Advanced Technical Solutions for Various Plastics Processing Tasks

Stuttgart, March 2021 – At this year’s Chinaplas (April 13-16, 2021, Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center, China) Coperion GmbH, Stuttgart/Germany and Coperion K-Tron will present their latest technologies for plastics processing. Exhibits on display in hall 10 at booth 10J29 include a ZSK 70 Mc¹⁸ twin screw extruder with a Coperion K-Tron T35 twin screw loss-in-weight feeder. Further on display is an STS 25 Mc¹¹ laboratory twin screw extruder with a NT28 feeder from Colormax Systems. Both compounding systems are ideally suited for current challenges of the plastics industry such as recycling or the production of biodegradable plastics. Additional high-accuracy and flexible feeding solutions will be on display: a Colormax Systems V50 vibratory feeder as well as a complete Coperion K-Tron system in a mobile frame consisting of a T35 Quick Change twin screw loss-in-weight feeder outfitted with ActiFlow™ smart bulk solid activator, Electronic Pressure Compensation (EPC) and a 2415 vacuum receiver for refill.

At the Coperion booth, visitors can also learn about the advantages of Coperion MTS Modular Turnkey Solutions. These smart compounding lines include first-class Coperion and Coperion K-Tron technology for all process steps and are tailored to the Asian market.

As a representative of its high performance ZSK twin screw extruder series, Coperion will exhibit a ZSK 70 Mc¹⁸ extruder with 70 mm screw diameter at this year’s Chinaplas. With its specific torque of max. 18 Nm/cm³ it reaches highest throughput rates and highest end-product quality. ZSK extruders offer maximum flexibility, reliability and economical production. The ZSK 70 Mc¹⁸ extruder on display is designed for the production of engineering plastics and reaches throughputs of 1200 up to 1600 kg/h. Due to some highly stressed areas at the process section, Coperion is using a material solution for the extruder barrels that offers very high wear and corrosion protection. The ZSK 70 Mc¹⁸ will be displayed with a highly accurate Coperion K-Tron T35 gravimetric twin screw feeder.  

Coperion will also present an STS 25 Mc¹¹ laboratory extruder with a 25 mm screw diameter that boasts all the advantages of the STS Mc¹¹ series. It has a simple design, is operator-friendly and easy to clean. The base frame has a closed, simple-to-clean surface and is equipped with castors for easy movement of the extruder and fast installation. By having the same screw diameter ratio Do/Di of 1.55 and the same maximum specific torque Md/a³ of 11.3 Nm/cm³ as the whole STS Mc¹¹ extruder series, production parameters of the STS 25 Mc¹¹ can be reliably scaled up to larger STS sizes which makes it the ideal compounding system for recipe development and basic scientific research. It is also ideally suited for the production of small batch sizes of 2 kg and more and achieves throughputs of up to 80 kg/h. The STS 25 Mc¹¹ which Coperion will exhibit at Chinaplas will be shown with a C/S-LW-NT28 twin screw loss-in-weight feeder from Colormax Systems.

Also on display will be a highly accurate Coperion K-Tron K2-ML-D5-T35/S60 Quick Change feeder, featuring the ActiFlow™ smart bulk solid activator and Electronic Pressure Compensation (EPC) in combination with a 2400 Series vacuum receiver for refill. The T35/S60 Quick Change feeder (QC) on display is designed for applications requiring quick changeover of materials and convenience of fast cleaning. The QC feeder allows for the removal of the entire feeding module with screws in place for replacement with a second unit. The removed feeding module can then be transported to a cleaning facility for further disassembly, cleaning and prepped for another material. Twin and single screw feeding modules are available. Single screw feeding units handle free flowing powders, granules, pellets and other non-flooding materials, while twin screw units are ideal for floodable powders and more difficult, sticky or hard-to-flow materials.

The ActiFlow™ smart bulk solid activator offers an innovative method to reliably prevent bridging and rat-holing of cohesive bulk materials in stainless steel hoppers without internal hopper agitation. ActiFlow is a non-product contact device, consisting of a patent-pending vibratory drive and intelligent control unit, designed specifically to work with Coperion K-Tron’s line of gravimetric loss-in-weight feeders. Together with the ActiFlow control unit, it continuously activates the material inside the hopper with an optimized frequency and amplitude, without exerting any mechanical force on the bulk material. The T35 is also equipped with Coperion K-Tron’s unique Electronic Pressure Compensation system (EPC) for loss-in-weight feeders. EPC is a clever but simple electronic solution for accurate and steady pressure compensation in feeder hoppers and outlets.

The 2400 Series vacuum receivers provide a high capacity sequencing system primarily used where larger conveying rates or long distances are required, in applications with one or multiple destinations. They are designed to high quality standards for pneumatically conveying powder, pellets and granular materials for the bulk materials handling industries. Conveying rates range from 720 to 15,000 lb/h (327 to 6,804 kg/h). On display will be the 2415 Pellet Receiver.

At this year’s Chinaplas, Coperion also presents its compounding lines in best-practice design that are developed with focus on the Asian market. These pre-configured compounding lines include first-class Coperion and Coperion K-Tron technology for all process steps: from raw material handling to feeders, the Coperion STS Mc¹¹ twin screw extruder and strand pelletizer as well as conveying and bagging solutions. These total solutions are available in different versions, each of them optimized for a specific plastics processing application.

The smart concept comprises a high level of automation with maximum digitalization and optimized handling of powders to maintain a clean production area. Furthermore, Coperion offers extensive support for optimal building design which includes all requirements for the logistics of raw material delivery and handling finished goods as well as space for maintenance.