TURNKEY SYSTEMS | LFTs Turnkey routes to LFTs
Compounders looking to enter the LFTs market can now select equipment from a growing number of turnkey systems suppliers. Chris Smith learns more
LFT compound production may be a niche market sector but it is a niche that is attracting increasing attention from compounding equipment makers. A number are now offering turnkey production systems that make joining the ranks of LFT compounders a much less challenging decision than in the past. German compounding extruder maker Feddem says when it decided to enter the LFT market it decided to take a detailed look at the entire production approach to ensure the highest level of quality. “The technology of LFT pultrusion lines for the production of LFT-G long pellets had been around for several years,” says Klaus Hojer, Busi- ness Development Manager at the company. Part of the Feddersen Group, the machinery
maker worked with sister company Akro-Plastic — a leading player in engineering compound produc- tion and particularly in performance PA-based materials. It is now using a number of Feddem LFT lines at its plant at Niederzissen in Germany. “Feddem has taken a fresh look at the details of the line components to improve performance, quality and handling,” Hojer says. “The result is not
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only unprecedentedly tight tolerances from the fibre content in the pellets, but also the repeatabil- ity of the achievable material properties of the LFT compound produced on different lines and line sizes with haul-off speeds of up to 60 m/min.” A key element in the Feddem LFT production system is its die. “Impregnation establishes close contact between the filaments and polymer melt,” says Hojer. “Thorough wetting of all filaments with melt is the goal of the process.” Feddem’s die uses a modular construction. This allows it to be run using half the die without physical reconfiguration, which is said to be a useful benefit for production of development batches or small orders. The company currently offers 300mm and 600mm wide options, both said to provide optimised and uniform melt distribution to mini- mise variation in the polymer/reinforcement ratio. The roving feeding system is also an important element in any LFT production system. The simplest systems allow the rovings to unwind from static spools mounted directly on the creel rack. This, however, results in twisting of the rovings,
Main image: Compounding extruder manufacturer Feddem is one of a number of companies offering turnkey LFT-G production systems
March 2022 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 41
IMAGE: FEDDEM
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