Cutting Downtime, Minimizing Waste

The Problem

A producer of polyethylene that produces hundreds of different types of polyethylene beads uses the same pneumatic piping to convey their high-density beads and low-density beads and everything in between.  These beads are used for other manufacturing needs to make things like plastic bottles, corrosion resistant piping and even sporting goods.  This facility is looking to shorten their changeover time between products, which takes about 2.5 days right now.

The Solution

Raman Spectroscopy.  This polyethylene producer brought samples from their process for sampling on the Kaiser Optical Raman RXN2 test unit in Eastern Controls’ Process Training Unit (PTU®).  The Raman RXN2™ delivered modeling that would then be transferable to an in-pipe installation where the probe will determine when a product has fully changed over so there is no contamination effectively shortening the changeover time to about 6-7 hours.

The Takeaway

By employing Raman Spectroscopy in-line the company can cut their changeover time by almost 90%.  A 2.5-day turnaround shortened to about 6-7 hours, not only saves the company time but it also eliminates waste that occurred while trying to determine a full changeover.  This opens the doors for more production capacity which, ultimately, means a positive impact to their bottom line.

To find out more about the capabilities of a Kaiser Raman unit and what it could do for your processes, contact Eastern Controls today!

About Kaiser Optical Systems, Inc.

Kaiser Optical Systems, Inc. is a world leader in Raman Spectroscopy, spectrographic instrumentation and applied holographic technology.  Kaiser was founded in 1979 and entered the spectroscopy market in 1990, introducing their first Raman analyzer which set the standard for compact fiber-coupled Raman instruments.  In November 2013 Endress+Hauser acquired Kaiser and operates as an independent division focused on advanced optical instrumentation based on Raman spectroscopy.

Kaiser established rep and distributor networks the Endress+Hauser group has helped enhance Kaiser’s ability to serve its customers globally.  While well established in industries such as bioprocessing and pharmaceutical, Kaiser Optical Systems has been expanding to the industrial manufacturers improve yield and cut downtime.