Aerosol leak detection as a process control tool

Over the last fifty years aerosols have developed from a cumbersome device used by the US military to combat deaths from insect borne diseases, to a multi-million dollar industry producing an incredible range of products and designs. To put this into perspective, around 50 million “Bug-Bombs” were made in World War Two compared to 5.6 billion filled in Europe in 2015.¹

Leakage can occur due to defective components and manufacturing issues, such as split gaskets in valves, pinholes in cans, moulding flash on valve components and clinch or crimp failures.

Aerosol manufacture is a complex process and creating a good seal between the canister and valve is critical. However, this depends on many factors:

1. Can quality – especially the can bead both in terms of dimensional consistency, but also smoothness and lack of damage.


2. Valve quality – valves are made up of multiple components that are made from different materials and are made at high speed.


3. Clinch parameters – these need to be optimised and tightly controlled, usually to +/-0.005 inch.


4. Filling process...
   
   
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