55Glass-Technology International 5/2015

L A M I N A T I N G G L A S S

Hornos Pujol:

breaking barriers; making radical

changesPujol, with its 17 laminated glass plants successfully installed in different parts of the world and, moreover, the only manufacturer currently able to produce an EVA film with better performance than that of PVB, speaks about its most recent developments.

The laminated glass market is undergoing a change that will hold

its ground thanks to recent progress made by Hornos Pujol, with its new product Evalam Visual, which is the perfect substitute of PVB in laminated glass. This is corroborated by a number of forums that de-fend this data, and the num-ber of architects beginning to use EVA for their most important projects.While it is accepted that EVA was an expensive material but with higher quality in terms of moisture resistance, better fluidity for decorati-ve interlayer insertions and higher adhesion, resulting in fewer delamination pro-blems, the fact remains that to start a revolution in the laminate market, Pujol had to develop two points that converged over time, leading to the present success. On the one hand, a material (Evalam Visual) which pro-vides technical advantages over PVB in terms of tran-

sparency, acoustics, dela-mination, durability and resistance at the same cost as PVB and, on the other hand, a new process with higher production capa-city compared to an auto- clave, with three-times lo-wer investment and lower production and maintenan-ce costs. All this results in a lower cost per unit output of laminated glass, with the Automatic EVA Fast Curing Plant.

EVALAM VISUALEvalam Visual is manufac-tured in Europe and is the only film that has, so far, been able to obtain values of transparency better than those achieved by PVB with 0.38mm of thickness.Its adhesion is three times higher than PVB, which, together with resistance to moisture with open edge and high crosslink, makes it thermally and mecha-nically steady over time, obtaining an ideal product for laminated tempered

L A M I N A T I N G G L A S S

56 Glass-Technology International 5/2015

glasses with high added va-lue. Its durability over time is enhanced by increasing the lifecycle of the material used for laminated glass by obtaining 100 per cent UV filtering to 380nm wave parameters. Moreover, Eva-lam Visual is an acoustic material, obtaining much hi-gher values than those achie-ved by standard PVB. These values, combined with its high resistance, are the re-asons why Evalam Visual is considered a major techni-cal material over PVB.

Ideal for glass façades

The average temperature of façades in summer is about 40-60°C. Evalam Visual has a Tg of -18°C while that of PVB is 39°C. Tg is the transi-tion temperature (solid-solid) at which a sharp change of the physical and mechanical material properties occurs due to molecular change that affects the rigidity of the car-bon chains, which, in turn, affect the polymer. When the polymer is cooled below that temperature, it becomes stiff and hard. Above this tempe-rature it is soft and gummy.

Therefore all the certifica-tes passed by Evalam Visual have been passed at a tem-perature above its Tg -18°C (as always), and the product therefore does not suffer any changes due to temperatu-re variations. On the other hand, the total loss of PVB adhesion above 39°C is easy to see.

Best for balustrades Its higher resistance to hu-midity with open edge glas-ses makes its use unquestio-nable to avoid well-known delamination problems that occur if laminating with PVB. Perfect for hot and cold environments: with an 87 per cent Crosslink, Eva-lam Visual is a thermo-stable material both thermally and mechanically, which makes it a suitable product for hot-cold environments, as well as applications subject to mechanical stress such as doors, stairs and façades.

AUTOMATIC EVA FAST CURING PLANTThe new Automatic EVA Fast Curing Plant consists of an automatic production

line and a high-speed con-vection furnace to laminate with EVA. This Fast Curing Plant has been developed by Pujol to automate the manufacture of laminated glass with EVA, reducing manufacturing costs and increasing the quality of the laminated glass, obtaining high productions rates.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES VERSUS TRADITIONAL AUTOCLAVE SYSTEMS

Reduction of energy consumption

The elements that produ-ce greater energy expense

compared to a traditional autoclave plant are the white chamber with dehumidifier and the climate control sy-stem, along with the nipper roll oven of the pre-pressing process. In an Automatic EVA Fast Curing Plant, these elements are not necessary, thus si-gnificantly reducing energy consumption dramatically decreasing the production cost of laminated glass. This can be seen especially for those related to having the white chamber running to keep storage conditions of PVB film 24 hours/day – 365 days/year.

Reduction in investment

The investment in an Au-tomatic EVA Fast Curing Plant compared to an auto-

compared to a traditionalautoclave plant are the whitechamber with dehumidifier

clave plant becomes 25 per cent of the latter, making the cost of amortization chargeable for a square me-ter much lower.This factor, together with energy consumption and man labour, determines a faster or smaller cost price to amortize the plant.In an autoclave laminated plant, these factors are hi-ghly impaired by having an energy maintenance cost that increases on reduction of expected demand.Its lower investment is mainly determined by:

no need to control hu-midity and climate con-ditions to store and pro-cess PVB;no nipper roll oven;No investment in big transformers due to re-duction in the required installed power;not need to perform im-portant civil works to fit the plant in existing fac-tories;

reduction of the total space required.

Reduced number of layers in tempered glass

Thanks to the pressure of the vacuum bag applied on the glass edges, and the control that can be exerted on it; the number of lay-ers in laminated tempered glass can be reduced using a thickness of only 0.76mm compared to 1.52mm using in traditional autoclave sy-stems. This, in turn, redu-ces losses caused by roller wave and edge bending of tempered glass that cannot be prevented even in the nipper roll or with manual edge clamping in autocla-ves. Moreover, these can also create punctual distor-tions when they are used to minimize losses for roller wave deviations between glasses.

Improved service

In order to be profitable, an autoclave plant must have a minimum annual de-mand of around 200,000

square metres of lamina-ted glass. Currently, many of them do not work every day, causing problems and time to fill them up, ma-king them the consumer’s last choice.With the Pujol-EVA Au-tomatic EVA Fast Curing Plant this problem has been solved as it is able to pro-duce both large and small production batches at sta-ble energy costs, which allows machine downtime and service to customers regardless of demand. Thus excellent and flexible customer service can be provided daily.

High production levels

The new Pujol Automatic EVA Fast Curing Plant is able to manufacture profi-tably from 50 square me-tres per day to over 1,000 square metres per day, de-pending on the size and ca-pacity of the furnace, adap-ting to the peak demand for projects currently exi-sting in the market.In conclusion, we can confirm that Pujol, with its latest developments, makes Evalam Visual

and the Automatic EVA Fast Curing Plant the most reliable and cost-effective option for the production of laminated glass, remai-ning at the forefront of new laminating developments with:

better quality of lamina-ted glass;lower production and maintenance costs;increased production flexibility adapted to de-mand;quick response to end customers due to shorter service time;market diversification.

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C. Del Plà, N° 108-110Pol. Ind. “El Pla”08980 Sant Feliu de llobregat (Barcelona) SpainTel: +34 – 93 – 6855672Fax: +34 – 93 – 6855392E-mail: hipujol@hornospujol.comwww.hornospujol.com

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