Flame treatment of a substrate

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and system for controlling flame treatment of a substrate.

1 . A method for optimizing adhesion by controlling flame treatment of a substrate, said method comprising:
 controlling the mass flow of fuel and air fed to a burner;   acquiring radical emission data by monitoring radical emission emanating from a flame produced from the burner, using a flame analyzer;   processing the radical emission data;   comparing the acquired radical emission data with radical emission data from a database; and   outputting the result of the comparison.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the flame analyzer utilizes a non-invasive monitoring technique. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein outputting the result generates an error signal when the acquired radical emission data deviate from the radical emission data in the database. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising adjusting at least one of:
 the mass flow of fuel and/or air fed to the burner,   a relative angle between the burner and the substrate, and   the distance between the burner and the substrate.   when the acquired radical emission data deviate from the radical emission data in the database.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is paper, paperboard, carton or plastic film. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the radical emission is hydroxyl radical emission, NH radical emission, CN radical emission, CH radical emission and/or C2 radical emission. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the radical emission is hydroxyl radical emission. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the flame analyzer comprises a camera and a filter. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the camera is a camera having at least one image sensor that detects light in the ultraviolet (UV) range. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the camera is a charge coupled device (CCD) camera. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein a filter having a λmax at 310±5 nm, 340±5 nm, 390±5 nm, 430±5 nm, or 520±5 nm is used. 
     
     
         12 . A system for controlling flame treatment of a substrate, said system comprising:
 a burner, and   a flame analyzer comprising a camera and a filter,   wherein the flame analyzer is arranged to acquire radical emission data from a flame.   
     
     
         13 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the system further comprises a processing unit to which radical emission data acquired by the flame analyzer is transferred and compared with radical emission data from a database. 
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the processing unit that receives the data acquired by the flame analyzer is a unit integrated in the flame analyzer. 
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the system further comprises an output device. 
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the camera is a camera having at least one image sensor that detects light in the ultraviolet (UV) range. 
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the camera is a charge coupled device (CCD) camera. 
     
     
         18 . The system according to  claim 12 , comprising a filter having a λmax at 310±5 nm, 340±5 nm, 390±5 nm, 430±5 nm, or 520±5 nm. 
     
     
         19 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the filter has a λmax at 310±5 nm.