The Production Process of Sugarcane Bagasse Tableware

Today, let's explore the production process of environmentally friendly sugarcane bagasse tableware.

Pulping and Blending
First, we mix food packaging standard-compliant pulp (straw pulp and wood pulp) in a certain ratio and put it into a hydraulic pulper to break it down. After screening, desanding, purification, and pulping, we get raw pulp with a weight percentage of 3%. Then, we use a slurry pump to transfer the slurry to the pulping tank. According to needs, we add fillers, additives, water, and so on in a specific order to the pulping tank and stir well to make a mixed liquid with a weight percentage of 0.5% to 1.0% for molding. The adjusted slurry meets both the performance requirements of tableware and the molding requirements. That means the slurry can be deposited evenly on the mesh model quickly, and it should shrink little when drying.

Molding
Molding is a crucial step in making pulp molded tableware. It has a big impact on the quality, breakage rate, production energy consumption, and efficiency of tableware. There are mainly two molding methods for pulp molded disposable tableware: in-mold grouting extrusion molding and out-of-mold vacuum adsorption molding. Both work by making the pulp flow through the mesh mold to filter out water and leave the fibers on the mold to form a semi-wet product with a certain shape. The Xincheng Ecological Technology disposable environmentally friendly dinner plate project uses in-mold grouting extrusion molding. This method uses a certain amount of pulp to ensure product thickness and can save raw materials. However, it's not suitable for making larger cups and bowls. To improve molding quality, we need high-quality raw pulp and a proper molding method. Also, the molding machine design must ensure safe pulp supply, minimize returned pulp, and avoid pulp leakage. The mold design and processing must have good water permeability and uniform dewatering.

Hot Pressing, Shaping and Die Cutting
To get rid of the mesh marks from molding, fix deformation from drying, add text and patterns to the surface, and cut off burrs at the edges, we need to shape and die cut the tableware. This makes the tableware clean and beautiful, with stable size and shape and smooth inner and outer surfaces. For shaping and die cutting, the moisture content of tableware should be controlled between 25% and 30%. But it's hard to control the moisture content precisely before shaping, so we often use a shaping mold like a spray iron. This mold has spray holes where the product needs to be deformed. During operation, water vapor sprays through these holes to moisten the tableware, and then heating and pressing with the mold complete the shaping.

Sterilization and Packaging
There are three common sterilization methods for pulp molded disposable tableware: ozone sterilization, ultraviolet irradiation sterilization, and high-temperature tunnel sterilization. Generally, bulk pulp molded tableware has two layers of packaging. The inner packaging material must be clean, non-toxic, odorless, dust-proof, and waterproof (usually plastic packaging with a sealed seal). The outer packaging should be dust-proof, moisture-proof, and have a certain compressive strength. The entire packaging process must ensure the tableware is clean and hygienic and the packaging quantity is accurate.

The above is the entire production process of sugarcane bagasse tableware. Due to the application of mechanization by Sincere Eco Tech, there are very few workers in the production process. This also ensures the perfection of the produced products and greatly reduces the defect rate. If you have any questions about bagasse tableware, please feel free to contact me. I will be very happy to answer your questions.