Vicote Coating Cuts Down-Time At United Biscuits

United Biscuits (UB) recently specified a new coating to reduce the down time involved in re-coating a compression roller and a doctor blade used at its Halifax cake-manufacturing facility. The compression roller is used for pressing biscuit crumbs, an abrasive and sticky food compound. The doctor blade scrapes the excess compound off the roller. Traditionally, both the roller and the blade were coated with a stainless-steel reinforced fluoropolymer-based coating.

The new coating, Vicote F810Blk, is part of a new range of coatings from Victrex Polymer Solutions and is based upon Victrex Peek polymer. Working closely with plant engineers at UB, the coater, Metalcraft Plastic Coatings, saw the potential for Vicote Coatings to enhance the longevity of the roller and blade. Today UB is using FDA-compliant Vicote F810Blk to coat the doctor blade and roller and is benefiting from enhanced wear resistance combined with good release properties.

Gary Hull, managing director of Metalcraft, said: 'The roller, which is 1200mm long and 355mm in diameter, and the doctor blade, were both coated with Vicote F810Blk on the approval of UB engineers and the results achieved were impressive. 'The previous coating was problematic, and in line with new product developments, an improved surface was required. 'When Vicote F810Blk was applied a re-coat was not required for six months. 'The roller and doctor blade were recently re-coated by Metalcraft during a bank holiday weekend to reduce the effect of the down time.

'This increased lifecycle and level of service has led UB engineers to consider adopting Vicote Coatings for other applications.' The Vicote Coatings range of products consists of more than 30 different grades, ranging from electrostatic powder grades to the aqueous-based dispersion grades, many of which are enhanced by the addition of other additives to improve their wear resistance and release properties. A key benefit of Vicote F810Blk coating in this application is that it is aqueous based and contains low levels of solvents, important for coaters looking to reduce VOC emissions.

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