Key takeaway
Sonic air knife systems provide guaranteed drying through molding and bonding stages of plastic and rubber production, including steel cord and tire component drying.
Plastic, Rubber, Film, and Foil
Guaranteed drying through molding, bonding, and cooling, without slowing the line
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Application brief
Air Knife Drying and Cooling Systems for Plastic, Rubber, Film, and Foil Manufacturing
Plastic and rubber production runs through a lot of water. Molding, bonding, cooling troughs, quench tanks: all of it works, and all of it leaves moisture behind at exactly the stage where the product can least afford it. Compound plastic strands that are still wet going into pelletizing create a host of quality and production issues. A tire tread or sidewall with surface moisture ahead of bonding turns into a defect downstream. Film and foil that pick up static or debris after slitting carry that straight into the next converting step. Compressed air and extended dwell time have traditionally covered the gap, at the cost of energy, floor space, and line speed.
Sonic Air Systems engineers air knife systems and centrifugal blower systems built specifically for plastic, rubber, film, and foil production, from extrusion through final cooling to debris blow off with static neutralizing. Our air knife systems support guaranteed drying through the molding and bonding stages, and extend to steel cord drying and other rubber components used in tire and belt manufacturing. For products that need cooling rather than just drying, Sonic's COOL-AIR™ system delivers up to 5 times the air volume of compressed air at roughly 75% less horsepower, making it a practical alternative to water-based cooling wherever a water bath would otherwise be the default. When a web has statically charged particles on it, Sonic's Ion-Air Knife removes debris and static at the same time.
- the air volume of compressed air
- Up to 5x
- less horsepower than compressed air
- 75%
- dual air knife exit velocity
- 30,000 FPM
Process requirements
Key Takeaways
Key takeaway
Sonic's COOL-AIR™ system delivers up to 5 times the air volume of compressed air at roughly 75% less horsepower, offering an efficient alternative to stripping cooling water from all products.
Key takeaway
A dual air knife system removed all visible rinse water from tire tread moving at 100 FPM (0.51 m/s) with zero pattern left on the rubber surface, eliminating moisture-based defects.
Key takeaway
A custom portable strand dryer solved a moisture problem that two pre-existing blowers and compressed air could not, on plastic strands as thin as 0.125" (0.32 cm) moving at 200 FPM (1 m/s).
Key takeaway
Every system is powered by a dedicated centrifugal blower, replacing multiple compressed air nozzles and the plant air demand that comes with them.
Engineering detail
Sonic Provides Drying and Cooling Solutions For:
- Extruded slabs
- Extruded profiles
- Cast treads
- Side walls
- Re-treading
- Tire
- Plastic sheets
- Plastic strands
- Recycled plastic
- Rubber
- Membranes
System requirements
Engineered to Replace Water Cooling and Compressed Air
Sonic's air knife systems support guaranteed drying through molding and bonding stages, using a single centrifugal blower to deliver uniform, non-contact laminar airflow instead of a bank of fixed compressed air nozzles. Where the process calls for air quenching instead of water cooling, the Sonic Cool Air Knife System delivers up to 5 times the air volume of compressed air at roughly 75% less horsepower, as a practical substitute for water cooling on rubber compounds where a bath or spray system would otherwise compromise the finished product.
Non-contact drying matters just as much as horsepower here. A compressed air nozzle striking a tread, sheet, or film at close range can leave a mark or pattern on the surface, which is a defect on any product headed into a visible or bonded application. An engineered air knife 's laminar flow spreads that same air velocity evenly across the full width of the product, so the surface comes out clean and unmarked at full line speed.
Production proof
Verified Applications
Verified application
Zero-Pattern Tire Tread Drying at 100 FPM: Bridgestone/Firestone
Bridgestone/Firestone needed to remove all visible rinse water from both the top and bottom of a half-inch-thick, nine-inch-wide tire tread moving at roughly 100 FPM (0.51 m/s), without leaving any pattern on the rubber surface. Compressed air, large-volume fans, and an in-house air knife design had all fallen short. Sonic's solution paired a 10 HP (7.5 kW) blower with dual air knives running above 30,000 FPM (152.4 m/s) exit velocity, one angled to direct water into a recovery channel, delivering laminar, oil-free airflow across the full tread. The system eliminated compressed air completely and has since been deployed across Bridgestone/Firestone plants in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil. Full details are in Sonic's published case study, Sonic Air Knife System for Tire Tread Drying at Bridgestone.
Verified application
Custom Strand Dryer Solves a Persistent PVC Drying Problem: Multibase Copley
Multibase Copley was drying PVC compound strands, no more than 0.125" (0.32 cm) in diameter, coming off a water cooling bath at 200 FPM (1 m/s) using two pre-existing blowers and compressed air, and still couldn't get the strands fully dry before pelletizing. Sonic built a custom, portable strand dryer around a single blower sized to the strand geometry, which broke the surface tension of the water film and removed the remaining moisture. The result: a more consistent, higher-quality PVC pellet and lower energy costs than the compressed air setup it replaced. Full details are in Sonic's published case study, Custom Plastic Strand Dryer Achieves Perfect PVC Drying.
Talk through the application
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