An Improved Cooling System for Medical Tube Extrusion
Format
SOECS Senior Project Demonstration
Faculty Mentor Name
Jeffrey Burmeister
Faculty Mentor Department
Bioengineering
Additional Faculty Mentor Name
Joshua Steimel
Additional Faculty Mentor Department
Mechanical Engineering, SOECS
Abstract/Artist Statement
Specialized Engineering is a company that produces extruded tubing for various medical applications and devices. Extrusion of these medical tubes are subject to high scrutiny in terms of tolerances and sterility. In the hopes of streamlining their output, Specialized Engineering offered our team the opportunity to design a new cooling system for their extrusion process. They utilize a Harrel Extruder for their tube extrusion method, which is sufficient, but, they experience a bottleneck in the cooling process. The newly extruded tube must be cooled in a water trough before cutting can be carried out. The current water trough allows the tube to pass through water of a singular temperature which is dependent on the ambient temperature. Fluctuations in water temperature and water turbulence from water flow into the trough result in deformities along the tube. This not only contributes to a longer setup time, but also leads to the loss of hundreds of feet of tubing material. The water trough also requires very precise adjustment before adequately produced tubes can be attained. These adjustments are achieved through rudimentary “guess and check” hand adjustments. This method of tuning further delays production of tubes of sufficient tolerance. The goal of this project aimed to resolve the setbacks concerning the setup time and waste of material through a two zone, temperature controlled trough. This new cooling system also incorporates a motorized adjustment system using a PC interface, allowing precise control of the trough position as well as the water temperature at either end of the trough. Furthermore, the standard design was improved by integrating a UV light to sanitize the circulating water. The new trough design aims to reduce setup time from upwards of six hours to thirty minutes, reduce the amount of wasted material, and provide a sterilized environment for extrusions.
Location
School of Engineering & Computer Science
Start Date
4-5-2018 2:30 PM
End Date
4-5-2018 4:00 PM
An Improved Cooling System for Medical Tube Extrusion
School of Engineering & Computer Science
Specialized Engineering is a company that produces extruded tubing for various medical applications and devices. Extrusion of these medical tubes are subject to high scrutiny in terms of tolerances and sterility. In the hopes of streamlining their output, Specialized Engineering offered our team the opportunity to design a new cooling system for their extrusion process. They utilize a Harrel Extruder for their tube extrusion method, which is sufficient, but, they experience a bottleneck in the cooling process. The newly extruded tube must be cooled in a water trough before cutting can be carried out. The current water trough allows the tube to pass through water of a singular temperature which is dependent on the ambient temperature. Fluctuations in water temperature and water turbulence from water flow into the trough result in deformities along the tube. This not only contributes to a longer setup time, but also leads to the loss of hundreds of feet of tubing material. The water trough also requires very precise adjustment before adequately produced tubes can be attained. These adjustments are achieved through rudimentary “guess and check” hand adjustments. This method of tuning further delays production of tubes of sufficient tolerance. The goal of this project aimed to resolve the setbacks concerning the setup time and waste of material through a two zone, temperature controlled trough. This new cooling system also incorporates a motorized adjustment system using a PC interface, allowing precise control of the trough position as well as the water temperature at either end of the trough. Furthermore, the standard design was improved by integrating a UV light to sanitize the circulating water. The new trough design aims to reduce setup time from upwards of six hours to thirty minutes, reduce the amount of wasted material, and provide a sterilized environment for extrusions.