Zenith Applications for Plastic Extrusion
Industry: Plastic Extrusion – Extrusion
Industry Challenge
To ensure quality and repeatability, producers must control extruder variations such as pressure fluctuations, viscosity inconsistencies, and density changes. The BB PEP and Zenith PEP II pump and system series products are the product of choice for this application.
With the BB PEP and Zenith PEP II gear pump, manufacturers can effectively control the melt delivery to the downstream equipment ensuring a final product that is reliable, repeatable and economical. To achieve this control, the BB PEP and PEP II series regulates the back pressure on the extruder minimizing resident time and stabilizing the plasticizing action of the extruder.
How You Benefit
Improved Gage Control - Extruded product can have an outside diameter that can range from 0.030 to 0.500". With the many profile shapes, walls can become thin - as low as 0.003" - for ultra thin single- or multi-lumen tubing. Both the BB PEP and PEP-II pump can maintain these tight tolerances, especially at low levels. A properly installed pump can achieve a tolerance of ±1% of the outside diameter, offering an improvement of up to 50% over lines not using gear pumps.
Greater Process Uniformity - The installation of both the BB PEP or PEP-II pump on a medical tubing line enables a constant volumetric output and dampens process fluctuations. The accuracy of the melt delivered downstream is virtually unaffected by variations in melt temperature or viscosity, as well as extruder surges or pulsations. As a result, product stability and repeatability are greatly improved.
Improved Product Quality - Both the BB PEP and PEP-II pump improves product quality by reducing the polymer’s heat history. By allowing the pump to handle pressurization, the back-pressure on the extruder is reduced, thereby reducing the heat imparted to the polymer. In some applications, this has resulted in a lower overall processing temperature of 10-14°F.
