A pipe extrusion line that battenfeld-cincinnati claims offers ‘ultimate flexibility in diameters and wall thicknesses’ has helped Emtelle, a telecoms and water pipes extruder, automate its lines for increased demand.
Kenn E. Byllemos, COO of Emtelle Denmark, said: “Battenfeld-cincinnati was the only machine manufacturer able to meet our requirements in terms of full automation and ultimate flexibility - the greatest advantage of the new line.
“The fully automatic dimension change was a very important consideration for us, since we have more and more customers demanding customised sizes, for example cap pipes. These must combine a very small wall thickness with a relatively large external diameter.
“In practice, changeover to different pipe dimensions takes us 20 minutes at most and changing to a different automatic range – eg, from 200 – 355mm to 400 – 630mm can be effected within one shift. Another decisive advantage is that only very minor quantities of scrap are produced during dimension change.”
Emtell had run a system for a year producing 4-layer pipes with diameters ranging from 200 to 800mm, according to SDR classification (DIN 8074), as well as in special customised sizes - and all of this with minimal changeover times and scrap quantities.
Brigitte Diekhaus, Project Leader at battenfeld-cincinnati, said: “In contrast to competitors’ products, our calibration sleeves are made of a cylindrical, rolled metal sheet that comes close to a standard calibration in its design. The pipe dimension can be changed during production – seamlessly and fully automatically. Both standard and customized sizes can be produced with our calibration sleeves, not only in terms of external diameters but also in terms of wall thicknesses, which may vary for example be-tween 6.3 and 57.2 mm. For a colour change during production, we have scrap quantities of less than 500 kg.”
Automatic dimension change and consequently the high flexibility of the line as a whole is finally also ensured by the FDC down-stream components, which are also a unique feature in the industry. The vacuum tank operates with a pipe support system covering 180° of the pipe’s circumference and is adjustable over the entire dimensional range without modifications. This also applies to the haul-off and cutting device, which can be adjusted automatically during dimension change as well.