EXHIBITION REVIEW | PLAST 2018
Right: Promixon
showed these blades for its large cooling mixer
in this area, he cited a major new operation for producing highly filled polyolefin compounds for an undisclosed customer in Saudi Arabia. Paul Lloyd, Director of the Continuous Mixers BU
within Farrel, said its mixers are well suited to production of compounds for products like Luxury Vinyl Tiles and their polyolefinic equivalents due to their ability to incorporate high levels of fillers. He added that the past few years have been a “gold- en” period for the company. “There has been growth across flooring, not just LVTs,” he said. Outside of the flooring area, the company has also been working on compounding solutions for flame retardant materials for products such as cables and construction cladding. “Our mixers are very good with temperature-sensitive materials. In highly filled compounds for building panels, the high free volume in Farrel mixers is a big advan- tage,” said Lloyd.
Below: Plas Mec showed two of its latest mixing systems on its stand in Milan
Mixing equipment specialist Promixon chose to show several machine elements that form the heart of its plants, including large blades for a horizontal cooling mixer and a 2,000-litre vertical tank with blades for four-stage powder mixing. The tank on display was fitted with two outlets, enabling it to feed two cooling mixers placed on opposite sides. The company, which was founded in 2013, recently moved into new offices in Magnago, not far from Milan. Meanwhile, Plas Mec, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, showed two flagship ma- chines from its line-up: a Combimix-HC mixing system and TRR container mixer. The first, which is used mainly for PVC dryblends, comprises a TRM heating mixer and HEC cooling mixer. The TRR container mixer is a multipurpose unit for applica- tions where production changes are frequent and easy cleaning is very important – masterbatch production being a typical example.
Commercial Director Massimo Grigolon says Plas Mec has intensified its focus in recent years on efficiency, productivity and safe operation. Exam- ples of this strategy include an improved water circuit design with enhanced cooling capacity on the HEC cooling mixer, as well as a new jacket that can withstand the working pressure up to 2.5 bar typically found in closed-circuit factory chillers. “With the Combimix-HC, today it is a straightfor- ward task to cool more than eight batches per hour of u-PVC dryblend from 120°C to 40°C,” he said. Plast 2018 also saw numerous new develop- ments in melt filtration systems for various types of extrusion systems, including compounding, film, profiles and recycling. These are detailed in our melt filtration feature this month.
Materials news Demand for Domo’s Econamid compound range, which is made from recycled textile fibre sourced from partner Aquafil, is improving, according to Sales Director Ron Bult. Virtually all of the material is currently going into automotive applications, where Bult pointed out that Domo’s long-term contract with Aquafil means it is able to guarantee a consistent supply of material over several generations of vehicles. “We know where it comes from, so we can offer security of supply and we can also guarantee the quality,” he said. “Obviously the properties are not quite as good as in prime polyamide, especially in terms of impact strength, but consistency is a very important factor.” Domo is now Europe’s second largest supplier
of PA compounds (after BASF), virtually all of it PA6. It has seen substantial growth in recent years, with turnover in PA compounds increasing by some- thing close to 25% in just a couple of years. The
58 COMPOUNDING WORLD | July 2018
www.compoundingworld.com
PHOTO: PETER MAPLESTON
PHOTO: PETER MAPLESTON
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