TECOS, partner projekta LIFE BioTHOP, z veseljem najavlja, da je prva validacijska testna serija proizvodnje bioplastičnih sadilnih lončkov uspela! Pilotna linija brizganja sadilnih lončkov je bila izvedena ob uporabi PLA biorazgradljivega polimera, certificiranega za možnost industrijskega kompostiranja. S tem preizkusom smo definirali tehnološko okno predelovalnih pogojev, identificirali kritične procesne parametre in pripravili testno okolje za vpeljavo novih biokompozitnih materialov, ki trenutno nastajajo v okviru projekta LIFE BioTHOP. Ko bo potrjena optimizirana materialna formulacija na osnovi biopolimera PLA z dodanimi vlakni odpadne hmeljevine, bomo na tem prototipnem orodju izvedli tudi linijsko proizvodnjo BioTHOP sadilnih lončkov. Ti bodo v prvi vrsti namenjeni za vzgojo sadik hmelja, seveda pa bodo po potrjenih standardih primerni tudi za sorodna področja uporabe v vrtnarskem in kmetijskem sektorju.
Poleg tega, smo v to preliminarno testno študijo uspeli vključiti še en zanimiv projekt, ki prav tako poteka pod okoljskim programom LIFE. Gre za LIFE Citruspack, v okviru katerega poteka razvoj različnih biokompozitnih materialov, osnovanih na biopolimeru PLA in citrus vlaknih, ki nastajajo kot stranski produkt proizvodnje sokov iz agrumov. TECOS, ki tudi v tem projektu nastopa kot partner, je uresničil prvi replikativni primer uvajanja CitrusPLA materialov za nove sektorske proizvode. V ta namen smo izdelali omejeno serijo Citruspack sadilnih lončkov in potrdili možnost uporabe teh materialov tudi v vrtnarskem in kmetijskem proizvodnem sektorju.
TECOS, a partner of LIFE BioTHOP project, is pleased to announce that the first validation trial on the production of bioplastic planters has succeeded! The construction design of a new prototype mould was coupled with the numerical simulations of injection process, which has proven to be a successful method in the production of tools specially adapted for the processing of biopolymer materials. The first validation series was carried out on the production of bio planters made of pure PLA material, certified for its biodegradability under the industrial compositing environment. With this preliminary testing we were able to define a technological window of the processing conditions for injection moulding technology and to prepare the test bed environment for the introduction of new biocomposite materials, that are currently under the development stage in the frame of LIFE BioTHOP project. Once the optimized material formulation, based on PLA and wasted hop fibres, will be confirmed, we will start with the pilot line production of bioplastic planters on this prototype tool. The planting pots will be primarily applied for the cultivation of hop seedlings, though after the certified standards on biocompostability validation, these products will be suitable also for all related application fields in horticultural and agricultural industry.
In addition, we managed to include in this preliminary trial study another interesting project that is also a part of LIFE environmental program. It is a LIFE Citruspack, under which the development of a variety of biocomposite materials is taking place, and are based on PLA bioplastic and citrus fibres, coming as by-products of citrus juice production. TECOS, which also acts as a partner in this project, has implemented the first replicative project on introducing the CitrusPLA materials in new sectoral products. To this end, we have produced a limited series of Citruspack planters and confirmed the potential for using these materials also in the horticultural and agricultural production sectors.
