In film extrusion, smaller jobs and frequent material changeovers are commonplace. Given the time required for a conventional changeover, unusable film is produced and machine productivity decreases. With this in mind, Windmöller & Hölscher developed the TURBOCLEAN automation module, which purges resin from all extruders and gravimetric hoppers simultaneously, dramatically decreasing the time required to change out material.
"By using TURBOCLEAN on a blown film line, changeovers can take as little as 12 minutes instead of up to 40 minutes,” explains Javeed Buch, VP of service at Windmoeller & Hoelscher in North America.
TURBOCLEAN was introduced to the market at K 2015, at which time it was only available on new VAREX II systems. Now, existing W&H VAREX II and VAREX I lines built in or after 2010 can be retrofitted with the TURBOCLEAN module allowing film manufacturers to benefit from significant cost savings that result from faster job changes.
"Retrofitting machines can be completed with a straightforward “plug & play” solution, which takes between one and two days per extruder," explains Buch.
With TURBOCLEAN, material changes are almost completely automated. For the machine operator, this means that he no longer has to manually purge resin one extruder at a time. Instead, the work steps are automated and run simultaneously, requiring the operator only to change the suction lance from one resin port to the next.
Windmöller & Hölscher
