EAA Spring Meeting focuses on development The Eastern Aerosol Association (EAA) met on April 6 at the Sheraton Mahwah in Mahwah, NJ for its annual Spring Meeting. John Fore, Precision Valve Corp., presented Realizing The New, The Next, The Never Before. He discussed engineering software and its application toward design. In the past, designing an aerosol valve could cost $100,000–$200,000 and Fore was done in real time. There was always pressure to make it cheaper, better and ensure the valve was a good seller. One example was a valve with a tamper-proof tab. The tab was either too difficult to remove or too fragile and broke off. Either way, it was no good. Another problem was with trigger deflection, wherein the trigger would hit the can and wouldn’t activate. These were expensive prototypes that did not work. With Finite Element Analysis (FEA), the proper measurements can be determined with computer software analysis 18 Spray June 2017 and a prototype created with printed parts, instead of creating prototypes from scratch. Additionally, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can determine pressure drop throughout a valve and be measured and studied at different can pressures. Flow streams using CFD can show product paths through the valve. Another example was a simulation of plastic flowing through a mold. Mold flow software soft ware can alter internal geometry to change a flow pattern and test for holes before the final step of actually actu testing the physical mold. Paul Bilotti, Sales & Marketing Manager at Wilco AG/Wilco USA presented Alternatives to Water Bath Technology. Testing of empties is usually done by the can manufacturer, but it is the product manufacturer who is responsible for testing a final aerosol product. If a bubble clings to a can, that is OK, but if the bubble or bubbles release, Inspectors need to be very attentive and check each can. Wilco AG provides automated leak testing technologies as an alternative testing method to traditional hot water baths, fulfilling quality requirements for both empty steel or aluminum aerosol cans and for filled aerosol cans. On the same topic, Dave McMillen of Emerson discussed On-Line Leak Detection for the Aerosol Industry. Cascade Aerosol Micro Leak Detection Technology offers continuous filling line leak detection, which can help remove the risk associated with leaking cans leading to explosions or fires. It also receives statistical information about can rejection rates and patterns to troubleshoot line performance. It ally Technology manufac turer,manufac turer there is a leak in the product. Normally this is inspected by the naked eye and there is much potential for human error. The EAA presented longtime aerosol industry expert Mac Bhuta with an award in recognition of his outstanding service to the Eastern Aerosol Association. Pictured left to right: EAA Trustee and SPRAY Publisher Cindy Hundley; Bhuta; and EAA Trustee Maria Lind-Hansen of Youngstown Pre-press. Bilotti McMillen
Spray June 2017
To see the actual publication please follow the link above