Superior In-Line Viscosity Management Maximizes Efficiency
Any number of situations can lead to product rejection, so it's important to monitor the coating's viscosity.
Coating viscosity has a crucial impact on product quality. If the coating solution is too viscous, imperfections such as bubbling, rough texture or orange peel may occur. On the other hand, if the coating solution is not sufficiently viscous, the coating on the product may not be thick enough to provide adequate protection. Also, if the coating is too thin, sagging, running or dripping may occur. Since any of these situations can lead to product rejection, it becomes very important to monitor the coating's viscosity, which can result in higher product quality and increased yields. In addition, viscosity management can produce significant savings in the use of coatings and coatings solvents, and it can minimize the downtime of the coating process. This article describes the design of a new automated in-line viscometer that can provide accurate management of a coating's viscosity and requires minimal maintenance. A number of coatings applications will be suggested that demonstrate the benefits of the system.
The viscosity is directly related to the time required for the piston to travel through the measuring chamber and the absolute viscosity of the process fluid (in cP) is reported. A platinum resistance temperature detector, mounted at the base of the measurement chamber, continuously measures the temperature of the coating. At the end of each piston stroke, the electronics computes the rolling average for the number of cycles selected by the user (up to 50 cycles) and presents the viscosity, temperature, and temperature-corrected viscosity.