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Delrin® Case Study
Delrin® Renewable Attributed
Drives Productivity and Sustainability
for High-speed Filling Lines
High slip performance would allow the elimination of external
lubricants and reduce chain pull, helping to cut the amount of energy
required to operate the conveyor.
Delrin® Renewable Attributed homopolymer with advanced slip
technology played a key role in the development of a breakthrough conveyor material for bottling and other filling
operations that avoids the need for traditional external lubricants. The Regina e-F.A.S.T. (ecological friction abating sliding
thermoplastic) material was developed by Delrin in close collaboration with Regina Chain, a global leader in conveyor chains,
belts and components.
Bottlers have sought to move to dry-running conveyors to enable
the line to operate smoothly without the need for external
lubricants that attract dust requiring periodic wash off. This
causes interruptions to the lines that result in additional labor,
materials and water – also generating wastewater needing
proper disposal.
Regina turned to Delrin, its supplier of more than 20 years, for
materials expertise, technical resources and a strong focus on
sustainable solutions. The goal was to develop an innovative,
dry-running conveyor material for bottle-filling customers that
would enable high-speed production, allow bottles to move
smoothly and extend the useful life of the conveyor creating a
more sustainable operation.
Challenges
Dry running requires a material with slip properties that can ensure
a low coefficient of friction (COF) that remains constant over time.
Conveyors made with conventional acetal and polybutylene
terephthalate (PBT) resins often require application of external
lubricants to maintain a low COF over extended periods of
demanding processing.
The new technology had to provide low, stable COF without
migrating to the surface of the conveyor where it could cause dust
collection – a similar issue inherent to the use of lubricants.
Solution
Working closely throughout design, development, testing and
prototyping, Delrin and Regina collaboratively created the Regina
e-F.A.S.T. material – a new, custom-colored grade of Delrin®
Renewable Attributed homopolymer with advanced slip technology.
Delrin performed in-house tribology work and conducted
extensive testing at both Regina’s facility in Latina, Italy, and its
customers’ sites. The team also developed a conveyor line
prototype at the Delrin European Technical Center in Meyrin,
Switzerland, to simulate real-world conditions.
The new Regina e-F.A.S.T. material offers significantly lower COF
– a reduction of up to 40 percent compared to standard acetal
and PBT. This critical property remains stable over time, enabling
the full dry running of the conveyor. In addition, Delrin®
Renewable Attributed demonstrates a world-class environmental
impact profile that helps customers achieve a lower carbon
footprint and supports their sustainability goals.
0.3
Coefficient of friction
Project
Although dry running minimizes or eliminates line cleaning due to
dust, periodic sanitizing is still required. Operators need a way to
identify when the line requires sanitizing to support overall
processing, safety, cleanliness and efficiency.
0.2
0.1
Test conditions:
Room temperature
1.5L PET petaloid bottles
Speed: 85m/min
Dry running
Working hours
e-fast
Source: DuPont
PBT
Standard Acetal
With the elimination of external lubricants, line cleaning is only required
for sanitation. Delrin® customized its Renewable Attributed grade for
e-F.A.S.T. material with a distinctive bright yellow color to help Regina’s
customers quickly identify the need for sanitizing.
The product’s exceptionally low COF also reduces chain pull, helping
to decrease the amount of energy needed to run the line. Testing has
shown that Regina’s conveyor chains and belts made with this material
can reduce energy consumption on a high-speed bottling line by up
to 40 percent. In addition, lower stress on conveyor chains also helps
extend their useful life by up to 40 percent while also lengthening
time between line maintenance cycles.
Finally, the surface slip performance of this unique material allows
bottles to move smoothly along the conveyor line, reducing wear and
tear, thus helping to preserve the bottles’ clarity, haptic
properties, and shelf appeal.
Delrin® Renewable Attributed
Delrin® Renewable Attributed is a high performance
homopolymer that outperforms low friction acetal copolymers,
enables sustainable design, optimizes resource efficiency
and creates reliable parts made to last.
The product is produced using 100% bio-feedstock from
waste in accordance with mass balance principles. The Delrin
manufacturing site and supply chain are accredited through
the globally recognized International Sustainability and
Carbon Certification (ISCC) certification system.
Delrin® Renewable Attributed delivers superior
performance compared to competitive low friction copolymers.
With higher tensile properties (+16%) and improved sliding
performance (+45%) achieved on a significantly better flow,
the product enables the design of parts with excellent wear/
friction performance, durability and ultra-low COF.
Tensile modulus
100%
80%
Melt
mass-flow
rate
Yield
strain
60%
40%
By optimizing part design, Delrin Renewable Attributed enables
environmental and cost savings compared to high MW copolymer
alternatives.
®
Potentially
-12%
Part Weight
Potentially
-13%
Hold Pressure
Time
CO2e per Part
Reduction
20%
0%
Notched
charpy
impact
strength
(23°C)
Yield
stress
Cost
Reduction
Notched charpy
impact strength (-30°C)
Delrin® RA300CPE
Delrin® RA300CPE
Typical HMW copolymer
(-30°C)
Typical HMW
Copolymer
Typical UHMW copolymer Typical UHMW Copolymer
HMW = High Molecular Weight
UHMW = Ultra High Molecular Weight
Source: DuPont
To learn more, contact your Delrin representative or visit Delrin.com.
Delrin® is an industry-leading premium industrial polymer business. Grounded in strong innovation, Delrin is a category creator with a longstanding
reputation for quality, reliability, supply and product performance. The iconic Delrin brand, coupled with proprietary technology and deep application
expertise make us a leader in the high-end engineering polymer market. Delrin has exciting growth prospects from exposure to automation, actuation,
healthcare, mobility and consumer applications.
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