Clear increase in throughput
with patented feed enhancement
technology (FET)
Coperion brought its patented feed enhancement
technology (FET) for ZSK twin screw extruders to
market some time ago, for a significantly enhanced
feed performance when processing powdered bulk
material. The technology involves equipping the
feeding zone with a porous, gas permeable wall
section, to which a vacuum is applied externally.
Intermediate particle air is then sucked out of the
powdered bulk material through this wall section.
This compacting of the bulk material reliably
improves the material intake capacity in the
feeding section by a factor of two to three. The flow
rate increases substantially while the compound
quality remains high. Since its market launch,
Coperion has successfully used the FET technology
for the feeding zone of the ZSK twin screw extruder
as well as for the ZS-B twin screw side feeder. It has
been integrated into new machines and has also
been retrofitted into existing compounding plants
in close consultation with Coperion’s process
engineers.
precision, gravimetric K-CL-SFS-KT20 twin screw
loss-in-weight feeder from Coperion K-Tron, which
is ideally suited to feeding a range of powders from
easy-flowing to extremely sluggish (e.g. clogging,
damp, bridge-forming) materials. It achieves
feeding rates of 0.1 to 45 dm³/h.
CSpro for Industrie 4.0 tasks
The ZSK 58 Mc18 extruder that will be showcased
at the K trade show is designed for all demanding
compounding tasks. It is equipped with the
user-friendly CSpro medium control system,
which Coperion has been using in its ZSK high
performance extruders since 2010. The control
system comes with high-grade, standardized
and pre-tested software, is fitted with the latest
Siemens SPS-Generation S7-1500, and is connected
via ProfiNet to the CPU (central processing unit)
with compact ET200SP peripheral modules.
Integration and data exchange in superordinated
networks (ERP) takes place via the standardized
OPC-DA and OPC-UA protocols. The control system
is rounded off with additional complex software
functions such as recipe management, order and
material management, analysis of downtimes and
the evaluation of historical values.
High-precision feeders for optimum delivery
For simple and precise feeding, the ZSK 58 Mc18
compact is equipped with a high-precision,
gravimetric K2-ML-D5-S60 single screw loss-inweight feeder from Coperion K-Tron. It yields
feeding rates of 45 to 4,500 dm³/h, and is ideal
for free-flowing powders, pellets, and other bulk
material. The feeder is attached to a rotating frame
above the gearbox for simple, flexible handling,
easy accessibility and quick cleaning. The ZS-B
twin screw side feeder is equipped with a high-
The CSpro medium enables the condition of the
plant to be easily visualized via a web browser
in the network with support for display of this
information on smartphones and tablets. CSpro
medium is ideally suited to the requirements of
Industrie 4.0.
13
TN November 2016