EconCore and its daughter company ThermHex Waben will be showing how honeycomb sandwich panels and parts can be produced through their patented continuous production process and from recycled materials.
This patented process makes honeycomb sandwich panels more sustainable compared to monolithic material or other sandwich panel alternatives. Unlike monolithic panels, the honeycomb sandwich panels and parts require less raw material and lower energy for production.
Ensuring that the whole production process has significantly lower CO2 emissions which has many advantages for the customers. The environmental benefits flow into different applications such as prefabricated bathrooms, automotive parts, furniture, solar and wind energy, and many others.
EconCore’s sandwich panel technology delivers greatly enhanced performance across many industries, for example in transportation segment where weight reduction is translated into energy and fuel savings as well as into reduction of CO2 emissions.
One specific example being polypropylene honeycomb-based panels in camper and delivery vans can save up to 80% of weight compared to the alternative material, with none of the severe operational or maintenance problems due to rain.
Recently EconCore has invested in a new industrial line for large scale development and production of recycled PET (RPET) and High Performance Thermoplastic (HPT) honeycombs.
These solutions not only provide excellent positioning with regards to life cycle assessment and carbon footprint but also address the functional needs of different applications (e.g. fire safety in mass transportation or short cycle convertibility though compression moulding).
Both the RPET and HPT honeycomb technology will be showcased at the Greener Manufacturing Show on stand 516.
With the RPET honeycomb core, EconCore and ThermHex see opportunities in many applications, including the automotive market. On the other hand, the HPT honeycomb products fit to somewhat higher end applications where special performance characteristics are needed such as heat resistance or fire safety.
For large volume applications, EconCore’s patented process of production of lightweight honeycomb sandwich panels is available for licensing. Thermhex Waben’s patented honeycomb material and technology of folded honeycomb from a continuous thermoplastic sheet enables the cost-efficient production of honeycomb cores from a wide range of thermoplastic polymers.
