Leistritz

Company adopts 'cradle to cradle' approach.

Firm launches 'cradle-to-cradle' operation.

There won't be many blown-film lines running, but there is still much in the way of innovation going on in extrusion and compounding.

The process offers great opportunities to extrude a better product at less cost, but it’s not for everyone. The formulation, product mix, and anticipated volumes must be carefully assessed to determine whether DE is the preferred manufacturing methodology.

New twin from Coperion also pumps up output by 30%

In blown film, equipment and material suppliers have come together to push five-layer technology into non-barrier applications previously held by three-layer films.

There are many techniques known to operators and plant engineers for increasing the performance of a twin-screw compounding extruder.

NPE is typically a competitive display of the biggest, most dramatic equipment machine builders can muster.

Smaller parts, a wider range of resins and reinforcements,and retrofittable molding equipment were among the news indirect-compounded long-fiber thermoplastics presented at a recent Plastics Technology conference. Extrusion and thermoforming are also new extensions of this process.

Leistritz has installed ZSE-27 and ZSE-50 Maxx twin-screw extrusion systems in its Somerville, N.J., process laboratory to demonstrate the energy savings possible by reprocessing undried PET in-line with direct sheet extrusion.

They’re hardly a startup, having opened their doors 27 years ago this month.

Compounding news at the show includes several new ways to feed low-bulk-density materials faster for higher outputs with corotating twin screws.

Two machine builders have developed super-small, high-tech twin-screw extruders with segmented screws that are said to be truly scaleable machines.

Compounding machinery news at the K Show next month focuses on more torque, more output, and sometimes both, for kneaders, mixers, and twin-screw extruders.

Throughput capacities are going up for compounding equipment of all types.

Injection MoldingSimplified Hot Runners Save Time & CostA new lower-cost hot-runner alternative to valve gating is suited to less critical cosmetic applications where users need predictable and reliable gate opening but not sequential gate operation.

Leistritz in Somerville, N.J., believes it is the first OEM to offer an oil-sealed vacuum pump as a standard option for venting a twin-screw extruder.

New compounding technologies displayed at K 2004 included some unusual ways to broaden the range of products a twin-screw compounder can make.

Compounding news at the K Show includes the use of alternative motors to save space and raise output on twin-screw machines.

The latest sign of an upsurge of interest in direct long-fiber compounding by molders of reinforced thermoplastics is a technology that allows molders to produce their own glass-mat thermoplastic (GMT) composite sheet.

For the second straight NPE show, the focus in compounding is on twin-screw machines that deliver more speed and torque—thus more output—than ever before. No fewer than six suppliers of twin-screw compounders are showing such machines. There’s something to see in in-line systems as well. And there’s plenty of news in PVC mixers and pelletizing equipment, too.

NPE will show higher outputs of practically everything, as advances in grooved feeds, servo drives, screw torque, mixing screws, dies, and downstream cooling, cutting, and handling make everything run faster.

Show exhibitors say long-fiber wood composites, direct extrusion/compounding, and reactive compounding are where the action is.

You may be thinking of buying one of the new ‘high-torque/high-speed’ twin-screw compounders in order to raise your output without going to a larger machine. But how much torque or speed do you really need? Underusing a high-powered extruder wastes investment dollars. So look carefully at what is required for the materials you run.

This K show demonstrated the continuing evolution toward higher torque, screw speed, and throughput rates in twin-screw compounders. There were also new developments for reducing wear when processing filled compounds and new processes available for license to compound wood and paper fibers with plastics. There were even some improvements in backflushing screen changers.

Compounding equipment at K presents not so much new technology as new modifications or combinations of equipment to improve output and conserve space.

For the second straight NPE show, the focus in compounding is on twin-screw machines that deliver more speed and torque—thus more output—than ever before. No fewer than six suppliers of twin-screw compounders are showing such machines. There’s something to see in in-line systems as well. And there’s plenty of news in PVC mixers and pelletizing equipment, too.