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KraussMaffei Berstorff has added a variant to its ModulPlus compounding line platform, which it says is designed to be more simpler and more cost-effective. The group also claims that the time required to manufacture the line is now about two months shorter and the steel structure costs are reduced by up to 20%. Four lines in the new configuration have already been sold to customers in Denmark and China.
The new design is simpler than previous lines, though metering, material handling, pelletising and control modules are almost unchanged and are still assembled in Hannover. The real difference is that the extruder is no longer integrated in a steel module. This enables simple access to the extruder at ground level.
“Thanks to this innovative solution, we save up to 20% in steel structure costs and reduce the manufacturing time by about two months as simultaneous operations in Hannover are possible”, said Thorsten Schroer, Assistant Head of Plant Engineering at KraussMaffei Berstorff. “A further plus factor is the possible international labour division: if necessary, assembly, completion and testing of the steel structure and peripheral components can be performed by the KraussMaffei Berstorff subsidiaries in China and the USA and the equipment can subsequently be combined with the extruder that was manufactured in Hannover”, said Schroer. To a certain degree ModulPlus has been designed with standardisation in mind, which also saves on build time.
The lines are composed of fully wired and piped individual units which are mounted and tested in Hannover. Upon request, wet commissioning and customer personnel training can also be performed in Hannover. Modules are then set up and connected at the customer’s site.
KraussMaffei Berstorff says that the key benefits are rapid start-up without any interface problems, easy disassembly and re-installation in case there is a need to re-locate, and a low total investment cost as a simple production area is usually sufficient, and there is no need for sophisticated steel structures.
