Sonic Electrospinning Machine – “The Iguana”
Sonic Electrospinning Machine
Our unique, custom-built electrospinning machine designed for nanofibre producer Revolution Fibres (now rebranded as NanoLayr) turns collagen from Hoki skins into a luxury skincare product to be sold internationally…
Do you need help with a unique challenge?
Challenge:
Complex, custom engineering is our specialty and when we were approached to do something that had never been done before – we were definitely excited!
It’s not often that we get to work on entirely new processing machinery for a revolutionary technology…but this was the brief from NanoLayr, a progressive company in nanofibre technology application, who required a customised machine to manufacture rolls of nanofibre utilising an electrospinning process.
Electrospinning is a method that takes a liquid solution (in this case Hoki skins) and turns it in to nanoscopic fibre using high voltage electric force.
Stafford Engineering met the requirement to design and build an electrospinning machine from the ground up; developing a full end to end process solution for NanoLayr, from concept design through to build, test, install and commission.
With more than 9,000 components spanning some 7 metres in length, the turnkey machine solution – nicknamed “The Iguana” – is testament to Stafford’s design ingenuity, focus on practical constructability and custom engineering capability.
Outcome:
The Iguana has enabled Nanolayr to fulfil its mission of “Nanofibre manufacturing on a huge scale.”
The company has been able to significantly increase its production output, and scale for future growth – not only in the manufacture of nanofibre sheet for the beauty and skincare industry, but for other applications including air filtration, acoustics soundproofing and high performing composites.
Since the commissioning of the original Iguana in 2018, Stafford Engineering has since successfully partnered with NanoLayr to deliver more than 6 additional machines.
Industry:
- Health and wellbeing products
- Nanofibre technology application
Solutions:
- CAD Design
- Automation
- On-site installation/commissioning
- Project management
- Stainless steel fabrication
- Structural certification
- Turnkey operation
“Our trust in Stafford means we can continue to grow our manufacturing operations in NZ with confidence.”
“We have huge input into the design and know the output will be professional and built-to-last.”