Tata Steel Nederland\u00a0has commissioned a new can making machine at its R&D facilities.\u00a0This state-of-the-art bodymaker\u00a0uses a dry forming process to produce food cans like those commonly found on supermarket shelves. It is faster than its predecessors and will be used to help further develop the latest technologies in packaging steel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a typical can making line, small steel cups are first punched out, then stretched to form the sides of the can. In conventional processes, this generates heat due to friction, requiring cooling water that must then be washed off the cans; an energy-and water-intensive process. Tata Steel\u2019s new line doesn\u2019t need any of that. Thanks to the use of\u00a0innovative Protact\u00a0steel and advanced internal cooling of the tooling, cans can now be formed in a dry process. This eliminates the need for emulsified water, reducing energy use and cutting the investment costs for customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protact is a polymer-coated steel that reduces friction during forming. \u201cThe polymer layer also ensures that the can meets all future food safety standards,\u201d said Hans van der Weijde<\/strong>, director of R&D at Tata Steel Nederland. \u201cThere\u2019s no need to apply a lacquer to the steel. While lacquer is still allowed under current regulations, we see a clear trend toward phasing out these chemical coatings. Lacquered cans also often contain tin. Protact allows for a shorter and cleaner production line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new line can produce up to 400 cans per minute \u2013 25% more than the industry standard of 320. The machine at Tata Steel serves as a proof of concept, where customers can see the dry forming process with Protact in action at full industrial speeds. \u201cThat collaboration with the customer is crucial,\u201d commented Joris Essing<\/strong>, marketing manager for packaging steel at Tata Steel Nederland. \u201cWe have the expertise in the dry process, but the customer has to make it work on their own production lines. We work closely together to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That collaboration has already delivered results in the packaging market. One example is\u00a0Tata Steel\u2019s partnership with Grupo Calvo, which led to the development of an innovative Protact tuna can. The polymer layer applied to the steel reduces the need for oil to keep the tuna fresh and make it easy to remove from the can. The packaging is also lighter, due to more efficient material use, which brings transport benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steel food cans offer several advantages; long shelf life even without refrigeration, reduced food waste, and excellent recyclability. Thanks to their magnetic properties, steel cans are relatively easy and cost-effective to separate from other waste streams. In the Netherlands, steel packaging such as cans for beans, corn, or fish, is the country\u2019s recycling champion. More than 95% of all steel packaging used in the Netherlands is recycled into new steel, making steel the most recycled packaging material.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tata Steel Nederland\u00a0has commissioned a new can making machine at its R&D facilities.\u00a0This state-of-the-art bodymaker\u00a0uses a dry forming process to produce food cans like those commonly found on supermarket shelves. It is faster than its predecessors and will be used to help further develop the latest technologies in packaging steel. In a typical can making<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[1429],"class_list":{"0":"post-17686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-international","8":"tag-tata-steel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17686"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17688,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17686\/revisions\/17688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}