CHICAGO (July 14, 12:20 p.m. EDT) — Farrel Corp. debuted an advanced underwater pelletizing system, the Hydron line, at NPE 2000 in Chicago.
The Ansonia, Conn., firm claims the small system is versatile and exceptionally productive. It has a unique, floor-mounted swivel table, roll cart, cutter assembly, water chamber, die plate, water-circulating system and a fast-cleaning centrifugal dryer.
Alberta Shaio, Farrel senior vice president of sales for plastics, said the equipment is the result of two years of development work.
The Hydron´s table mounting keeps it away from dirt. The swivel table allows more flexibility in aligning an extruder with the pelletizer system.
The Hydron die has 30 percent higher wattage than any comparable system, to ensure good polymer flow through the die holes into cooling water. That is achieved by a combination of coil and rod heaters near the die holes to provide concentrated heat. The die also is well-insulated from the cooling water chamber to further concentrate heat. Production rates of the pelletizer are 200-8,000 pounds per hour.
Hydron´s cutter knife is available in three versions, including the Uniblade knife — a precision-ground, single-piece knife holder and blade. Farrel claims the system is easy to start, has high output and cleans quickly at the end of a run. In the centrifugal dryer, the dryer impeller can be retracted easily using a manual crank or motorized rack and pinion.
Farrel also is displaying its Ultima Compounder, a two-stage machine touted for its dispersive mixing capability. The company will make the Ultima available for customer demonstrations in December, according to Shaio.
The Ultima has a two-stage continuous mixer and a single-screw extruder on a unitized support frame. Applications targeted include mixing of nanocomposites, wood-flour compounding, polymer alloying and processing of temperature-sensitive materials. The machine provides a very broad processing window, Farrel claims.
