Technology Diffusion Leveraging Pollution Prevention Technical Assistance Kyle Bartholomew Minnesota Technical Assistance Program University of Minnesota May 9, 2006

contents background examples of demos and pilots next steps

fiberglass reinforced plastics ~100 facilities in Minnesota products: boats, truck bodies, electrical enclosures, sporting equipment major sources of styrene air emissions

input from industry FRP stakeholder process identified: –closed mold fabrication –gel-coat substitute –metering for raw materials –process measurements –recycle trimmings –robotics –waste heat recovery

why closed mold fabrication? cleaner reduced styrene emissions open mold closed mold

FRP Demo Day 2005 Closed-Mold Demonstration Session

FRP Closed Mold Demo Day held at local community college technologies demonstrated: –vacuum infusion –light resin transfer molding (light-RTM) –low styrene gel-coating 24 companies attended resulted in pilot test of low-shrink resin generated interest in other closed-mold pilots

Precision Fiberglass Closed Mold Case Study: Turkey Hatchery Computer Box

Precision Case Study Precision Fiberglass – Grove City, MN –had trouble with light-RTM process –50% bad parts being produced Troubleshooting session at Sunrise Fiberglass –mentor / novice knowledge transfer –wider range of variables tested –black resin gave visual indication of flow pattern –good parts produced at Sunrise

Precision Case - continued trials after troubleshooting session still resulted in failed parts –injection pressure lower at Precision –resin temperature lower at Precision different operating conditions resulted in different flow patterns –Precision’s flow pattern plugged vacuum port before mold was full simple port placement change solved problem –yields increased to nearly 100%

old port new port

computer simulation of resin flow can we predict where to put the injection and vacuum ports? computer simulation of flow gives us a good starting point question: does simulation predict the problem seen at Precision

input geometry

injection port vacuum port

simulate flow

injection port vacuum port observed problem spot

simulation results replicated Precision’s problem allows user to “play” with a design to make it more manufacturable software price is pretty high for the clients we serve

Sunrise Fiberglass case study Closed Mold Case Study: Closed Mold Port Location

Sunrise case study (cont’d) shared Precision’s simulation results with Sunrise Sunrise requested port location assistance for new mold design

put vacuum port here!

Sunrise case study (cont’d) Results: –simulation predicted port location –Sunrise built the parts as specified –process worked right the first time! no scrap no time wasted troubleshooting no emissions from “trial and error” design

Stone Products Intern Project Intern Project Case Study: Automated Gel-Coat Application

Stone Products Intern Project cultured marble manufacturer MnTAP engineering student –13 weeks on-site goals: reduce overspray –raw material losses –air emissions –occupational exposure

Next Steps - MnTAP FRP: continue closed-mold efforts FRP: demo & pilot raw material monitoring systems continue wood finishing efforts (not discussed today) expand into metal finishing expand into metal casting

summary demonstrated technologies to a large group (demo day) connected manufacturers to share knowledge (joint troubleshooting) demonstrated some new ways of thinking about design (computer simulation) provided in-depth assistance to encourage change (intern project)

conclusions demos and pilot tests encourage adoption of P2 technologies builds confidence by providing direct experiences focuses on needs identified by industry operations close to the core business require higher level of interaction

Thank You!