Achema 2018: Greater flexibility and higher efficiency for conveying and manufacturing processes

Stuttgart, May 2018 – At this year's Achema (in Frankfurt am Main/Germany, June 11-15, 2018, hall 5.0, booth D34), Coperion and Coperion K-Tron will be presenting innovative technology solutions for the process industry. Coperion is known as a pioneering supplier of continuous production equipment for a wide range of industries and has already converted numerous production processes from batch to continuous production. The key components of these systems are always the result of their own development and production. The company will be exhibiting examples of this, such as its new compactly designed modular Coperion K-Tron K3-PH pharma feeder line and the new K-ML-D5-P liquid feeder. Coperion will also be exhibiting its compact ZZB stainless steel rotary valve for stringent hygienic requirements, and a ZRD rotary valve with RotorCheck 5.0 contact monitoring system. To round off the exhibits there is the ZS-B patented side feeder with feed enhancement technology (FET), which is used to feed raw materials into numerous extrusion processes.

Coperion will also be presenting a new, innovative pneumatic conveying process that can consume up to 35% less power and can generate up to 98% less dust. This is particularly beneficial for manufacturers of plastic granulates, enabling them to significantly increase their product quality while markedly reducing their specific power consumption.

Continuous extrusion ensures high efficiency
Continuous extrusion with twin screw extruders is already considered a groundbreaking production process for a wide variety of products. It ensures high product quality without batch fluctuations and is highly cost-effective. Coperion has already successfully converted numerous processes from batch to continuous production, for example for the manufacture of catalyst compounds or hot-melt and pressure-sensitive adhesives. Coperion integrates a wide variety of top-class technology solutions into its processing plants in order to optimally fulfill the diverse requirements of different production processes.

Coperion uses its ZS-B side feeder in order to reliably feed low-bulk raw materials that tend to fluidize (for example silica in the manufacture of reactive sealants). This side feeder is equipped with the patented feed enhancement technology (FET) developed in-house by Coperion, which applies a vacuum to the feed zone by means of a porous, gas-permeable wall. Doing so achieves considerably improved feeding and flow rates – even when the proportion of silica in the recipe is more than 10%. At Achema, Coperion will be exhibiting a ZS-B 92 side feeder with FET.

New optimized pharmaceutical feeders based on modular concepts
At this year’s Achema Coperion K-Tron introduces the next generation of its highly accurate pharmaceutical loss-in-weight feeders. The K3-PH line of feeders is characterized by a new feeder design based on a modular concept complete with a drastically reduced overall footprint. This is made possible by a new, smaller D4 platform scale incorporating the patented and highly accurate Smart Force Transducer (SFT) weighing technology. The modular quick change design allows for fast and easy switchover of feeder types and sizes, requiring only the feeding unit and hopper to be exchanged in order to adapt the feeder to new processes and formulations. The modular concept not only saves time but also improves and facilitates cleaning and maintenance. In addition, the new design is ideal for multi feeder clustering.

Reliable and highly accurate feeding solutions for a wide variety of applications
The new Coperion K-Tron liquid feeder K-ML-D5-P also benefits from the new modular design and now easily combines a multitude of different pumps and tanks to constitute the ideal configuration providing reliable feeding of liquids for the particular application. The new modularity makes it easy to individually tailor each liquid feeder to the desired feed rate, the process requirements and the characteristics of the liquid fed. The standardized mechanical design as well as identical operation and maintenance for units with different performance rates are added benefits.

Furthermore, Coperion K-Tron presents more feeding solutions for the most diverse applications and ranges of use. The Coperion K-Tron single and twin screw microfeeders are specially designed to provide maximum accuracy at minimal feed rates (starting from 32 g/h) and with minimal residual material left in the feeder. These feeders are ideally suited for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The modular design means more flexibility for the process and easy access to all parts for cleaning, maintenance and recipe changes. The K-CL-SFS-MT12 micro feeder is on display at this year’s Achema.

The T35 twin screw loss-in-weight feeder, which is also on display, is ideal for accurately feeding free flowing to flooding powders as well as other difficult, poor flowing bulk materials, e.g. lumpy, moist or bridge building materials. Coperion K-Tron feeders are available as volumetric and gravimetric units and are offered in a wide range of different sizes. Gravimetric feeders are based on the patented SFT weighing technology which provides for unrivalled high accuracy and vibration-immune weighing. In addition, there are various options available enabling the feeders to suit almost any application, examples being ActiFlow™ or the electronic pressure compensation EPC. ActiFlow™ actively and reliably prevents bridging or ratholing of poor flowing bulk material in the feeder hopper and can be retrofitted on existing gravimetric feeders.

Technologically advanced components for bulk material handling
The Coperion ZRD hygienic rotary valve will also be on display, outfitted with the new version of the proven RotorCheck contact monitoring system. The new RotorCheck system 5.0 registers, evaluates and reports unwanted contact between the rotor and housing in order to be able to prevent metallic abrasion and thus potential contamination of the product being conveyed. This improves safety and convenience when operating rotary valves, particularly in processes with high quality requirements, frequently changing products and recipes or a high number of cleaning cycles.

The compact stainless steel rotary valve ZZB was especially developed for small capacities and high sanitary needs. It is therefore perfectly suitable for operations in the food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The interior and exterior polished surfaces prevent undesired product deposits. With the standard extraction device, the rotor can be easily removed from the housing. Easy to open tri-clamp flange connections at both inlet and outlet simplify installation and maintenance. The ZZB is available in sizes DN 80 and 100 (inlet and outlet) and is suitable for use in ATEX zones.