TECHNOLOGY | MATERIALS PREPARATION
Table 1: Examples of test conditions created inside the climate chamber at Wittmann’s plant Temperature [°C] 35 37 37 35
Test climate I Test climate II Test climate II Test climate IV
Relative Humidity [%] 50 50 57 67
that the results are very promising – resin dry and ready to use in 1 hour and 10 minutes, giving moisture readings of 30-40ppm. Eisbär has developed an all-in-one material drying system for low material throughputs. The Plug & Dry is claimed to offer a number of advan- tages, while requiring less space than conventional drying systems. The company says that space for positioning and installing a material drying system, including drying hopper, material conveying system as well as pipework, is expensive and often limited. The energy-efficient compact Plug & Dry module for drying PET granulate and flakes consists of a material dryer, drying hopper and material conveying system. The company says that it offers high efficiency with low material through- puts (50-200 kg/h) in a small footprint, as well as low maintenance and user-friendly design. Due to the closed process air circuit for the material drying, there are no restrictions in relation to ambient conditions. The continuous drying process, low energy consumption and long service
Dew point [°C dp] Water load [g/m³] 23 25 27 28
19.8 22.1 24.9 26.6
life are further key advantages of the system. Wittmann has established a climate chamber at
its materials handling technology plant in Wolkers- dorf, Lower Austria to undertake development work on dryers in extreme conditions to ensure that appliances can function in any part of the world with the local ambient temperature and air humidity. The company says that the climate chamber
Above and right: Inside views of the climate
chamber at the Wolkersdorf production plant of the Wittmann Group
44 INJECTION WORLD | March 2019
offers a room completely insulated from the outside and equipped with an ultra-modern air conditioning system, which is able to simulate a wide range of ambient climatic conditions. The chamber can accommodate not only mobile and battery dryers for test purposes, but also entire drying systems. This makes it possible to specify, at an early stage, necessary adaptations to specific requirements for local markets. The test results are recorded using the OPC protocol and included in relevant documentation, from which locally required adaptations can be derived. For example, if a dryer operating in Europe or North America is able to reach an excellent dew point value with standard equipment and in standard operation, specific adaptations still need to be made to reach a comparable result under tropical conditions. Wittmann says that the recently developed Aton segmented wheel dryer was optimised in terms of drying performance and energy efficiency with the help of tests carried out in the climate chamber. The company says that its dryers have the option to have the actual dew point displayed, rather than the set target value. Moretto has recently installed its Moisture Meter technology for a smart drying system for technical polymer production at injection moulder Marca Group – a specialist in automotive, electronics and household appliances with factories in Italy and Romania. The Moisture Meter provides in-line measurement in a few seconds of the real residual moisture content present in granules after drying immediately before processing and is Industry 4.0 compliant. Marca Group has a staff of 60 in Italy and 300 in
Romania, with 38 injection moulding machines installed in the Italian plant and 60 in the Romanian one. These range from 10-400 tonnes, capable of processing around 1,200 tonnes of thermoplastics
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