PROCESS EQUIPMMENT UPDATE
Fig.1. PEEK part manufactured using fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing technology: (a) view of as-printed sectioned part, (b) closed part view. (Height: 95 mm, max. Diameter: 40 mm)
a
transformation processes, namely nucleation and growth of crystalline domains in the melt, the solidification rate and the rate of heat dissipation from the solidified PEEK structure are adequately controlled during the printing process thus making possible a high quality printed PEEK part. The PEEK parts shown in Figures 3a-d were also
printed using an Apium P 155 3D printer. The surface qualities of these parts attest to the engineering stability and reliability of the printer. All the parts represent functional components applicable in the chemical technology sector.
ROLE OF 3D PRINTING IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY Computer simulation efforts in the areas of fluid dynamics, rheology and chemical process studies have in the past 30 years dominated developmental activities in the field of process engineering. Although this approach brings with it a valuable amount of cost savings on financing and time, there remains a need to physically model unit operations or unit processes to overcome design-based constraints irresolvable using computer -aided tools. For this reason process engineers still resort to building pilots and miniature plants to test their designs in real-life circumstances. This is where a manufacturing tool such as 3D
printing can play a profoundly decisive role. By 3D printing the hardware needed to build a miniature or pilot process plant engineers can save huge amounts of time, computational effort and investment cost into plant development. Plant elements (Fig.4) such as separation units, compressors, storage tanks, pipelines, pumps and valves can be 3D printed at small scales and tested as real functional parts in plant development projects. Joints, connection points or locations where different parts are
10
www.engineerlive.com
b
coupled can be eliminated simply because it is possible to build the entire contraption of plant elements in one piece using a 3D printer. For example, PEEK is a material with properties
that make it an attractive technical asset in chemical process plants. It can be used for reaction vessels loaded under extreme pH environments. Its structural stability also makes it attractive in oil and gas applications. The fact that 3D printing technologies are today capable of fabricating metallic parts, technical ceramic parts and high temperature polymeric parts supports the unique development of this manufacturing tool and the outstanding opportunities provided to industries to design highly specialised parts with the hope that their manufacture is possible.
SOME PRACTICE RELEVANT DATA Data provides the confidence needed to anchor 3D printing technologies as a mainstream operation in the field of manufacturing. However, the mass of technical evidence needed to inject trust for 3D printing in industrial applications is far from adequate. Some of the several reasons why this is so are because: machine producers are not disclosing the entire information about the quality of parts fabricated from their 3D printers; often only data capable of inducing commercial success is published; the majority of research-based groups using 3D printers in their labs are not testing printed parts for performance, rather they are focused on prototyping to meet form and geometric requirements; and a big section of the 3D printing user group is composed of players from the maker-community acting as hobbyists, often with little or no access to test facilities needed to give credibility to the valuable development work going on in the field of 3D printing. Thus the fact that some machine manufacturers are secretive about test results from parts
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52