TECHNOLOGY | PROCESSING
Right: Bay Plastics
Machinery’s new Smart Pelletising system measures pellet length, as well as other parameters
heater side, if we are alerted to a part of the process that isn’t achieving its set-point, we can see [on the HMI] the amps delivered, which can help us trouble- shoot a burnt heater or a blown fuse much more quickly. As another example, if the PLC [programma- ble logic controller] is calling for heat and the heater amperage looks good, but we can’t achieve our set point, and there is cooling flow without the PLC calling for it, then we can look for a stuck solenoid or a similar problem. Additionally, by monitoring the cooling flow, we can see if the amount of flow to a zone diminishes over time. If so, we can look for a blocked passage or a malfunctioning check valve.” TPEI is using AI to make user manuals more accessible, by building an in-house chatbot that can answer questions. “We’re adding the manuals for every machine we produced, as well as types and vintages of the machines we service, to reference part numbers, past sales orders and revisions we have made,” he said, adding that language models (for example, GPT) are evolving rapidly. “It is a process, but even in its early stages, the promise is there.”
Smart pelletising Bay Plastics Machinery (BPM) has launched a Smart Pelletising system designed from a digital manufacturing perspective to collect and use process data. The system tracks, controls and saves all relevant data including material recipes, process parameters (such as line and rotor speed, pellet length changes), operator activity, emergency stops and other important events. “Users can input material recipes, and the machinery adapts automatically,” said Jim Forgash, Vice President of Sales for BPM. “The biggest benefit to user recipes is rapid changeovers for our customers who run various materials. The ability to save process data back into the production line allows for repeatability to ensure the production
20 COMPOUNDING WORLD | August 2024
process has not changed.” “Our master controller provides operators an
extraordinarily detailed remote window into the pelletiser’s operation,” Forgash said. “Our Data Trending page is a historical viewer of process data. This allows the customer to look back at history to fine-tune the process. Machine settings are used to automatically adjust the user interface to display the appropriate machine limits.” Air knife process data is measured to control CFM per strand and monitor vacuum levels to indicate when filters must be changed. Regarding other maintenance aspects, the company is working on a Preventative Maintenance (PM) Log Book. “The PM Log Book is used to mark when maintenance has been completed on the machin- ery when reoccurring maintenance is due, and can schedule reoccurring tasks. This is extremely helpful information for troubleshooting and looking at the expectancy of wear items such as the feedrolls or rotor blades,” Forgash said. Future tools may include ways to predict when the rotor blades need to be sharpened. One of BPM’s latest innovations is a camera caliper tool to measure diameter. Along with strand count, ovality, pellet length, and line speed, the diameter allows BPM to estimate throughput by understanding the physical dimensions of the strand. He said: “In most cases, throughput is deter- mined in pounds per hour, [but] we have the ability to measure the poundage throughput by the minute. The second control we gain by measuring strand diameter is the ability to maintain a consist- ent strand width. Using the diameter, we can adjust the line speed on the pelletiser to compensate for variations in the extruder throughput.” BPM is aiming to combine these ideas to gain the ability to run the pelletiser by inputting the pellets per gramme of the end product. Another aspect of the new system is the ability
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IMAGE: BPM
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