Vaporizer System for Glass Surface Treatment

The application of paint or labels to surfaces can be trickier than one would expect. Just as in applying paint to a wall in one’s home, if the surface is not properly prepared the result will be less than perfect. A leading manufacturer of glass coating equipment was looking for a way to improve their coating process and increase their competitive advantage.

The process involves driving HMDSO (Hexamethyldisiloxane) vapour through a flame for surface treatment of glass. The end result is obtaining a hard SiOx-like (Silicone Oxide) thin film leading to a more wettable surface prior to painting or labeling. Initially the customer had tried using a syphon tube in the liquid HMDSO source that sucked up liquid into the fuel stream and into the burner. This was unsuccessful as it resulted in a very unreliable liquid flow because liquid draw was based on gas velocity. Next, the customer tried using a bubbler system. With the bubbler the customer found that the vaporization changed with bubbler liquid depth, delta P, temperature, and other uncontrollable factors. Also, neither of these two processes provided recordable data feedback, so variations in surface treatment could only be detected at final product QC.