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Cold Seal vs. Hot Seal Flow Wrapping
Thomas Czioska, Head of Sales & Marketing, and Christoph Recher, Sales Manager, of LoeschPack explain flow wrapper sealing. Sealing problems usually come from the sealing jaws, the knife or the film. In chocolate, 90% or more uses cold seal films; hot seal is typically used for hermetic sealing and averages around 40 to 50 film meters per minute, while LoeschPack can run cold seal up to 205 meters per minute, which Tom Rougeux called a fivefold increase.
Key takeaways
- Thomas Czioska says flow wrapper sealing problems normally come from the sealing jaws, the knife or the film, including switching to a different multiple-layer film.
- In chocolate, 90% or more runs on cold seal films; hot seal is typically chosen where hermetic sealing is needed, such as for pharmaceutical products or gas-flushed meat.
- Hot seal typically averages around 40 to 50 film meters per minute, while LoeschPack can run cold seal up to 205 meters per minute, a fivefold increase as Tom Rougeux put it; Christoph Recher says hot seal machines are more expensive and more complex.
Common questions
- Why is my flow wrapper not sealing correctly?
- According to Thomas Czioska of LoeschPack, sealing problems normally come from the sealing jaws or the knife, or from the quality of the film itself. Problems can also arise when a line switches to a different film than it used in the beginning, such as a multiple-layer film.
- What is the difference between cold seal and hot seal flow wrapping?
- Thomas Czioska of LoeschPack explains that cold seal films do not need temperature and can run at very high speeds; 90% or more of chocolate uses cold seal. Hot seal needs suitable film layers, is slower and is typically chosen where hermetic sealing is needed, as in pharmaceutical products. Christoph Recher adds that hot seal machines are more expensive to produce, run and maintain, and more complex than cold sealing.
- How fast can a cold seal flow wrapper run compared with hot seal?
- According to Thomas Czioska of LoeschPack, hot seal typically averages around 40 to 50 film meters per minute, although high-quality films can run faster. With cold seal, LoeschPack is able to go up to 205 meters per minute. Tom Rougeux called that "a fivefold increase," and Czioska agreed.
Transcript
Tom Rougeux, President, Piepenbrock Packaging
So one of the questions that a packaging engineer might have that has an existing piece of equipment is why the flow wrapper that they have might not be sealing correctly. Can you talk to us about some of the variables that go into correct sealing on a flow wrapper?
Thomas Czioska, Head of Sales & Marketing, LoeschPack
If you're facing problems with the sealing, it normally has something to do with the sealing jaws or with the knife. I would say these are the most typical things. Or the quality of the film itself.
Sometimes it really struggles because they're using different films, what they didn't use in the beginning, with a multiple layer as an example. Then it also can get complicated then.
Tom Rougeux
So how does time, pressure, and heat affect a seal and the speed of the equipment?
Christoph Recher, Sales Manager, LoeschPack
Well, in the end, you have to match the perfect amount of heat at the right amount of time and the right amount of pressure. Everything influences each other, and it's a lot of experience that goes into that to have the perfect sealing in the end.
Thomas Czioska
It's only, we're talking about heat sealing right now.
Tom Rougeux
I don't know.
Christoph Recher
Yeah, we do.
Thomas Czioska
So I would say in the chocolate area, 90% or even more are on cold seal films. They do not have temperature, so it doesn't matter to the temperature of the part. It's more important for pharmaceutical products, as an example, because they have to have a hermetic sealing, and then it's getting to hot seal.
Tom Rougeux
So tell us the difference between hot sealing and cold sealing.
Thomas Czioska
Hot sealing is, you cannot use hot sealing with every packaging material. We need different layers normally. Hot seal is for pharmaceutical industry.
Typically in pharmaceutical industry, because of the hermetic sealing, they want to have it. Hot seal is always slower in speed. If you're talking about cold sealing, cold seal is really on, you can really go on very high speeds.
Tom Rougeux
And what's a high speed and a low speed?
Thomas Czioska
So low speed would be typically in hot sealing, it's around 40 film meters, something like that. You always can get also high quality films. They can go on higher speed, but typically in an average, I would say it's something around 40 to 50 film meters per minute.
And if you're talking about cold seal, you can go up to, in our case, we are able to go up to 205 meter per minute.
Tom Rougeux
So that's a fivefold increase in time.
Thomas Czioska
Yes.
Tom Rougeux
Okay. So would it be fair to say that hot sealing is more expensive than cold sealing, or is it the other way around?
Christoph Recher
Of course, hot sealing is more expensive, because the machine itself is more expensive.
Tom Rougeux
To produce and to run and to maintain, or?
Christoph Recher
All of that, yes.
Tom Rougeux
Okay.
Christoph Recher
It's more complex than cold sealing.
Tom Rougeux
So a cold sealing machine is faster and less expensive, but it's not good for everything, including things like medical use. Is that right? Because of the hermetic seal.
Christoph Recher
As an example, or if you have a product that requires hermetically sealed or hermetically sealing, like for example, if you pack meat that has been gas flushed, then you of course need hermetically sealing.
