Henniker launches Altus for in-line plasma treatment

Henniker Plasma has launched Altus, a new multi-nozzle atmospheric plasma treatment system designed for direct integration into manufacturing lines, with the aim of increasing throughput and reducing cycle times in bonding, coating and surface-preparation applications.

The system uses four to eight individually controllable nozzles, powered by a single controller, and can treat widths of up to 100 mm in one pass. Compared with a single nozzle requiring multiple sequential passes or a slow robotic raster, Altus can process a wider area or several components simultaneously.

Its modular architecture also allows the treatment of small localised areas, complex components with tight radii, or up to eight separate parts within the same production cycle.

Altus has been developed as an in-line component system rather than a stand-alone cell. The controller can be mounted alongside the production line, while the nozzle array is positioned over a moving substrate or indexed parts. The system can be driven directly by the line PLC through defined signals for on/off control, interlocks and error reporting.

According to Henniker Plasma, this architecture turns plasma surface treatment into a controlled and synchronised manufacturing step, able to operate in step with conveyor motion, web speed or part indexing.

The system runs on compressed air and can replace solvents and chemical primers in selected applications. It can be used on a range of materials including polymers, metals, composites, glass and ceramics.

In tests carried out at Henniker’s surface laboratory, atmospheric plasma treatment reduced the water contact angle on PET from 83.8° to 20.6°, while increasing surface energy from 43.2 to 74.5 mN/m. The result is a significant immediate improvement in wettability and adhesion performance.

Target applications include structural bonding for batteries and EVs, mould-release removal in aerospace and composites, automotive bonding, sealing and coating lines, as well as medical-device assembly and lamination processes.

With Altus, Henniker expands its atmospheric plasma portfolio alongside Cirrus, Nimbus and Stratus, covering applications from single-nozzle treatment to high-throughput industrial production arrays.