Molded Pulp Engineering Solutions and Machinery

Molded Pulp Engineering deals with the complete solutions from designing, development, testing, and production of sustainable and biodegradable Molded Fiber tableware.

Molded pulp engineering consists mainly of the process of enhancing the quality of the molded products by improving the pulp quality. The raw material used in molded pulp manufacturing is mainly sustainable, recyclable, and compostable fibers .

Molded pulp products or molded fiber products are mainly used for the safe packaging of the food items. The food packaging items such as containers, plates, cups, boxes, wraps, etc. are made from the molded pulp.

The molded pulp engineering describes the classification of the molded pulp products into the following types –

Thick wall: The wall thickness of this type of product ranges from 5 mm to 10 mm. The surface of the product that is in contact with the mold is relatively smooth, while the other side remains rough in texture. The raw material used for its manufacturing is typically kraft paper+recycled paper. It is mainly used for carrying or storing considerately heavier items.

Transfer molded: These types of molded pulp engineered products have thin walls of around 3 mm to 5 mm thickness. These products are manufactured using a forming mold or a transfer/take-off mold. These types of molded products have smooth surfaces on both sides with better dimensional accuracy.

Thermoformed (Thin Wall): In this type of molded pulp engineering, the product is high-quality with thin-walls of thickness around 2 mm to 4 mm. It has rigid surfaces, accurate and smooth dimensions. This type of engineered product generally appears like thermoformed plastic items.

Processed: The processed molded product requires more treatment like printing, coating, or adding additives.

Tools Used in Molded Pulp Engineering

The molding tool used in the manufacturing of molded pulp products consists of two halves. The first one half of the mold is dipped in the pulp slurry. The two halves are then matched and the pulp is compressed. The excess water is drained out of the mold. After the mold is ready, the compressed air is used to release the final product.

Important features of molding tools –

• It should be able to fulfill the desired geometry of the products
• It should provide the desired surface finish to the product
• It should sustain a higher number of stress cycles
• The tools should be developed of good quality material that is corrosion resistant
• The tool must be washed and cleaned regularly