MACHINERY | TWIN SCREW EXTRUDERS
Right: A Coperion ZSK extruder fitted with tailored accelerometers to monitor gearbox wear
disassembly is relatively simple, the company claims. Once the melt filter or melt pump in front of the extruder is uncoupled, the cylinder can be swivelled to one side and the screws pulled out at the back. This is particularly advantageous when it comes to colour changes. “Disassembling of the screws on a MAS takes between 30 minutes to approximately two hours,” Lehner says. Continuing in the sustainability arena, US equipment supplier Entek points to ongoing growth in interest in bio-based formulations, saying this is at least in part due to the increasing use of new natural additive components. Entek claims more than 20 years of experience in working with customers in development of new bio-based formulations. One example is BioRegion Technology (BRT) in the Pacific Northwest. This new entry to the sector has developed an innova- tive way to process agricultural by-products for use as additives for a variety of applications. It works with Entek directly in Oregon where it runs lab trials on materials. For production runs, it uses Interfacial Consultants (IFC) of Prescott, WI, which also has Entek equipment. BRT’s first product is Renew cellulose, which is developed as a drop-in replacement for other commercially available cellulose products. Accord- ing to Dave Dowling, BRT General Manager, it is showing excellent results as a reinforcement agent for plastic parts. The company has several other products in development, which the company says could be “game-changing” for the plastics industry.
Bio-based options Meanwhile, Swedish innovation company RenCom has just commenced production of its Renol biocompound using ZSK twin-screw technology from Coperion. Together, the two companies have developed what Coperion says is an innovative extrusion process to produce the lignin-based durable and reusable material (lignin is a by-prod- uct created by the forestry industry). Coperion has delivered a line comprised of a ZSK Mv Plus twin screw extruder,
gravimetric feeders, strand pelletising system, lignin bag dump station and big bag station to RenCom, which will be able to produce more than 1,000 tonnes/yr of the Renol products. According to the two partners, Renol can be used in ratios up to 50% in applications such as films for shopping bags, mulch films or retail applications and for injection moulded components for furniture and automotive. It can also be used as an infill material for artificial sports surfaces in place of rubber. The ZSK machine is said to be well suited to
processing the lignin-based compound. “The ZSK Mv PLUS series unites an optimally-balanced large free screw volume with high screw speeds and a high specific torque,” Coperion says. “Thanks to the deeply cut screw flights, thermal stress on the raw material is very low and product processing is very gentle.” Coperion continues to develop predictive maintenance capabilities across its entire series of ZSK twin screw extruders. The company recently launched what it describes as a highly reliable yet affordable gearbox condition monitoring system for machines up to the ZSK 133. The system uses a set of accelerometers
Right: Coperion’s ZSK twin screw extruders can be equipped with an electronically- secured gearbox lantern opening
20 COMPOUNDING WORLD
tailored to the size and design of the corre- sponding gearbox in terms of sensor count and positioning. Coperion says that by using the ZSK control unit as a user interface, the condition monitoring
system not only provides the
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: COPERION
IMAGE: COPERION
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62
