TECHNOLOGY | LAB COMPOUNDERS
Automating with AI in the laboratory
Providers of lab equipment are finding ways to harness artificial intelligence (AI) in the quest to boost productivity. Earlier this year at TestXpo, the
International Expo for Materials Testing, ZwickRoell introduced ALEX (Automated Lab Expert), an automa- tion solution said to be as compact as it is cost-effective. Specially designed for small series of ten specimens or more, ALEX automates tensile and flexure tests, freeing up
valuable time in the testing lab. The robotic arm is easy to retrofit
and requires no more space than a manual operator, the main advantage being that it automates testing and autonomously performs tensile tests according to ASTM D638/ISO 527. The company says users can
benefit from reproducible results and the reduction of operator influences, a known hinderance with manual testing. It is easy to switch back to manual testing at any time if required,
well as downstream equipment such as an under- water pelletising system, a strand pelletiser, a hot melt cutting system, and various filtration systems. “With our lab, we can run tests to design the layout of a new extruder, to gather data for scale up or to optimise our customers’ existing processes,” added Mayer-Lutz. CPM’s latest development is the High Output
Below: CPM’s Innovation Lab in Lauffen, Germany
SideFeeder (HOSF), a patented device for com- pacting materials such as talc, silica, or other powdery substances, while they are being fed into the extruder, which allows a significant increase in the filling grade of the melt. “We can simulate the customer’s production conditions and evaluate the optimisation potential with the HOSF, a solution for many bottlenecks in our customers’ production processes,” Mayer-Lutz noted. Epolin, a US producer of UV, visible, and NIR absorbing dyes, has expanded its capabilities with the addition of a second research and develop- ment compounding extruder. This enables the company to increase its sample productivity and speed to market for Luminate products, ready-to-
and the robotic arm’s parked position ensures unrestricted access to the testing machine. “With ALEX, we are revolutionising
laboratory automation by enabling maximum efficiency with minimum space requirements,” said Jakob Brodbeck, Business Development & Product Manager Automation at ZwickRoell. “[It] is the perfect solution for laboratories looking for automa- tion to elevate precision without sacrificing flexibility.”
mould thermoplastic pellets formulated with Epolight dyes compounded directly into the polymer resin. The solution eliminates the need for customers to manage dye powder loading or dilute master batches, allowing them to focus solely on moulding which simplifies the process and improves consistency. The new extruder features advanced technologies and monitoring systems, enabling the company to explore new dye chemistries for both existing and novel polymer solutions.
Earlier this year a collaboration known as
KonDuPound, part of a ZIM project for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, saw scientists from the SKZ German Plastics Centre spend time on site at mechanical engineering company Entex in Bochum. The reason for their presence was to conduct tests on the company’s laboratory extrud- ers to help develop a process for producing highly conductive thermoset compounds with subse- quent direct extrusion of bipolar plates. At the time of writing, no other information had been made available.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.thermofisher.com �
www.eurexma.com �
https://labtechengineering.com �
www.coperion.com �
https://feddem.com �
www.zwickroell.com �
www.brabender.com �
https://onecpm.com �
https://epolin.com �
www.skz.de �
www.entex.de
40 COMPOUNDING WORLD | December 2024
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: CPM
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