IN-LINE INSPECTION | PELLETISING
Ensuring perfect pellets
The latest in-line optical inspection systems can help ensure that pellets are free of a wide range of contaminants, including black specks and degraded material
Whether it be for high performance packaging films or high voltage cable compounds, there is a growing number of plastics application sectors where contaminants cannot be tolerated. Optical inspection systems can provide polymer producers and compounders with a means to guarantee every pellet that leaves the plant meets the most demanding standards. “Every polymer has some level of optical defects
that can be seen by either the naked eye or by camera-based vision systems, and they have a myriad of root causes,” says Southern Analytical President Ted Schrein. “These defects can cause either aesthetic or performance problems, or both. They can be found in resins produced by virgin resin producers that are shipped out in pellet or powder form to downstream customers, or in subsequent production of films, sheets, mouldings, and coatings. In short, they can be found in any step throughout the entire supply chain. As the end use quality of polymer products becomes ever
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more stringent, optical inspection becomes ever more necessary.” With the advent of high-speed CMOS cameras,
Schrein says high level optical inspection is now a practical, affordable and accessible option that can be carried out on either representative statistical samples or on the entire production. “For resin producers, optical defects include gels
in film grade resins, black specks or other contaminations in pellets or powder, misshapen or mis-sized pellets that can cause extrusion feeding problems or subsequent film quality problems,” Schrein says. “Resin producers check each production lot before shipping, often by testing grab samples from the production line or loading points. However, continuous online sampling of a production process is becoming more and more popular because problems can be found earlier and corrected.” Southern Analytical distributes the OCS range of
laboratory and in-line optical inspection systems in the US. This product line includes the PS-25C
January 2023 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 37
Main image: In-line
inspection can help ensure the high pellet quality required for the most demanding polymer applications
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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