MATERIALS PREPARATION | TECHNOLOGY


IMAGE: KOCH-TECHNIK


New dryers save energy, time and money


Suppliers of plastics drying technology have been busy improving their technologies.Peter Mapleston finds out about new products in the market


Plastics granules are not always everything they appear to be. Hygroscopic materials, especially polyesters like PET, PBT and polycarbonate, and also most polyamides, absorb significant amounts of water from their surroundings. That makes drying just before processing a necessity if a processor wants to avoid material degradation and substandard mouldings. And sometimes, especially in regions where the air tends to be humid much of the time, even non-hygroscopic materials may benefit from drying.


Dryers can work with various technologies, such as simple hot air, desiccant-dried air, compressed air, vacuum-assist, and more. But across the board, suppliers continue to up their game to make the drying task as painless as possible. There are new


www.injectionworld.com


models that use less energy, that are easier to use, which fit into ‘smart’ operations, and which are better suited for use with recycled plastics and newer types of plastics such as those derived from renewables (many of which are polyesters). Plastics Northwest, which carries out custom moulding, printing and assembly in Vancouver, WA, USA, is one of the latest companies to install an NGX desiccant dryer from AEC. AEC says the customer had been using drying equipment that required three people to move around the manu- facturing floor, consumed a substantial amount of energy, and wasn’t very user-friendly. Plastics Northwest chose the NGX for its portability, energy efficiency, and ease of operation with advanced controls. The company has 18 injection moulding


Main image: Koch-Technik is among the many compa- nies to launch new materials preparation technology


March 2021 | INJECTION WORLD 39


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