Part of the Informa PLC division

This website is operated by one or more companies owned by Informa PLC, and all copyrights belong to them. The registered office of Informa PLC is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Nordson Corp. shared a recent success story describing how its new Xaloy screw solves the long-term problems that plagued the pipe extrusion line operated by Polyethylene Technology.

The output of the extrusion line fluctuates greatly, which is caused by surge. In the case of thick-walled high-density polyethylene pipes, the difference from the target wall thickness is as high as 50%. "We tried various solutions," said Brad Williams, a senior manufacturing manager at the Lakeville, Minnesota plant. "We looked for problems with the motor drive and puller, tested four to five alternative resins, and finally got a new screw and reinstalled barrel-all of which were unsuccessful. Our gravity extrusion control showed every A fluctuation occurs every 5 or 10 seconds."

In addition, the polyethylene pipe extruder has the problem of carbon black mixing. The required addition amount is 2%, but "we can't get a good mixing effect-there are always areas with too little carbon black in the pipeline," Williams said.

Polyethylene Technology turned to Nordson within a few months after receiving the screws from another supplier. “We recommended the Xaloy high-efficiency barrier screw with Nano mixer in the metering section,” said Brad Casale, Nordson’s regional sales manager. "By preventing premature crushing of solids and increasing the melting rate, the high-efficiency screw enhances the mixing and output of the polyethylene technology extrusion line. The nanomixer provides a strong dispersion and mixing of carbon black," Casale added.

In addition to solving the surge problem and providing a uniform melt, the new Xaloy screw also increases production. "Thanks to the use of the new Xaloy screw, our target output rate has increased by 12%," Williams said.

The forty-year-old polyethylene technology company produces polyethylene pipes for municipal water supply, geothermal, pumps and wells, and irrigation applications.

Nordson develops and manufactures a series of systems for precision dispensing applications. Nordson polymer processing systems provide customers with engineered components for melting, homogenizing, filtering, metering and shaping plastic and fluid coating materials.

More information about text format