CN
Are You Ready For the Revolution?
THE INDUSTRY IS MOVING: SMART F A C T O R I E S, I N T E L L I G E N T AUTOMATION, CLOUD COMPUTING, PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE. THE POLYURETHANE INDUSTRY IS MOVING AS WELL: FASTER PRODUCTION CYCLES, M A T E R I A L S A V I N G S, H I G H E R ATTENTION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, NEW APPLICATIONS. WE DISCUSS ALL OF THIS WITH FRANCESCO ABBA ', SALES & MARKETING MANAGER OF AFROS, THE CANNON GROUP COMPANY SPECIALISED IN METERING AND MIXING EQUIPMENT FOR POLYURETHANES, E P OX I E S A N D OT H E R R E AC T I V E CHEMICALS.
C a n n o n N e w s: Cannon celebrated their first half century of activity, last year. How do you rate the 2015 i n t e r m s o f business? Francesco Abbà: We did well, all in all. We were able to r e i n f o r c e o u r presence in most markets, both in geographic and application terms, with a number of important contracts that have granted us an increase of EBITDA over the previous year. Speciality machines and the refrigerator industry did quite well, with reasonable margins. A growing return from Service and Spare Parts means that a good percentage of our equipment is running regularly, in spite of the local crises, and that more machine users prefer to rely on our qualified assistance rather than investing in their th
own maintenance staff. A good 50 anniversary, I ' d say.
CN: These first 50 years saw big improvements in the field of Polyurethanes. Which are the latest ones worth to be mentioned?
FA: To reply to this question we must first of all look at the developments that the Raw Material Suppliers have done in the past years. Their research is allowing for faster cycle times, more thermally-efficient insulation foams, more comfortable flexible grades, new products. We must stay ahead of these developments, being prepared with new process technologies as soon as they launch their new formulations on the market. This is why we keep with all of them a very good relationship, helping them for trials in our R & D Lab or supplying their laboratories with dedicated equipment. Once we ' ve said this, it will be very clear why we have developed in the past nine years at least 20 new models of mixing heads – including high flow rates, multiple components, very compact versions for in mould installation and fast moving types for high production rates – versus the 18 models developed in the first twenty years since our foundation. These new heads are making possible daily what we call the“ Polyurethane miracle”!
CN: That would be? FA: We keep saying this since ever: the mixing head is the heart of the system. There is no other reactive plastic or foamed material which is so heavily dependent on good mixing efficiency. Polyurethanes are unique from this point of view: all the performances provided by the chemical components of the formulation cannot be exploited if the blend is not mixed efficiently, and to obtain that you must have a mixing head with the right design. Almost each PUR or Epoxy application requires a specific mixing performance, and that ' s the secret of our success: we can develop quickly a proper mixing solution, with the relevant metering circuit behind it, for almost any type of formulation. We cover an output range from 0.4 g / s to 10,000 g / s, with repetitive shot times that can be as short as 0.3 s. We offer heads for a range of component ' s ratio between 1:1 and 1:24, the latter used for special applications. We are experimenting with extremely-high viscosity Polyols, up to 50,000 M Pa s, with success. For Epoxy HP RTM process we are experimenting heads working at 150 ° C. We work with a 360 ° horizon, on mixing heads!
CN: Any recent example of this performance? FA: Take for example the recent FPL SR series of mixing heads designed specifically for rigid insulation foams. Featuring brilliant technical solutions it allows for reliable long runs of production without maintenance or lubrication; it is particularly efficient in mixing gaseous blowing agents with difficult Polyols; its resistance to wear and blockages has been dramatically improved, thanks to the use of new materials; it allows for output rate change in real time, that can be achieved automatically and quickly with the Cannon Multi Injection process; the Variable Output Technology allows to do that also during the injection phase. This head is now an industrial success, panel and refrigerator producers love it because it ' s the ideal tool for
Qiang Ge, Area Manager China( left) and Alessandro Colella, Sales Engineer( right) are only two of the numerous young recruits that contribute to the cultural revolution of Cannon.
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