The following items were reported by senior staff reporter Bill Bregar and assistant managing editor Bill Henson at ANTEC '96 in Indianapolis. ANTEC '96 marked the U.S. launch of Werner & Pfleiderer Corp.'s ZSK Mega compounding extruder, a co-rotating, twin-screw extruder with 30 percent higher torque than the model it replaces, the SuperCompounder, which was introduced in 1983.
W&P first showed the Mega in Germany at last year's K'95 show.
W&P claims the machine has the highest power-volume ratio in compounding. Maximum screw speed for the Mega is 1,200 revolutions per minute; the Super-Compounder hit a top rate of 600 rpm. Asmut Kahns, director of plastics machinery at W&P in Ramsey, N.J., said a typical twin-screw extruder running in the United States does about 450 rpm.
The increase in torque and screw speed comes from a redesigned gearbox, a modified shaft/screw spline design and an improved shaft.
The firm said the Mega is quieter than the SuperCompounder.
The 1,200 rpm figure is for machines with screw diameters of 40, 58 and 70 millimeters. For extruders with screw diameters of 92 and 133mm, the top rate is 1,000 rpm.
Since its introduction at K, W&P officials have continued to study the extruder at the firm's headquarters in Stuttgart, Ger-many, and, in the last six months, at several customers' production sites.
``We have a whole future ahead of us and that's this speed range from 600 to 1,200'' rpm, Kahns said.
Tel. (201) 327-6300; fax (201) 825-6460.
GRC Instruments displays new probe
GRC Instruments, a division of GRC International of Santa Barbara, Calif., introduced its portable, bench-top TC probe testing unit at ANTEC '96 in Indianapolis.
The TC probe, a new product in GRC's ndt series of nondestructive test systems, detects changes in thermal and physical properties of flat, solid composites and materials, according to the company. GRC claims the instrument produces readings in less than 30 seconds and provides a bulk value for density, thermal conductivity and heat capacity.
Tel. (805) 681-8825; fax (805) 964-2914.
LCI screen charger touts 1-pisont design
LCI Corp. of Charlotte, N.C., showed a new, lower-cost, Krey-enborg Pasadena continuous screen changer that carries two breaker plates on a single piston bolt, instead of the Kreyenborg two-piston design.
The screens fit side-by-side, and the piston can be positioned so material flows through both screens at the same time, for thermally stable products.
Tel. (704) 394-8341; fax (704) 393-8590; e-mail [email protected].
AC resin software gets more details
AC Technology Co. of Ithaca, N.Y., has revised the resin database in its Rapid Designer 96.7 software to list individual viscosity, thermal and mechanical data for every one of the more than 3,400 resins listed.
Each material now has information for mold filling through shrinkage and warpage simulations. ISO-standard family names are now used to organize resin data. All data unrelated to C-mold simulations has been purged, speeding up access to the database.
Tel. (607) 257-4280; fax (607) 257-6355; e-mail [email protected].
SCM Chemical Inc. introduces RCL-188
SCM Chemicals Inc. of Baltimore introduced RCL-188, a new titanium dioxide designed for plastics.
RCL-188 features low melt viscosity and outstanding dispersion, SCM said. The firm said the material has a dramatic reduction in the melt flow effect, even in 80 percent loadings and without additional processing aids.
It is suitable for a wide range of plastics, including polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, polystyrene, ABS and engineering resins.
Tel. (410) 783-1120; fax (410) 783-1087.