machinery feature | Extruder developments
Berstorff expand the high performance capacity of its products even further, by boosting throughput, temperature behaviour and the degree of homogenisa- tion of the polymers to be processed. At the recent Chinaplas exhibition, KraussMaffei
Berstorff presented a complete extrusion line to produce twin-strand PP-R pipes, at its plant in Haiyan. The line is based on a KME 60-30 B/R single-screw extruder, which was seen on the company’s stand. The extruder, which is made in China, has a newly devel- oped screw geometry and was used to make pipe of 20-40mm diameter at speeds up to 25m/min per strand and an axial distance of 450mm during the show. The core components of the line were the KME 75-30
KraussMaffei Berstorff used a single screw extruder and two co-extrud- ers to make pipe of 20-40mm diameter during
Chinaplas
Extrusion improvement KraussMaffei Berstorff will also use the results of experimental studies to improve the extrusion process, through a cooperation with the Institute for Polymer Extrusion and Compounding (IPEC), at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. The studies, carried out at IPEC, are concerned with
the plasticising unit of single-screw extruders in the area of polyolefin pipe extrusion for future industrial requirements. “We are looking forward to collaborating with a
renowned university with such a recognised name in the field of polymer research,” said Jens Liebhold, vice president of extrusion technology at KraussMaffei Berstorff. “This is as an important contribution to the expansion of our process knowledge when it comes to processing polyolefins. We will pay special attention to the advantages in the process behaviour of energy transfer screws.”
Liebhold said that the collaboration will help KM
B/R single-screw extruder, two KME 20-25 D/C co-ex- truders, for strip production, and two KM-RKW 32 pipe heads from the locally produced Performance series. “Economical production, high output and end
product quality have long been standard requirements in the mechanical engineering and system construction industry in China,” said Michael Hofhus, vice president of extrusion for the company in China. The company is also planning to highlight some of its
extrusion technologies at the forthcoming K2016 exhibition in Germany, with a focus on maximising overall equipment efficiency (OEE). “Only with a high level of OEE can our customers
achieve optimum results,” said Peter Roos, managing director of KraussMaffei Berstorff. One area that the company will highlight is using
extruder combinations to produce standard pipe products. “For the production of standard pipes, a performance
with consistently top product quality is the decisive factor for maintaining a competitive edge,” said Roos. The combination of two KMD 108-36 E2/R twin-
Energy efficiency in pipe production
UK-based pipe extruder Radius Systems has cut its energy use by around 15% after installing a new motor technology on a twin-screw extruder. The AC motor and drive technology has also led to reduced maintenance and a drop in motor noise.
Radius has 14 polyethylene pipe
extrusion lines at its plant in Derbyshire, making products ranging from 16 to 1200mm diameter. Eight lines were powered by DC motors, but one was failing regularly – so the DC motor was replaced by an ABB synchronous
14
reluctance motor and drive (SynRM) package. “Monitoring of the application is
critical to the success of any installation,” said Phil Nightingale, sales engineer at Inverter Drive Systems (IDS), an ABB reseller. “It allows us to accurately determine the real energy saving potential which means we can size the AC motor and drive correctly.” IDS determined that the 20-year-old
DC motor was over-sized for the application, and hence consuming more energy than necessary. It estimated that a
PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | July/August 2016
SynRM system would save 8-15%, with a return on investment within two years. It also banished around £2,000 of DC motor maintenance costs.
Rob Betts, engineering manager at Radius Systems, added: “The actual energy saving depends on several process variables such as raw material type, different product ranges and profiles, the temperature at the die and the barrel and the general ambient environmental conditions. For instance, energy consump- tion is higher on a cold day as more energy is needed to warm up the process.”
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