Temperature probe improves PET bottle production, costs

FOR the first time, a hand-held temperature probe for preforms that are used to produce bottles has been developed to improve bottle-making efficiency for the increasing number of food, beverage, cosmetic, personal care and household chemical brand owners that are bringing PET bottle production in house. The PreTemp? probe from Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI) has been engineered to accurately measure the preform’s interior temperature.  

This is an important new capability because traditional methodologies only measure the exterior temperature. The probe also can be used to identify process changes during routine operation and troubleshoot heat-related issues.

No more educated guesses

“Typically, an educated guess is made regarding the interior temperature, which makes it difficult to effectively control the heat that is driven through the preform wall. This has a profound impact on the manufacturing process including poor thickness distribution, less than optimum bottle performance and wasted energy,” said Ron Puvak, director of marketing and new business development, PTI.

With the information provided by the PTI PreTemp probe, the user can adjust the heating lamps to more effectively drive heat through the preform wall, improving the final output.

The probe utilizes an array of precision non-contact infrared sensors to measure and record up to 16 data points simultaneously. This feature provides a temperature profile to the operator and allows measurements in both an axial and radial profile thus better assisting in process checks.