Quieter Drying Cooling and Cost Reductions for Marley

Marley Floors at Lenham has achieved a major reduction in noise, a significant cost saving and eliminated oil/particulate deposits by replacing compressed air drying systems with blower-powered Airknives from ACI on its PVC flooring production lines. Industrial Engineer Les Tindall explained that the switch was part of a major programme of sound reduction.

The Airknives are necessary on the continuous PVC flooring lines to remove water on the PVC web whilst also cooling it before it is punched to make tiles. The PVC flooring has to be punched at a precisely 38ºC so that the tiles subsequently shrink to exactly 300mm square.

“We use two Airknives so that we can vary the temperature reduction between the press and the punch,” said Industrial Engineer Barry Whitford. “The temperature of the web as it leaves the press varies because of several factors, including the ambient temperature in the factory. By altering the angles of the Airknives we can increase or decrease the cooling. We are very happy with the ACI Aiknives and would use them again.”

Independently confirmed noise reductions achieved are down from between 91-99 dBA to 84-85 dBA.