Premium Vapor Polishing

In short

Premium Vapor Polishing – PVP for short – is a surface treatment developed for the food processing and machine building industries. These applications often need surfaces that are non-porous and easy to clean which can be achieved with PVP.

Finished your design? Make sure to check:

• Avoid straight corners, as solvent may accumulate and form ‘blisters’.

• Internal cavities <8mm, the treatment won’t reach those surfaces.
• Parts need to have an opening or eyelet that can be used for mounting.
• Make sure the part has proper drainage when hanging from the eyelet.
• Large flat surfaces tend to warp during the process.
• Moving parts may merge in the process, they should be processed separately.

About Premium Vapor Polishing

PVP is a chemical finishing process. In a multi-step process, the parts are covered with a solvent vapor. This causes the top layer of the surface to fuse, levelling it to a smooth surface.

To ensure that the vapor can access all surfaces, each part is hung in a basket carrier. For this purpose, mounting options in the form of an opening or eyelet on the part are needed. Ideally, the position of eyelet ensures an evenly transferring of the weight.

When determining the hanging orientation, the drainage of condensed vapor should also be considered. Fluid material should not be able to accumulate anywhere on the part.

Adding rounded edges to inner corners helps prevent the accumulation of the fluid.

The filled basket carrier is placed in the process chamber. The solvent vapor is generated in a distillation vessel. A vacuum condenses the vapor onto the part’s surfaces. After the treatment, the parts are vacuum dried to remove residual solvent.

The PVP treatment results in sealed surfaces on the in- and outside of the parts. Thus, greatly improving the cleanability and reducing of bacteria inhibition. The parts also have further improved airtightness and even increased mechanical properties. The surface finish is smooth and has a slight shine to it.

These benefits make PVP the ideal solution for food-contact or moving parts. The smooth surface will reduce friction between moving or sliding surfaces. PVP is also a great asset in medical applications or skin contact products.