Melt delivery equipment helps produce PPE to tackle Covid-19

Manufacturer Nordson is supplying large quantities of gear pumps and screen changers to producers of melt blown polypropylene microfiber sheets, for the masks, gowns, and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) needed by healthcare workers.

Nordson has reportedly been shipping BKG NorCon screen changers alongside BKG BlueFlow gear pumps to original equipment manufacturers, with more orders currently being discussed.

The process works by extruded polymer passing through small holes in a nozzle surrounded by high-speed blowing gas in the melt blowing process. This produces randomly oriented microfibers that make up a nonwoven sheet. The BKG melt delivery components are then deployed between the extruder and the melt-blowing tool, and a gear pump provides the uniform melt flow and pressure required for the process to operate efficiently and with uniformly high-quality product. A screen changer is able to filter out any potential impurities to protect the dispense tool and yield the clean product required in medical applications. 

Seven Conrad, global business director, commented: “There continues to be an urgent need for the microfiber fabrics used in protecting medical professionals as they cope with the surge in Covid-19 cases.

“Like other companies in the plastics industry, Nordson supplies products that are essential in the global effort to mitigate the spread of this deadly infection. It shows once more that, given proper handling and disposal, how important plastics can be in our modern society.”