Extrusion International 6-2025

40 Extrusion International 6/2025 К 2025 ers are very robust and reliable, and both machine availability and OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) value are extremely high. Coperion exhibited the ZSK58Mc 18 with new screw elements that Coperion has developed especially for processing llers. These reduce wear in the melt zone while simulta- neously increasing throughput. The STS 35 Mc 11 presented at the show is especially well suited for the production of masterbatches. It achieves throughputs of up to 300 kg/h. The closely intermeshing twin screws allow for an absolutely even distribution of the ingredients while ensuring effective self-clean- ing in the process section. The com- pact design as well as the smooth machine surfaces make cleaning and maintenance during recipe changes very easy. The STS 35 Mc 11 stands out with very high process reliability and an attractive price-to- performance ratio. It was exhitited with a Coperion AccuRate ® Series 602 volumetric feeder. Coperion has expanded its C-BE- YOND digital platform for capturing and displaying extruders’ operation data. C-BEYOND makes decisive key performance indicator (KPI) evalua- tions such as availability, production output, and product quality, avail- able in real time. The production process is documented in detail and both energy consumption and CO 2 emissions per kilo of compound pro- duced are calculated. In the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) tool, a line's ef ciency is represented in real time, allowing the operator to react quickly to deviations. New to C-BEYOND is the Lifecycle Manager, a component that en- ables predictive maintenance plan- ning, thus increasing a line's OEE. In the Lifecycle Manager, upcom- ing maintenance and repair tasks are computed for all components of a Coperion extruder, based upon operating hours and performance, and reports them in advance. For example, if service on the gearbox is coming up soon, C-BEYOND trig- gers a noti cation. Servicing and maintenance work can be easily bundled using the Life- cycle Manager and scheduled proac- tively to minimize the impact on the Coperion extruders’ high productiv- ity. Following successful execution, any service measure is documented in C-BEYOND and is viewable at any time, along with a report. Thus, for every equipment, an extensive main- tenance history is generated over the years of a machine's life. The LifecycleManager has already proven itself in practice on several pilot machines. Coperion customers have been able to improve their ma- chines’ OEE signi cantly with this new tool. Coperion exhibited its new ex- truder condition monitoring system at K on the ZSK 58 Mc 18 . With the aid of sensors on the motor, gear- box and process section, this system continuously monitors vibrations in the extruder and the gearbox's oil condition. The rst anomalies in op - eration are detected early. Within a service agreement, Coperion re- motely assumes monitoring and evaluation of the captured data and provides recommendations for ac- tion, allowing service measures to be conducted proactively and mini- mizing unplanned downtimes. The condition monitoring system can be integrated into both new and exist- ing machines and has proven its reli- ability in numerous applications. In the Open Area at the Recycling Pavilion, Coperion demonstrated that the ZSK extruder is suited not only for compounding but also for plastics recycling. In contrast to single screw extruders widely used in plastics recycling, the ZSK twin screw extruder stands out with its very intensive mixing properties, its strong devolatilization perfor- mance and the high mechanical energy input that makes short resi- dence times in the process section possible. Product processing is very energy ef cient and gentle. Excel - lent product qualities in recycling of post-consumer and post-industrial waste are achieved while reaching high throughputs of up to 25 t/h. These results have been demon- strated, for example, in recycling expandable polystyrene (EPS). The ZSK twin screw extruder produces rst-class EPS quality – in the manu - facturing process, up to 30% waste material can be added without com- promising end product quality. Simi- lar results have been achieved with PET recycled on Coperion’s bottle- to-bottle lines and condensed in an SSP (solid state polycondensation) reactor – a process which has been approved for direct contact with food by both the European Food Safety Administration (EFSA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administra- tion (FDA), as well as having been brand owner approved. One of Coperion’s bottle-to-bottle refer- ence facilities achieves throughputs of 6500 kg/h using a ZSK 133 Mc 18 . Throughput rates of up to 10 t/h are possible with this Coperion solu- tion. With the ZSK FilCo, Coperion exhibited a particular design of its recycling extruders: this is ltration compounder allows for recyclate l - tering and compounding in a single process step. The space requirement compared to that of two-step pro- duction lines is markedly less. The waste plastic is melted only once, thus ensuring very energy-ef cient, high compound quality. Coperion www.coperion.com (Photo: Messe Düsseldorf / ctillmann)