machinery feature | Extruder developments Other features of the line include: enclosed,
ventilated and air-conditioned space; bump/taper tubing capabilities; the ability to process high-tempera- ture thermoplastics, including fluoropolymers, as well as common thermoplastics; mono- and co-extrusion capabilities; and desiccant drying capabilities, for up to three resins at once. Also in medical, the company’s dsX Med-Tube
line boasts a small footprint, high consistency and language-specific control. One of its main design advantages is a co-extruder arrangement for processing materials ranging from polypropylene (PP) to fluorinated ethylene polypropylene (FEP). The line includes a melt pump on each extruder for processing thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), nylons and other medical grade materials. “The initial response to the dsX Med-Tube line
Kappes Environ- ment Technology has used Krauss- Maffei co-extrusion equipment to make window profiles using a special WPC material
according to the level of the fault. Tube lengths can be automatically treated according
to the scrap management strategy in place, says the company.
Medical response Davis-Standard has initiated a new laboratory line at its
technical centre in Pawcatuck, USA to help customers develop new medical tubing concepts. The line, installed last spring, is engineered for development of small, tight tolerance tubing used in medical applica- tions. Customers are able to test new resins, make parts for proof-of-concept, and carry out downstream R&D before making a large investment in equipment. The line is housed in a dedicated, climate-controlled area, offering a clean room environment for trials. “There is significant growth and development in medi-
cal tubing applications. We want to ensure our custom- ers have the resources for success,” said Wendell Whipple, vice president of Davis-Standard’s pipe, profile and tubing group. “This line provides a fully equipped option to develop new products and test equipment.” The line features two direct drive
interchangeable-barrel MEDD extruders in 1in (25mm) and 0.75in (19mm) 24:1 L/D sizes, enabling a full range of product development opportunities. The MEDD is Davis-Standard’s premier com- pact extruder optimised for clean room environments with efficient operation and a replaceable feed section liner. The line incorporates the company’s patented alternate polymer process, with all components monitored and controlled by its Epic-III system.
18 PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | October 2014
has been positive,” said Whipple. An extra benefit is that customers can run trials on a
new line at the Davis-Standard (Suzhou) Plastic Packaging Machinery facility in Suzhou, China. The line provides regional access to dedicated medical tubing equipment for research and development, in addition to its facilities in Pawcatuck.
Window on China Elsewhere in China, KraussMaffei Berstorff and Greiner Extrusion have supplied equipment to Kappes Environment Technology (KET), to begin production of its Ecolife window profiles at a new plant in Bengbu, Anhui province.
KET was set up in Germany by Joerg Kappes and his Chinese wife, Hong Gao Kappes. In 2008, they received a patent on a new type of window profile technology that combines recycled materials, wood fibres and an alumi- nium support. Though it was mainly developed in Germany and Austria with a number of machinery partners, the company relocated to China. The raw material for the profiles – containing up to
50% wood-fibres, additives and a recycled polyolefin material partly extracted from household waste, such as shampoo bottles – is mixed on a modular compound- ing plant with the ZE 130 R twin-screw extruder. “Our modular plants are integrated into functional individual packages that only need to be connected to the mains, water supply and compressed air on site,” said Ralf Dahl, head of the twin-screw extruder product group at KraussMaffei Berstorff in Hanover. “For this project, we had two challenges: firstly, the plant is designed for a throughput of over 1500kg/h; and secondly, it has been
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