Refrigerator maker Whirlpool uses KraussMaffei AG's RimStar mixing and metering technology for the housings and foamed polyurethane insulating layer of the doors it manufactures in India.
Nearly 7,000 refrigerators leave Whirlpool's Faridabad plant in North India for distribution within the country and to its neighbors daily.
A total of five KraussMaffei RimStar machines are installed at the plant, which also uses Pentamix systems for premixing the pentane.
The Whirlpool/KraussMaffei collaboration started in 2012, with a wet side RimStar 80/80 sent to Brazil that is still operating today.
Rohit Dhiman, director of projects at Whirlpool Faridabad, said the RimStar system in Brazil had “impressed us due to its reliability and production consistency.”
“It was only logical for us to choose KraussMaffei again for the new investment,” Dhiman added.
Whirlpool's RimStar systems are equipped with up to 10 mixing heads.
The main characteristic of the transfer mixing heads is laminar and splash-free pouring of the mixture into open and closed moulds.
According to KraussMaffei, Pentamix systems feature “outstanding premixing performance.
“The pentane is safely introduced into the polyol component. For this purpose, a 40 litre high-pressure pump developed in-house is used [on the polyol side], along with a five liter plunger metering pump. High metering accuracy is achieved even at very low feed rates.
“The proportion is monitored by means of flowmeters for polyol and pentane. The housing is completely suction-cleaned and monitored for leaking material,” it added.