SCREWS AND BARRELS | MACHINERY
Compounders need screw and barrel designs that meet product quality goals while offering extended durability. Mark Holmes looks at the latest options available from some leading suppliers
Mixing quality with durability
Few would argue that the screw and barrel combi- nation forms the heart of any compounding system, playing a critical role in product quality but facing high levels of both mechanical and chemical wear. No surprise, then, that extruder manufactur- ers and suppliers of replacement screw and barrel components are looking to prolong service life, offering compounding solutions optimised to specific customer requirements, and aiming to shorten lead times for replacement parts. According to US extruder manufacturer Entek,
wear of screw elements and barrel sections remains one of the most common problems in the compounding industry. “Customers are always looking to extend the life of these wear compo- nents,” says Dean Elliott, Technical Processing Manager. “We have found that wear problems are often a result of the processing and mixing work being done in only a small portion of the extruder’s overall length.” Elliott says that Entek’s screw layout program and visual layout comparison of the screw in relation to the barrel allows customers to identify high wear locations to better manage wear. “Our
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screw layout program enables customers to quickly and accurately re-design their screw layout and spread out the processing work within the extrud- er,” he says. “Our customers are finding that by re-configuring their machines they are able to reduce or in some cases eliminate high wear locations. As a result, they are seeing reduced overall screw and barrel wear. Often spreading out the work along the machines length can result in higher processing throughput rates as well.” Entek’s screw design program allows com- pounders to design screw and barrel layouts for their particular application at speed. Built-in features of the software include drag-and-drop functionality on all components that customers need to specify, such as barrel sections, screws and metallurgy. It also provides automatic calculation of the remaining space on the screw shafts, as well as safeguards to prevent putting certain elements where they do not belong. Complete part numbers are furnished within the program and, once the design is complete, it is easy to save within the program or export to an Excel file option. “This new program is something that provides
Main image: Key drivers for development of new screw configurations include improv- ing quality and operational efficiency, according to Coperion
August 2018 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 67
PHOTO: COPERION
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