KREYENBORG GmbH increases plant productivity by using a melt pump

A production line for thermoplastic elastomers at the Bada AG has been retrofitted by the KREYENBORG GmbH.

 A melt pump and screen changer together with an additional control package designed by the Bruckmann Steuerungstechnik GmbH (BSG), have been integrated into the existing system. The main objectives of the retrofit were to provide increased performance in terms of higher output and improved filtration.

The melt pump is the KREYENBORG patented MB version, which enables short changeover times between different production batches and a reduction of waste during color and product changes.

By using the KREYENBORG melt pump the plant’s throughput for processing of elastomers (TPE) was increased by 40%. When dealing with difficult TPE types the output was increased by 100%. At the same time, the start-up process was considerably optimized and the waste production during the start-up was reduced.

By employing the melt pump, a separation of the two process steps “material processing in the extruder” and “pressure build up by the gear pump”. The result is increased production capacity associated with a higher quality through filtration. Only by the retrofitting of a melt pump the use of a screen changer was made possible because the twin-screw was not able to build up the required pressure.

Also in processing of virgin material filtration is a quality feature, which is increasingly requested by processors of the compounds. The required filter fineness is ensured by the piston screen changer.