Plastics Processing Equipment Overview:
Feeders, Pneumatic Conveying, and Automated Systems
Typical Plastics Processing Applications:
(Click on application name for details and PDF download)
PE Resin / Polyolefins / Bulk Polymer Compounding | Wood Plastics | High Performance Compounding | Long Fiber Thermoplastics | BOPP Film Production | Continuous Hot Melt Production | Textile Fiber Production | Gravimetric Extrusion Control
K-Tron gravimetric and volumetric feeders and pneumatic conveying components and systems are in the flow of plastics, from resin manufacturing, to precision compounding, high speed compounding, and end product extrusion.
K-Tron offers plastics processors volumetric and gravimetric feeders, including the new Bulk Solids Pump™ (BSP), single and twin screw, vibratory, weigh belt, liquid loss-in-weight, Smart Flow Meters, gravimetric blenders plus self-contained and central vacuum conveying systems, integrated control solutions and systems engineering services.
Feeders and Vacuum Conveyors for Resin Manufacturing
K-Tron feeders control the flow of the granular base polymer and a filler, carbon black, slip agent and other additives to a pelletizer. Two grades of the resin are fed by K-Tron Smart Flow Meters with rotary valves. The filler is proportioned by a high-rate K2 Modular single screw loss-in-weight feeder, while the difficult to handle carbon black requires twin screw feeding. Slip agent and other additives use lower capacity K2 feeders. K-Tron's controller handles up to 15 feeders. K-Tron feeders help make a wide range of additives used in plastics, too. K-Tron's twin screw loss-in-weight feeder doses ingredients to a classifier to produce various grades of the pigment.
Feeders and Pneumatic Conveyors for Compounding and Extrusion
High Speed Compounding: With the higher throughput rates made possible with today's high-speed extruders, K-Tron's K4G-L Continuous Gravimetric Blender System allows four to six ingredient stations with Premier Pneumatics conveying receivers easily grouped around the extruder inlet. Ingredients are continuously feed in sychronized, weighed proportion, whether pellet, granule or powder. Resin and other high rate components such as filler merge with other ingredients at the throat, eliminating the need for mixing. K-Tron liquid loss-in-weight feeders can introduce liquid additives downstream.
End product extrusion: In critical end product applications like wire and cable coating, quality hinges on reliably consistent blend accuracy. By combining all-digital weighing technology, microprocessor control, and the broadest range of material handing capability, K-Tron's K4G-L feeding system continuously proportions pellets, powders and granules at the extruder, eliminating the need for mixing and assuring the highest possible end product consistency.
Fiber and Filaments: K-Tron feeders are the key to color. In carpet filament manufacture, even the subtlest variation is unacceptable. With K-Tron's feeding system, processors can handle nearly any ingredient online, without risk of material segregation - a major cause of transient color shift. The stability of K-Tron's all digital system, from weight measurement to feeder control, assures blend consistency not only from moment to moment, but from day to day, week to week, month to month.
Brief Product Overview:
Positive Displacement Feeding: The Bulk Solids Pump™The new K-Tron Bulk Solids Pump (BSP) feeders have been specifically designed and engineered to provide gentle, precise feeding of free-flowing pellets, granules, flakes, powders and friable products. The BSP feeders do not use the usual screws/augers, belts or vibratory trays to convey the material. They utilize positive displacement action to feed free flowing materials with astounding accuracy, offering uniform discharge, consistent volume and gentle handling. The BSP feeders have vertical rotating discs that create a product lock-up zone, conveying the material smoothly from storage hopper to discharge outlet, achieving true linear mass flow. |
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Screw-less, low rate additive feeding
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KT35/S60 Quick Change Feeder: Single / Twin Screw
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K4G Continuous Gravimetric Blender SystemDesigned with the specific requirements of the plastics processing industry in mind. The compact design and low space requirements of the K4G integrated system allow four or six feeders with Premier Pneumatics vacuum receivers to be easily grouped around an extruder inlet. Single stations are also available. A wide variety of standard feeders can be integrated into the K4G single-point weighing system, depending on the feeding requirements. K4G single screw feeders, Bulk Solids Pump feeders and Premier Pneumatics filter-less receivers are designed for handling free flowing bulk materials. Twin-screw feeders and Premier Pneumatics filtered receivers can handle powders and non-free-flowing materials. Materials Fed: Free flowing pellets or powders, depending on the system. |
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Systems Engineering: Moving Material To Your Process
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Can a More Accurate Feeder Save Money on Material Costs? Absolutely!See how with K-Tron's new FeedSmart™ Recipe Optimizer With K-Tron's FeedSmart you can quickly compute the lowest possible recipe cost for every blend, formulation or compound you process, and calculate additional savings with improved feeder accuracy. View a short presentation about FeedSmart. |
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