Tankless systems: all the advantages offered by Nordson’s products

From Nordson Corporation, innovative hot melt application systems that save a considerable amount of energy and material at the end of the line.

Machine manufacturers are coordinating with their customers (manufacturers of all kinds of consumer goods and brand name items) to achieve continuous optimisation in production processes, especially in terms of costs. This optimisation affects not only the actual manufacturing processes, but also the end of the production line. It also concerns hot-melt gluing of secondary packaging or outside packaging as well as primary packaging.

OEMs are working together in close collaboration with specialists in this area. As one of the leading providers of adhesive application technology in the world with a large selection of hot melt systems, Nordson Corporation, an American company with subsidiary in Milan, has developed numerous proven and trailblazing solutions for end-of-line applications.
The conventional configuration includes a tank device, which can be filled with hot melt manually if necessary and is used to melt the adhesive. The prepared adhesive is then pumped to the dispensing gun modules through supply line hoses, which are often quite long. The process is frequently monitored by the machine control unit.

The contemporary variant of this system features a configuration with automatic filling and a continuous supply of granulate pumped from a large-volume storage tank. A system of this type becomes even more powerful when the EcoBead adhesive application control system, is integrated. This compact controller optimises the application pattern by breaking down long adhesive beads into shorter strips or points according to individually programmed settings, thereby achieving material savings of up to 60%.

Melting only the amount of adhesive needed
Consistent further development of these conventional systems has led to the new tankless solutions. The world premiere of the Freedom system from Nordson drew much attention in the fall of 2012. The system was a response to extensive prior customer surveys. Its central component is a “minimised” melting unit which - unlike a conventional tank device - functions like an instantaneous water heater, keeping only the amount of adhesive actually required at processing temperature. The melting section achieves an output of up to twelve kilograms per hour and also features a short warm-up time of only about 15 minutes.
Processing only the amount of granulate actually required reduces energy consumption by about 30%. In fact this figure may even be considerably higher in the overall configuration of an ideal system concept. And as the EcoBead application control system mentioned above is part of the system in its standard configuration, there are consideration savings in hot melt consumption in addition. The Optix touch screen control panel, equipped with a large colour display, not only ensures precise control and detailed diagnostics of the entire process, including error messages, it also features component detection including part numbers for purchasing replacements if needed.

Flexible installation
The compact design of the Freedom system makes it possible to position it in a location close to the dispensing guns using the fastening adapter included with delivery. The significantly shorter supply routes to the hot melt applicators possible in this arrangement are not the only great advantage compared to conventional tank device systems. The tankless system can also be very flexibly positioned at almost any position in the machine.
Because the Freedom system is supplied automatically by a maintenance-free Venturi pump from a storage container with a capacity up to 240 litres, the ever present risk of injury during manual refilling is eliminated.
This consideration of work safety has been a factor for more than a few users in deciding for the innovative new configuration and replacing their old equipment.
And because all components in the self-contained system are enclosed, the adhesive is not exposed to any environmental influences. Soiling and carbonisation, which are unavoidable in tank melt devices, hardly occur at all and can be minimised. Finally, the multi-filtering system practically relegates machine downtimes for clogged nozzles to a thing of the past.
Since it was introduced on the market about two years ago, the Freedom system has already impressed numerous OEMs and found many users around the world. Nordson even won the Supplier Award given for the first time by European big player Nestlé Germany at the end of 2013, in the machine category. The global food producer honours special contributions to the successful implementation of the Group’s innovation and sustainability goals with this coveted award.
To cover all customer requirements, the familiar hot-melt devices of the Blue series will of course continue to be offered with a large selection of traditional tank systems. The range covers units with contents from 4 to a maximum of 50 litres in volume. 

The union of all advantages
To close the gaps in performance between the Freedom system and the ProBlue tank devices, Nordson presented the ProBlue Liberty systems. They were officially placed on the market in mid 2014 and have already been well received. It is visually reminiscent of the ProBlue Fulfill series, but offers the essential features and advantages of the Freedom system in technical terms.
At the same time Nordson presented “MultiFeed Bin” technology. This technology is a form of automatic filling that makes it possible to supply up to four hot-melt devices simultaneously.
Changing from older ProBlue device series to ProBlue Liberty is not difficult as all hoses and applicators are compatible. In addition, all hot-melt granulates can be used. If may be advisable to choose a smaller type when making the replacement. For example, a conventional ProBlue 10 can be replaced by a ProBlue Liberty 7. The EcoBead adhesive application controller can also be optionally integrated.