By Bob Pasquale, senior vice president of technology, New Era Converting Machinery

As business plans and requirements change, end users often find themselves needing to explore the possibility of acquiring new coating and laminating assets. To address these changes, the users need to generate a specification outlining the requirements. In this article, the information that is typically required by the equipment manufacturer to provide an appropriate quote will be addressed. Part 1 will focus on the requirements that are directly related to the coating, drying, cooling and laminating needs. Part 2, to be published in the Q4 2025 issue of Converting Quarterly, will look at the balance of the processing line, particularly focusing on web handling.

There are many configurations that a coating and laminating line can take. This article will focus on a “typical” single-station coating and laminating line that features the unwinding of a single-ply primary web, the application of a single coating, the drying of the coating, the cooling of the web, the unwinding of a single-ply laminate web, the laminating of the two webs at a two-roll laminator and the winding of the product. The information discussed for the “typical” system also would apply to other configurations.

Basic guidelines

When specifying a coating and laminating line, there are a few important, basic guidelines that the user should keep in mind. First, there is no replacement for the experience. This is particularly true if the user already is running the process being specified. Don’t assume that the machinery builders know the process. It’s possible that they don’t, and it’s also possible that they do but can’t share information about it because of confidentiality agreements.

It’s also important to provide as much data as possible. However, even with data, there is no replacement for testing. This particularly is true for new processes and specifically applies to coating and drying.

General specifications

• Certain general items always should be included in a specification for new equipment. Questions to be asked include the following:
• What are the available utilities?
  • What is the plant voltage?
  • Is compressed air available and, if so, at what pressure?
  • Is natural gas, steam or hot oil available?
  • Is heating and/or cooling fluid available and, if so, at what temperature and what flow rate?
• What is the available space for the installation of the equipment? Does this space include operator access aisles, or are the aisles outside this space?
• Are there any requirements for the design of the equipment, such as cleanroom needs or special materials for construction?
• Where is the equipment being installed?
• What are the general process requirements?
  • What are the target processing speeds? (Indicate a minimum and maximum, if possible.)
  • What is the web width? (Indicate a minimum and maximum, if possible.)
  • What are the web materials being handled, and what is each material’s thickness? (To be discusssed in detail later.)

Coater specifications

It is important to indicate the coating requirements for each coating that is to be used. These specifications should include the following information:

• Coating laydown rate (typically specified in weight per unit area or thickness)
  • Indicate if this is the wet or dry laydown and include the percent solids.
  • Include the maximum and minimum laydown rates.
  • Include the acceptable cross-web variation.
• Coating application temperature
• Coating viscosity at the application temperature (Include a range, if one applies.)
• Type of coating (water-based, solvent-based, 100% solid)
  • If solvent-based, what solvents are being used?
• Coating width (Include a range if one applies and it relates to the web width.)
  • Indicate how the maximum and minimum coating width is related to the web width.
• Is the coating coverage 100% of the area or a pattern? If it is a pattern, it needs to be defined.

If you currently are producing the product(s), it is best to share what coating method(s) are utilized and at what operating parameters. And, if you have done any testing, sharing the results of the testing will be beneficial. In general, if you are relying on the equipment manufacturer to recommend a coating method, testing of the method is highly advisable.

Dryer specifications

It is important to indicate the drying requirements for the specified coatings. These specifications should include the following:

• Target web speed for each coating
• Percent solids in each of the indicated coatings
• Is the coating water- or solvent-based?
• What solvents are being used? (Include the percentage of each.)
• Maximum temperature to which the coated web can be exposed
• Preferred method to heat the dryer (gas, steam, oil or electric)
• Acceptable amount of retained solvent in the product as it exits the dryer
• Required level of air filtration

When specifying a dryer, in addition to the data previously discussed, it is recommended that the specification include a particular coating, laydown rate and speed for which the dryer should be sized. 

It is important to remember that there is no replacement for experience when it comes to drying. Though dryer manufacturers have modeling software that allows for calculating dryer size and number of zones, current operational data is extremely important in determining what dryer conditions are best for a product. For situations where there is no data from existing operations, pilot testing is an important tool to be applied to confirm the modeling.

Cooling specifications

Certain information is required to provide a quote for equipment to cool the product. This includes the following:

• Product temperature when entering the cooling section (This information can come from the equipment/dryer manufacturer, based on your drying specification.)
• Target temperature of the product after cooling
• Target operating speed
• Mass (expressed in weight per unit of volume), specific heat and thermal conductivity of the target product to be cooled
• Desired temperature for the cooling rolls, typically based on several factors, including the temperature of cooling water already available in the facility and the facility’s environmental conditions. (Though it is nice if this is specified by the customer, the machine builder can provide this information based on calculations.)

With the above information, the machinery builder can calculate the number of rolls required, the size of the rolls, the web wrap angle on the rolls, the fluid flow rate through the rolls and the total cooling load.

Laminator specifications

When specifying a laminator, ask the following questions to ensure the proper equipment is quoted:

• What is the required nip pressure? (This should be indicated in force across the width of the web [e.g., pounds per inch of width].)
• Is there a maximum and minimum nip pressure?
• What is the required temperature of each web at the point of lamination?
• Do the laminating rolls need to be heated or cooled? If so, to what temperatures?
• What is the tension of each web at the point of lamination?
• Is guiding of the webs into the laminator required? If so, how accurate do the webs need to be with respect to each other?
• Is web spreading required and, if so, what type of spreader rolls are preferred?
• Are there requirements for the materials of construction for the laminating rolls’ surfaces?
  • Is there a need to have a gap between the rolls? What is the range of the gap? How will the gap be adjusted (manually, motor, etc.)?
• Does each roll need to be driven independently? (This is particularly important for controlling curl when laminating extensible webs.)

Conclusion

When specifying a coating and laminating line, it is important to provide as much information as possible for the coater, dryer, cooling and laminating requirements. This should include as much information as you can about your experience with running these products. 

Bob Pasquale is one of the founders and original co-owners of New Era Converting Machinery, where he served as president for over 30 years. With the recent integration with IPCO, he has assumed a new roll as senior vice president of Technology. Bob has been in the web-converting machinery manufacturing business his entire life, working in his family’s business prior to graduating from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1985 with an engineering degree. He has worked in many areas of the business, including project management, project engineering, technical sales, director of manufacturing, director of engineering, new product development and director of operations. Bob holds multiple patents related to web processing and has been active in several trade associations, including ARC, where he currently serves as president on the Board of Directors and regularly delivers technical presentations. Bob can be reached at email: bob.pasquale@neweraconverting.com, www.neweraconverting.com.