Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd., the big Indian plastics processor, ordered a complete extrusion line to make big polyolefin pipes — up to 8.2 feet in diameter — from Battenfeld-Cincinnati Group, at K 2016, the machinery company said in a post-show report.
The large-diameter pipe extrusion line includes Battenfeld-Cincinnati's new solEX NG extruder series, a technology the company highlighted at the K show in Dusseldorf, Germany. NG stands for the next generation of the solEX line.
The solEX NG has a completely redesigned process technology, according to Battenfeld-Cincinnati. A barrel with internal grooves is combined with a matching screw and grooved bushing geometry to optimize processing. The result is a lower melt temperature along with a completely changed axial pressure profile in the feed zone and barrel. That cuts energy consumption by up to 15 percent.
“The interest shown by the pipe industry in these new extruders is very lively,” said Battenfeld-Cincinnati CEO Gerold Schley. Customers also checked out the FDC system (fast dimension change) at K 2016.
The FDC extrusion system operates fully automatically across a wide range of diameters. It changes the pipe external diameters and also the wall thickness during production, synchronized from the die through the cutting unit.
FDC lines cover a wide range of diameters, from 3.5 inches to 24.8 inches. FDC pipe dies equipped with an adjustable melt gap are available for diameters up to 47.2 inches.
Schley said Battenfeld-Cincinnati has seldom had as many extruders and machine components at a K show booth before. Extruders premiering in Germany were the solEX NG single-screw extruders and the conEX NG twin-screw series for PVC pipe and profile production.
In packaging, the company showed its XXL-Multi-Touch roll stack for high-speed sheet production.
Battenfeld-Cincinnati also makes a special three-layer feedblock for extruding thermoforming sheet, made in-house at the company's plant in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. The company has sold eight of the feedblocks, which use a pin with a milled distributor curve to get an optimal layer thickness distribution.
Battenfeld-Cincinnati officials said the company plans to offer this technology in five-, seven- and nine-layer feedblocks in the future.
Schley said Battenfeld-Cincinnati had a strong K 2016. “We are really excited about the enormous positive feedback for our trade fair presentation,” he said. “We had many more visitors than three years ago, especially from Africa, Asia and the Near and Middle East, and we received several major orders directly at the fair.”