processing feature | Kneaders
Product quality is also improved. Siegenthaler says that the decision to create two different ranges (Quantec and MX) was made after Buss realised that with one, highly modular, and quite expensive, range (MKS), it was ceding parts of the market to lower-cost rivals. On the Quantec, there are just two barrel modules to choose from, (the MKS has four), making it a more cost-effective proposition.
The MX has a higher degree Buss has
optimised its MX machines for compound- ing highly temperature- and shear- sensitive plastics
easily and at lower cost than previous generations. Other changes include a 20% larger intake opening for improved feeding.
“The MX was designed and optimized for the preparation of cable compounds such as halogen-free flame retardant (HFFR) compounds, semiconducts, silane cross-linked polyethylene, and masterbatches,” Senoner notes. “The MX traditionally features two or three raw material inlets, degassing ports and a discharge extruder that is flanged directly to the Buss Kneader. Alternatively it comes with a melt pump, replacing the discharge extruder, depending on the product. So the MX is our cable compounds and master- batch series.” A typical application is for HFFR cable compounds
X-Compound uses three- flight technol- ogy in its kneaders
containing aluminium hydroxide (ATH), which breaks down at 180°C. Buss cites a leading European cable manufac- turer that, since 2009, has been using an MX 140 Kneader line with up to 3,000 kg/h throughput. This is double the capacity of the largest existing line for halogen-free flame retardant cable compounds, and almost three times more than the preceding Buss MKS Kneader of the same size.
of modularity than the Quantec, and enables the inclusion of more material inlets. It also has a larger screw OD:ID ratio, which makes it better suited to the production of highly filled compounds containing such additives as ATH or carbon black, which need high free volumes.
Siegenthaler concedes that three-flight kneaders
are still the best bet for applications such as PVC calendering, but he insists that the four-flight technol- ogy provides more options overall. He also notes that the market is also better served by having more than one major supplier of kneading equipment, with different design options, to choose from. X-Compound is such a supplier. Founded in Switzerland by ex-Buss managers in 1997, it remained independent until 2011, when it was bought by Troester, the German extrusion equipment producer with a strong presence in the cables industry and also in rubber. Troester left management of X-Compound in the hands of the original owners over a four-year transitional period that ended this January, when the founders stepped down as managing directors. Troester has installed Raul Friedrich, one of its senior manag- ers, as CEO, while Frank Knittel is sales and marketing director, and Stefan Nägele head of process technology and R&D; Knittel and Nägele were both with Buss for many years.
Three-flight technology X-Compound started out as a company servicing and refurbishing Buss kneaders, but it branched out into production of original equipment in 2000. While there are inevitably many features that Buss and X-Com- pound kneaders have in common, a key difference is that X-Compound machines use three-flight technology. Knittel says that while four-flight technology enables machines to be made smaller and run faster, three- flight technology still has important advantages, which is why X-Compound decided to stick with it and develop
38 COMPOUNDING WORLD | August 2015
www.compoundingworld.com
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