AlOx (aluminum oxide) is a fast-growing alternative for clear, barrier applications and can be produced on the complete range of Nordmeccanica vacuum metallizers by adding a specific module. The main advantage of this form of AlOx production is quick and simple changeover from conventional aluminum coating to AlOx. This is achieved by the press of a button, allowing complete flexibility in production planning.
AlOx is primarily used on PET film and can give high values of protection against both oxygen and water vapor. The ceramic coating produced has a transparency above 90% but also has many other advantages over conventional aluminum coating including:
- Product visibility: Current end customer demand
- Microwaveable: Ideal for convenience food
- Retortability: Used in many pouch applications
- Recyclable: Ceramic coating is a natural product
- Metal detectable: Enhances brand protection.
Cost of production is also very cost-effective, as AlOx is an extremely thin layer and hence less aluminum and power is used during the process.
Giving Power Back to the Customer
Everyone who has ever run a metallizer knows that one of the major costs of running a metallizer is power consumption. From the pumps to the evaporators, every metallizer is constantly pulling large amounts of power. Nordmecannica has developed a power saving mode which during, metallizing, film changeover and cleaning times allows a large reduction in the power consumption.
Fabiano Rimediotti, process specialist in Nordmeccanica’s Vacuum Div., explains, “We are constantly trying to make the metallizing process more efficient. As power can be up to 30% of running costs in the metalizing process a reduction in this is an obvious way of achieving this. With our new system, which is developed by using clever design and software, we can reduce consumption by up to 15%. This is a major saving in the overall production cost and also better for the environment in general. It is our mission to make the most efficient metallizer on the market, and this is reflected in our latest designs.”
More info: www.nordmeccanica.com