Salt Tanks
ESI offers conveyorized, cascade or submersion salt tanks for vulcanization of rubber compounds. The recommended conveyance method depends on the characteristics of the extrudate. Conveyorized tanks are recommended for delicate profiles, which will stretch if pulled from downstream, such as wiper blade elements. A stainless steel conveyor belt is mounted within the salt tank to carry the extrudate down-line, under the belt, with minimum pulling tension, driven on two large grooved steel pulley rolls (one at each end). Conveyor belt tensioning is automatically controlled within each tank by means of an air cylinder, which compensates for thermal expansion by moving the idler pulley up-line or down-line as required. Glass faced & sealed, infrared heater panels are mounted within each tank, at the entry end, above the stainless steel conveyor belt; these panel heaters are designed to provide consistent temperature to the belt (minimizing belt temperature differentials), and to assist in re-melting any salt buildup on the belt before contacting the extrudate. The bottom of the belt is submerged in the liquid salt. Submersion tanks use undriven rollers to hold the extrudate under the salt and cascade tanks allow the extrudate to float on the liquid salt while ‘raining’ liquid salt on top of the extrudate. Many tanks are supplied with cascade sections at the front of the tank to allow partial cure of the rubber before contacting it with belt or rollers. Tank lengths are dependent on the cure time of the extrudate. For tanks too long to ship in one piece ESI offers salt tanks with field welded joints.
All ESI tank exteriors are constructed of carbon steel, double wall, sheet metal, fully welded to tubular steel frame. The interior salt tank is manufactured of 14 gauge stainless steel, and is "free floating" to allow for thermal expansion. Tank incorporates an integral hood with side mounted hinged doors, providing access to the tank interior. A free floating, salt service tank, fitted with a circulation pump, is located on the rear of the salt tank (for adding and pre-melting new salt); this pump is responsible for re-circulating salt to the tanks and cascade troughs. One heavy-duty immersion heater heats the Service tank. The entire tank section, hood and doors incorporate dual wall construction, with industrial grade fiber glass insulation, at top, sides, bottom and doors, providing increased energy efficiency and heat retention Tanks are heated with heavy duty immersion heaters. All heater controls are solid state and mounted in a Nema 12 enclosure.
Available options are: driven lead-in conveyors, salt removal beater bars, ring style hot air blow-off nozzles for salt removal, additional temperature control zones, heater load indicators and custom lengths and cross sections.