products | Machinery and equipment QUALITY CONTROL
Sikora introduces pellet inspection system
Sikora has launched an innovative system for inspect- ing and sorting plastic pellets. The Purity Scanner can even spot contaminants fully contained within a pellet. The purity of plastic pellets
can be critically important in a range of applications including medical devices, cables, fi lm extrusion, aircraft construction, and automotive safety compo- nents. Damage caused by contaminated material in such applications can be dangerous and/or extremely costly. Sikora says that existing
pellet inspection systems typically use optical systems to randomly check pellets – such systems do not check every pellet and they can only monitor the outside of the pellet and not what is inside. The Purity Scanner aims to
overcome these limitations by combining X-ray technology with an optical system that allows the detection of metallic and organic impuri- ties as small as 50 µm. Contaminated pellets are separated in order to ensure that they do not get into the extrusion process. Sikora’s X-ray technology
detects impurities contained within the plastic pellet, and it works with both transparent and coloured pellets, including black plastics. The optical system detects impurities on a pellet’s surface and it also identifi es foreign objects and pellets within the material stream.
The Purity Scanner 64 combines its innovative
monitoring technology with a novel transport system for handling the pellets. Feeding is carried out via a vibrating stainless steel ramp in the hermetically sealed system that helps to ensure absolute purity – in traditional inspec- tion systems, contaminants may be picked up from the air or from the conveor belt.
The Purity Scanner inspects every pellet and separates any that are contaminated Timo Mäkelä, process
The Purity Scanner is the result of a technology cooperation between Sikora and Maillefer. From left: Dr Christian Frank, member of the board at Sikora; Dr Siegmar Lampe, Sikora’s head of R&D; and Maillefer’s MV/HV process specialist Timo Mäkelä
The scanner is designed for
a throughput of 500, 1,000 or 2,000 kg/hour and it can be integrated into existing feeding systems. It can handle neat polymers, compounds or masterbatches. Sikora originally developed the Purity Scanner in response to a request from Maillefer, the manufacturer of production
lines for wire, cables, pipes and tubing. The company wanted to guarantee the quality of XLPE pellets used for the production of medium, high and extra-high voltage cables as well as for under- ground and submarine cables. Polymer purity is vital in such applications to maintain the integrity of the insulation.
Conference presentation
Sikora and Maillefer will give a joint presentation on the development and application of the Purity Scanner at the Compounding World Congress, which takes place on 21-23 April 2015 in Cologne, Germany. For more details, visit
http://bit.ly/cwc15.
COMPOUNDING WORLD | August 2014
specialist for MV and HV products at Maillefer, explains that his company has worked closely with Sikora for more than 20 years, using technologies such as the CSS 2 for the monitoring of PE melt purity and the Ultratemp 6000 continuous melt temperature measurement system. “It was a matter of course that we addressed Sikora concerning the development of an inspection and sorting system”, he adds. “For Maillefer, it was important to develop a system which inspects 100 % of the pellets and which sorts out reject material reliably”. The Purity Scanner was
developed to meet Maillefer’s very specifi c requirements regarding throughputs, accuracy, reliability and purity of the material stream. Recognising that the system is equally benefi cial for many other application areas, Sikora launched it commer- cially this year.
www.sikora.net
www.maillefer.net
www.compoundingworld.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80