machinery feature | laboratory compounders
will examine advanced sandwich structures using foamed cores. Comac has also introduced a 30-mm twin-screw
machine and the ZE 40 uTX production-scale line. The company says that the new model provides a cost-effective and versatile solution for
Berstorff’s ZE 30 UTX compounder forms part of its lab-scale Schaumtandex line for foamed sheets
laboratory applications, recipe development and produc- tion processes with output rates from 30 to 250 kg/h. The ZE 30 uTX is available in a short version for
various homogenizing applications, as well as in very long variants for special tasks requiring side feeders, degassing vents and injection nozzles. it is also offered with the option of an ultraglide travelling unit for rapidly moving the melt-filled extruder screws backwards out of the stationary processing section. This allows quick and accurate evaluation of the compounding process, zone- by-zone. in addition, it delivers considerable time savings for cleaning and screw modification. Two different od/id ratios are offered. The A series
has 1.46 od/id for high energy input, high shear and high torque, while the r series has an od/id ratio of 1.74 for high volume compounding applications involving materials with low bulk densities or applications requiring low energy input or long residence times. The ZE 30 uTX is also being used as a key part of
Kraussmaffei Berstorff’s ZE 30/KE 60 laboratory-scale Schaumtandex line for the physical foaming of plastics with environmentally compatible blowing agents. in this line, it is coupled with a KE 60 single-screw extruder which cools the melt and extrudes through a slot die to produce expanded plastic sheets with widths up to 300 mm and thicknesses up to 60 mm. The first ZE 30/KE 60 Schaumtandex line was
ordered in August this year by the Fraunhofer institute for chemical Technology in pfinztal, germany. it will use the equipment for developing foamed biopolymers as well as expanded engineering plastics for insulation and lightweight construction applications. in addition, it
24 compounding world | december 2011
extruder that can be used as a lab line or for pilot-scale production. “For labs that want to run pilot-scale or small production-level rates, our standard 25-mm diameter lab line is sometimes not quite big enough, but they do not want to go all the way to a 40-mm extruder, which is our smallest industrial-size machine. The new 30-mm meets this intermediate need,” explains Alberto lorioli, export manager at comac. All lab and industrial-sized machines are available in standard and high-volume versions. Steer recently updated its smallest laboratory twin-
screw extruder, the o-micron 12mm TSE. The improved version features a segmented barrel or clam-shell design for easy access and cleaning, a new pedestal-mounted control screen, improved heating capability, and options to sustain higher system pressures, reports robert roden, technology manager at Steer America. “Flexibility to perform many functions and to be easily reconfigured is important for lab extruders,” comments roden, noting that Steer uses swing-away die heads to reduce turn- around time, and puts all controls and instrumentation on-board the lab extruder to improve mobility. roden adds that improving the conveying capacity of
feed elements is often difficult in small laboratory extruders, especially when feeding low bulk density ma- terials, but that Steer’s proprietary “shovel” elements can help with difficult-to-feed materials. Steer recently introduced a three-lobe shovel element that can be used on laboratory or production-scale lines. Steer side feeders currently use high volume conveying elements to increase feeding capacity, and the company is exploring ways to further increase capacity using shovel elements. in addition, oversized side feeders are available, and barrel sections can be made with two side feeders at one barrel location to assist in feeding high volumes of low bulk density materials. Steer also recently introduced the “lab plus” single-
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