Pressure Decay Leak Testing
Various applications like plastic, blow molding, food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries require online leak testing. Leak detection of empty containers before the filling and sealing process is also essential step to assure complete container integrity. PTI’s VeriCon Series offers a complete line of leak tester configurations to accommodate various container specifications and application specific test performance using pressure decay leak testing method.
Principles of VeriCon Technology
VeriCon systems utilize either pressure decay or vacuum decay technology and a basic 3-step phase to each test cycle: Filling, Equalizing and Testing. Each VeriCon tester consists of either one or more testing stations (test heads). During the testing cycle, the container passes under the test head. During the filling stage, the container is filled with either pressure or for vacuum systems, a vacuum is pulled inside the container. The equalizing phase follows allowing either the pressure or vacuum to stabilize within the container. Then the amount of pressure or vacuum decay is monitored and measured during the test cycle which correlates to the presence of leaks within the container. The pass/fail result displays on the operator panel and the defective container is rejected from the line.
The specification of pressure or vacuum is determined by the type of container and leak size that must be detected. Typically plastic containers of most any size always use pressure decay. Vacuum decay technology is used when the characteristic of the container would make it difficult to detect the presence of a certain size leak using pressure technology.
All VeriCon systems utilize high resolution non-drifting transducers (either pressure transducers or vacuum transducers) for consistent leak detection. The number of transducers relates to the number of test stations/heads. VeriCon testers are available in one to four station configurations, depending on the line speed/hole size requirement.
Key Benefits of VeriCon
- Real time inspection data
- Reject statistics & test result trends
- Self-teach software
- Non-drift transducers for consistent leak detection
- Low false rejects
- Operator friendly
- 24/7 operation
- Increased productivity
- Reduced downtime
- Low maintenance