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Accurate measurement of spin finish level in all filament extrusion processes is critical, yet today’s laboratory techniques have major shortcomings, in measurement accuracy, their inability to measure short term variation as well as the lag time between manufacturing and testing.
The MicroScan provides a revolution in Spin Finish measurement by providing an at line technique for accurate measurement of both:
- Mean Level Spin Finish
- Short Term Spin Finish Variation
Historically at line measurements have been considered to be less accurate than laboratory tests, but the MicroScan has been shown in production tests by one of the industry’s key companies to be 80% MORE ACCURATE than laboratory tests in measuring mean spin finish levels. In addition the MicroScan offers further substantial benefits in comparison to Laboratory testing:
- Identification of Short Term Faults - these result from faulty pumps/applicators which cause significant problems in downstream processes yet cannot be identified in laboratory tests
- Faster Feed Back - Immediate identification of faulty threadlines
- Lower Testing Costs - With a 5 second measurement time a single technician can realistically test well over 100 threadlines per hour using the MicroScan
- Much Lower Capital Costs - a single MicroScan has substantially greater measurement capacity than an NMR yet is a fraction of the cost.
MicroScan Method of Measurement
Spin Finish measurements are made using the MicroScan together with the FO110 Spin Finish / Oil Probe. The FO110 probe measures the combined conductance of the Yarn and the spin finish at a frequency of 1Khz. The conductance data is converted directly in percentage spin finish via a calibration file that is simply developed ONCE for each process. This method of measurement provides excellent accuracy and reproducibility of both short term and long term data.
The FO110 probe is designed to be very simple to use, once the Setpoint and Data files are set up in the MicroScan the recording of measurements is fully automatic and the user does not need to look at the instrument. The technician simply inserts the probe in the threadline and touches the trigger button on the probe, initiating the data acquisition sequence. During the data acquisition sequence the LED remains on indicating that the probe should continue to be held in the yarn. On completion of a measurement the LED goes off indicating that the probe can be removed for the yarn.
For each measurement the Mean, Min, Max and CV of the Spin Finish level are calculated and stored in non volatile memory on the MicroScan, data can then be viewed and printed.
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