Project R-7055

Evaluation and Optimization of Contaminated SEAL performance for food packaging (Research)

The project's specific objective is the development of a business-oriented brochure with practical advice to evaluate contaminated sealing performance and optimization, in order thus to increase the stability of the industrial packaging processes when sealed is through contamination. The project aims to transfer knowledge and expertise on seal TECHNOLOGY, material and contamination characteristics to companies from these different industrial sectors. The project aims at 10 unique identified businesses that indicate to use the project results, 8 validated case studies, 30 unique companies for whom the project is relevant and 12 unique companies who are satisfied with the space to control. The main result of this project is the development of an efficient method to evaluate and optimise the contaminated seal strength. This method was spread among the target group through 6 regional and 2 European user meetings, the internal application with 14 companies in case studies and the organisation of a seal workshop. Besides, results were obtained by applying the developed method with three seal technologies (heat conduction, ultrasonic vibrations and laser) on well known packaging films with a variation in seal layer composition (metallocene PE, plastomer and ionomer). With heat conduction the seal performance of all films weakened with solid contamination (ground coffee and blood powder). The film with the plastomer seal layer gave the best results on seal strength and leak tightness. The presence of liquid contamination (water and oil) caused no weakening of the performance in comparison with clean seals. With ultrasonic sealing the seal strength weakened with all films with contamination (solid and liquid). From a certain seal strength (70% of the maximum value) all packages were leak tight. With lasersealing the seal strength weakened for all films with solid contamination, with liquid contamination the seal strength was equal to that of clean seals. In the following months the method is spread among a broad target group with the publication of guidelines. The results with packaging films will be spread by the publication of a technical article in the magazine 'Packaging' and a scientific article and presentation in the IAPRI symposium on packaging in Enschede. These documents will be published on the website: https://www.uhasselt.be/verpakkingscentrum. The expertise of this project can be used by VerpakkingsCentrum/IMO-IMOMEC as service for companies.

01 September 2016 - 31 August 2018