MATERIALS HANDLING | MACHINERY
Feeding time: latest in materials handling
Many new conveying, feeding and blending systems have hit the
market recently – many of them at K2025 last year – to make materials
handling more efficient
Materials handling equipment – including feeders, dryers, blenders and dosers – is vital to prepare material for its entry into the extruder. After K2025 last year, converters have plenty of choice if they need to upgrade. Blue Air Systems says its BBX offers energy savings of 50–70% compared to conventional hot-air pellet dryers. It uses dry process air to convert conventional pellet dryers, which it says can help plastics processors improve profitability. It is available with new systems, or can be retrofitted. Conversion is simple as existing pellet hoppers remain in use. Only the drying unit is replaced with the compact BBX dryer module. Blue Air Systems has filed a patent for it. The main energy savings come from the drying method used. Unlike conventional strategies, it needs no regeneration energy. The dryer not only enables a constant dew point without fluctuation, but also needs no cooling water or molecular sieve during operation. It only requires an air filter change after a long period of use. The compact modules can be used for a range of hopper sizes up to 10,000 kg/h, for PET applications up to 1,000 kg PET/h as standard. Installation is straightforward
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thanks to a plug-and-play design and can be completed in one day. “We see a very high potential for retrofitting installed drying systems with the BBX module for energy-efficient drying,” said Bernhard Stipsits, managing director of Blue Air Systems.
Bulk materials Bird Machinery unveiled its latest advances in heating and drying at K2025. The company makes compact infrared rotary drum (IRD) devices to treat bulk materials, including pellets, regrind, flakes, and powders. This makes the technology accessi- ble for smaller throughputs. The technology claims to offer advantages over conventional hot-air drying methods for bulk materials, including: 90% time savings; up to 70% in energy savings; and fast changeover times, for high flexibility. “We have adapted IRD technology from large- scale plants for smaller throughputs, allowing injection moulding to benefit from the advantages of infrared heating,” said Urban Stricker, the company’s founder. For common materials such as PA, PC, PMMA
Main image: Motan’s S-Dry 40/80 is a dehumidified air dryer range with multiple bin combinations
September 2026 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 23
IMAGE: MOTAN
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