Innovate for Good
Protect people and the planet
Enabling a circular economy
Acting on climate
High Speed Productivity Improvements with Sustainability at the Core
DuPont partnered with Regina, a manufacturer of conveyor belts, to effectively innovate from concept, to prototype, to final product a new grade of Delrin® Renewable Attributed homopolymer that meets their evolving customer needs and global trends.
Conveyor belts typically collect dust and require the need for external lubricants, which requires additional materials, labor and water. DuPont’s partnership with Regina identified several unique design challenges that the new product meets with high impact on sustainable criteria like reduced embodied carbon footprint, renewable feedstock and International Sustainability and Carbon Certification.
Bottling manufacturers have sought to move to dry running conveyors in order to enable the line to operate smoothly without the need for external lubricants that attract dust and require periodic wash off. These issues cause interruptions to productivity and require additional labor, materials and water. The cleaning process also generates wastewater that requires proper disposal.
While dry running can minimize or eliminate dust, periodic sanitizing is still required. Additionally, the conveyors require a material with slip properties that can ensure a low coefficient of friction (COF) that remains constant over time.
DuPont and Regina worked closely from design through prototyping to create the Regina e-F.A.S.T. (ecological friction abating sliding thermoplastic) material, a new, custom-colored grade of DuPont Delrin® Renewable Attributed homopolymer with advanced slip technology.
With the elimination of external lubricants, conveyor line cleaning is only required for sanitation. DuPont customized it’s Delrin® Renewable Attributed grade for e-F.A.S.T material with a distinctive bright yellow color. The color helps Regina’s customers to quickly identify the need for sanitizing.
See video here
Testing has shown that Regina’s conveyor chains and belts made with this material can reduce energy consumption on a high-speed bottling line up to 40%, extend the useful life by up to 40% and lengthen time between line maintenance cycles.
The surface slip performance of this unique material allows bottles to move smoothly along the conveyor line to preserve the bottles’ clarity, haptic properties and shelf appeal.
To learn more about Delrin® RA and other DuPont material solutions: https://www.dupont.com/brands/delrin/delrin-renewable-attributed.html
Innovate for good stories
DuPont™ Pyralux® Enables 5G Connectivity
Compared to traditional antenna materials, the superior performance of DuPont Pyralux® improves as frequencies increase, enabling telecommunications innovations to advance a connected society.
DuPont™ Pyralux® Enables 5G Connectivity
Read Story
Safer Homes By Sharing Technology
BLUEDGE™ Polymeric Flame Retardant Technology eliminates the use of hazardous flame retardants with one that has inherently low toxicity, delivers required performance and is economically viable.
Safer Homes By Sharing Technology
Read Story
Energy Efficient HP Computing
DuPont materials for advanced chip fabrication enable faster and more complex computing for smartphones and other electronic devices, while consuming less power per bit.
Energy Efficient HP Computing
Read Story
Advancing Global Desalination Efforts
Sorek B, which leverages DuPont FilmTec™ membranes, will increase Israel's desalination capacity by 35% and set a new benchmark for efficiency, sustainability and a record low price of water through desalination.
Advancing Global Desalination Efforts
Read Story
Redesigning Healthcare Packaging
Reduction of packaging waste is an increasingly important topic for the healthcare industry as it seeks to achieve a circular economy. Packaging for IV sets presents a unique design challenge because of the variety of structural components, the durability required and the need for more sustainable options.
Redesigning Healthcare Packaging
Read Story
Safer Byproduct Leads to Circular Opportunity
In 2021, in line with our Innovating Safer by Design and Enabling a Circular Economy objectives, the Asia CMP Center implemented a strategy to reduce its production of halogen waste by selecting raw materials with a less hazardous chemical profile, and cooperating with local recycling technology companies to reuse, recycle, and regenerate the byproduct.
Safer Byproduct Leads to Circular Opportunity
Read Story
Reducing Operational Failures in Water Treatment
Reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment systems provide the finest levels of pressurized crossflow filtration but can require a significant amount of cleaning to combat biofouling that results in operational challenges. Biofouling is the deposition of micro- and macro-organisms on industrial cooling equipment. Unchecked, biofouling causes significant operational and economic problems.
Reducing Operational Failures in Water Treatment
Read Story
High Speed Productivity Improvements
Moving to a “dry” running conveyor belt system in the bottling industry will reduce maintenance down time and amount of wastewater than requires proper disposal. DuPont and Regina have developed an innovative conveyor solution that reduces energy consumption and extends useful life.