The green development path and industry practice of knife plate spring pads
Under the guidance of the "dual carbon" goals, green manufacturing has become the mainstream of development in all industries. The knife plate spring pad industry is also facing the transformation demands of environmentally friendly materials, low-carbon production, and resource recycling. Green development is not only an inevitable choice in response to policy guidance, but also a key path for enterprises to enhance their core competitiveness and meet the environmental protection requirements of downstream industries. Currently, the industry has formed a full-chain green transformation practice covering "material research and development - production process - recycling and utilization".
The greening of materials is the core of the green development of knife plate spring pads, with a focus on the research and application of environmentally friendly materials. The traditional materials of spring pads are mostly petroleum-based polyurethane and ordinary rubber. During the production process, pollutants are easily generated, and the used spring pads are difficult to degrade, which can easily cause environmental pressure. At present, the industry has developed bio-based polyurethane elastic pads, which use renewable biomass such as straw and starch as raw materials to replace traditional petroleum-based raw materials. This not only reduces the reliance on fossil resources but also enhances the degradability of the product. The used elastic pads can gradually degrade in the natural environment, reducing environmental pollution. In addition, environmentally friendly products such as degradable rubber elastic pads and halogen-free low-VOC elastic pads are gradually becoming popular. These elastic pads do not emit any harmful gases during the production process and can be recycled through professional treatment after use, meeting the environmental protection requirements of industries such as food packaging, medical supplies, and children's products.
Low-carbonization of production processes is an important link in reducing carbon emissions in industries. The traditional molding and casting processes used in the production of elastic pads consume a lot of energy and are prone to generating wastewater and waste gas. The industry achieves low-carbon transformation through technological upgrading: adopting energy-saving production equipment to reduce energy consumption during the production process; Introduce a closed-loop production system to treat and recycle the wastewater and waste gas generated during the production process, reducing pollutant emissions. Optimize the production process, reduce the waste of raw materials and improve the utilization rate of resources. For instance, some enterprises have adopted precise casting techniques, optimizing casting parameters through computer simulation, which has increased the utilization rate of raw materials to over 95% and reduced energy consumption by approximately 30%, achieving low-carbonization in the production process.
The construction of a recycling and utilization system can achieve resource recycling and enhance the green development level of the industry. At present, the recycling and utilization of used knife plate spring pads mainly fall into two categories: one is physical recycling, where used polyurethane spring pads are crushed and ground and then added as fillers to new materials for the production of low-precision knife plate spring pads or other rubber products, achieving resource reuse. The second is chemical recycling, which involves decomposing used elastic pads into basic raw materials through depolymerization reactions and reusing them to produce new elastic pad materials, thus achieving a closed-loop cycle. Some leading enterprises in certain industries have established recycling channels for used elastic pads, providing recycling services for downstream enterprises. At the same time, they have collaborated with research institutions to optimize the recycling process, enhance the recycling efficiency and product conversion rate. In addition, industry associations are promoting the establishment of unified standards for the recycling of used elastic pads, standardizing the recycling process, and facilitating the large-scale and standardized development of the recycling industry.
In the future, the green development of the knife plate spring pad industry will be further deepened. On the one hand, it will accelerate the iterative upgrading of environmentally friendly materials to enhance the balance between product performance and environmental friendliness. On the other hand, it will promote the improvement of the green certification system and achieve the standardization and normalization of green products. Meanwhile, efforts will be made to enhance cooperation among industry, academia and research institutions, overcome technical challenges in recycling and utilization, and build a green ecosystem covering the entire chain of "research and development - production - recycling" to facilitate the green transformation of the manufacturing industry.