase process reliability, for UV resistance, for flame retardancy, etc.
Automotive industry: Heat treatment
For drying paints and adhesive bonds, for tempering and hardening plastics and composite materials and finally for the diverse heat treatment of metals and aluminum alloys (preheating, quenching), the automotive supply industry requires a large number of different industrial furnaces and heat treatment systems, which are planned and designed by SCHWING in accordance with DIN EN 1539 or CQI-9.
Automotive industry: Thermal cleaning
With the aim of reducing the weight of an car, plastic parts and components are increasingly being used that have a strength or toughness comparable to steel or similar, but are significantly lighter. One example of this is plastics reinforced with glass fiber.
The metal production tools used in the extrusion or injection molding of such plastic components are comparatively difficult to clean due to the special material properties of the adhering contaminants. However, SCHWING offers the ideal cleaning technology for each of these.
The plastics producing and processing industry is one of the central suppliers of parts and components with a very wide range of applications in all types of plants, systems and industries.
SCHWING industrial furnaces are used here to stabilize the shape by hardening/drying, for example, silicone or thermosets and to create a low-stress material matrix by tempering acrylic glass (PMMA, Plexiglas) and other thermoplastics.
The extruder heads, screws, injection nozzles, needle valve nozzles, hot runners, etc. used to manufacture plastic components using the extrusion or injection molding process are generally made of metal.
SCHWING is the only manufacturer in the world to offer all advanced thermal cleaning technologies that remove polymers and organic contaminants from metal tools and machine parts of all types and sizes. Whether using pyrolysis, thermal decomposition under vacuum conditions or a thermal conversion process in a fluidized bed - SCHWING has mastered all processes to clean components from a wide variety of applications without leaving residues.
"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle"
For reasons of resource conservation and in the spirit of the circular industry, recycled plastics made from polyethylene and polypropylene are increasingly being used, especially in the packaging industry. The extrusion or injection molding tools, screws (elements), melt lines and hot runner distributors used in the processing of such raw polymer recyclates must be cleaned regularly and carefully to ensure optimal machine availability. In particular, the metal filter systems (filter candles, filter bundles, filter discs, filter stacks) require intensive cleaning to ensure the quality of the melt made from recycled raw polymers and masterbatches.
SCHWING offers particularly environmentally friendly and energy-efficient cleaning systems to the plastics manufacturing, recycling and processing industry. For example, in the thermal cleaning system VACUCLEAN, the plastic adhering to the metal parts and tools is first gently melted at low temperatures under vacuum and collected in containers. The cooled plastic blocks can be easily removed after the cleaning process and immediately recycled.
More and more agricultural businesses are developing into mass production businesses through specialization, standardization and the use of technical or automated processes. For example, in fruit and vegetable cultivation, to maximize yields, agricultural films and nonwovens up to 20 meters wide, often multi-layered, are used, which take on various control and protection functions (control of temperature and water balance, protection against frost, insects, overheating, drying out, erosion). Other films are simply used to cover or line agricultural equipment and systems.
As in the packaging industry, most films and nonwovens in agriculture are made of polyethylene (PE) and are manufactured in corresponding extrusion plants. The film blowing heads and wide slot nozzles used here can be cleaned in SCHWING's intelligent cleaning systems in a time-saving, deep-down and energy-efficient manner, which significantly supports the productivity and quality of the entire production line.
Medical technology is a high-precision industry that requires the highest quality standards. For example, stents, which are made of stainless steel in their basic structure, must be precisely formed and hardened. These life-saving medical devices are often so small that their uniform treatment and shaping is difficult. However, with SCHWING's fluidized bed heat treatment processes, stable, material-friendly shaping and hardening is achieved easily and reliably.
In hardly any other industry are plastic materials subject to such high quality requirements as in medical technology. Consumables such as hoses, regulators, fasteners, membranes, covers, etc. must be resistant to cleaning agents, sterilizable and biocompatible. Parts and components for medical devices are made from high-performance medical plastics such as PEEK, PPSU, PSU using extrusion, injection molding or 3D printing. In order for these parts and components to be used with maximum reliability and safety, a high level of precision is required during their production. Using thermal cleaning processes or intelligent cleaning systems, SCHWING helps to optimize the precision and service life of the extrusion or injection molding tools used.
Heat treatment of electrical components
SCHWING industrial furnaces ensure highly effective, safe and energy-efficient heat treatment processes for all applications in the electrical industry. Common applications include hardening/drying the moisture-protecting resin coating of copper windings of stators and rotors in motors and generators, as well as bonding sheets coated with baking varnish to form entire motor components.
The flammable gases that usually arise during the drying/curing process are safely handled by applying the DIN EN 1539 standard.
Refurbishment / Paint stripping from electric motors
Under the heading "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle", SCHWING carries out the reconditioning and refurbishment of both entire systems and plants as well as individual components and parts. For example, before refurbishing an electric motor or generator, the resin or paint layers surrounding the copper must be removed so that the motor can be rewound. Even if an overhaul is no longer profitable, it is worth removing the resin so that the copper coils can be reused or recycled as pure copper.
The quickest and most efficient method of resin removal or paint stripping is thermal cleaning, which can also remove all grease and other residues without leaving any residue. For this purpose, SCHWING offers optimized thermal cleaning processes even for complete electric motors, very large stators and rotors.
In mechanical and plant engineering, numerous parts and components made of plastic and composite materials, but also of steel, metal and non-ferrous metal are processed. Industrial furnaces and heat treatment systems are used here for heating (shrinking), solution annealing (strengthening), stress relieving (relaxing) and tempering (blue dyeing). To achieve the specific material properties, the specially designed SCHWING industrial furnaces implement an exact thermal process in a relatively narrow temperature window and with excellent reproducibility.
Painted and otherwise coated components are used in numerous industries, the surface coatings of which must be baked, hardened or dried - or even removed.
The surface finishes, which are mainly used for corrosion protection and/or for optical reasons, are usually applied to the components using a wet, powder coating or whirl sintering process. The SCHWING dryers or industrial furnaces used here are designed for the specific application process. In wet paint coating, the component coating is hardened by drying, while in whirl sinter coating, preheating is used.
SCHWING offers special (vacuum) pyrolysis systems for particularly efficient and energy-saving lacquer and coating removal from tools and metal components.
Tools such as extruders, screws, injection nozzles, pelletizing knives, baking molds, etc. are used in the production, shaping and coating of food or confectionery.
Metal tools encrusted with foodstuff residues can be cleaned mechanically and/or chemically using conventional methods. However, parts can be cleaned particularly quickly and thoroughly while also being gentle on the material using one of SCHWING's thermal cleaning systems.
Structural components made of composite materials such as glass fiber reinforced plastics (GRP, GMT/glass fiber mats) or carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) are increasingly replacing previously used parts and components made of metal (steel) in order to successfully combine the positive material properties of different materials and, above all, to take advantage of the associated, sometimes significant weight reduction. The end product thus offers greater energy efficiency while at the same time improving mechanical properties (strength, toughness, dimensional stability).
When manufacturing products made of composite materials, SCHWING industrial furnaces are used for drying and hardening (shape stabilization, solidification), which ensure the safe handling of the flammable substances emitted during the heat treatment process in accordance with DIN EN 1539.
The increasingly used glass or carbon fiber reinforced plastics and specially configured polymers sometimes place very high demands on the cleaning of the tool components used in component, film or fiber production. Here, the thermal cleaning systems from SCHWING offer cost-effective and time-saving solutions.
There are special safety requirements in all processes and systems in the aerospace industry, including the manufacturing processes and systems for materials, parts and components in aircraft construction.
In particular, heat treatment processes that create material properties place particular emphasis on temperature uniformity, system accuracy and the reproducibility of the documented thermal processes. These increased process requirements must be taken into account when designing and implementing the system technology. It does not matter whether the industrial furnaces are used to produce new aircraft components for original equipment or to recondition corresponding components as part of regular maintenance intervals.
The high-precision heat treatment systems from SCHWING meet, among other things, all accuracy values and process specifications to be observed in accordance with AMS 2750, such as when curing aircraft exterior components made of plastic and composite materials or when drying the surface and corrosion coatings of metallic components. Processes that generate flammable process gases are safely handled by the DIN EN 1539 standard.
SCHWING has more than 40 years of experience in the design, manufacture and operation of heat treatment systems based on fluidized bed technology. Since 2021, SCHWING has also been offering systems based on air circulation technology.
In the particularly energy-efficient, safe and time-, personnel- and space-saving fluidized bed heat treatment, the metal part is immersed in a retort filled with air or inert gas-fluidized aluminum oxide powder. The advantages of fluidized bed heat treatment are its excellent heat transfer properties and temperature uniformity, the rapid changes in atmosphere and, above all, the extremely short process times.
SCHWING Thermal Solutions GmbH, which belongs to the SCHWING Group, produces and operates particularly effective, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly furnace systems based on circulating air. With its specialization in heat treatments that determine the material properties of industrial goods made from a wide variety of materials and industries, SCHWING Thermal Solutions GmbH ideally complements the SCHWING Group's thermal process technology portfolio and thus enables the implementation of holistic thermal process applications from a single source.
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