Extrusion International 3-2022

53 Extrusion International 3/2022 rect comparison MEAF’s 75-H34 extruder, as used by ThermHex Waben, recorded 0.18 to 0.22 kW/kg, a significant saving over a competitor of MEAF’s 0.50 kW/kg. Besides the substantial energy savings (10 to 65% less energy per produced kilogram of product required), the MEAF H-series extruders are suitable to extrude multiple materials with same screw and barrel, reduced polymer degradation due to low friction extruder design as well as minimal flow and pressure fluctuations, even at higher outputs. ThermHex Waben’s parent company EconCore in- troduced its first MEAF’s 50-customized 75-H34 ex- truder for their pilot line in 2017, which features the same screw ratio but a smaller barrel and customized features compared to the ThermHex MEAF lab ex- truder. In view of more profound industrial scale-up activities for their new rPET honeycomb core, Econ- Core needed an additional larger industrial scale extruder with a compact design so that it could fit within their technology lab environment upscaled demonstration line. It also needed to efficiently handle RPET flakes and a range of engineered poly- mers used in the production of RPET and HPT (high performance thermoplastic) honeycomb cores. The 75-H34 offered this and retained the same screw ratio, barrel, and customized features as their pre- vious extruder. EconCore’s RPET honeycomb, using recycled post-consumer PET flakes, offers a sustain- able source which doesn’t compromise on mechani- cal benefits. And the energy efficiency of the MEAF extruder was another reason for EconCore to choose the extruder over any other. This resonated strongly with the company’s focus on sustainable production as well as sustainable materials. One issue faced by EconCore when searching for the right extruder was their temperature ranges for high performance polymers like PEI. More. For poly- propylene, more conventional extruders typically of- fer a temperature range of 80 C to 300 C. However, this was too low and MEAF’s extruder was capable of offering a higher temperature range from 200 C to 400 C, fulfilling the requirements to extrude RPET and a certain range of engineered polymers. Wouter Winant, technical manager at EconCore said “We required an extruder that offered a high temperature range, the customized 75-H34 extruder offers a temperature range PEI of 200-400 C whereas more standard, conventional extruders are typically limited to 300 C. With MEAF being based locally to EconCore it enabled a seamless installation process for the 75-H34 extruder.” Dr. Jochen Pflug, CEO of both EconCore and Ther- mHex Waben, added, “The demand for more sustain- able, lightweight, high rigidity materials are constant- ly growing and to cope with the influx of demand it is important for ThermHex Waben to grow our produc- tion capabilities. MEAF’s 75-H34 extruder has allowed us to expand production capacity significantly.” EconCore were recently nominated for the Belgian Business Awards for the Environment in recognition of their rPET honeycomb technology. In August 2021 Econcore’s rPET honeycomb core technology was accredited with the prestigious Solar impulse Label in recognition of the materials sustainability. Ther- mHex Waben was also in the headlines recently as they were announced in the Top 100 most innova- tive companies in Germany. EconCore https://econcore.com/en/ ThermHex Waben GmbH https://thermhex.com/de/wabenplatten/ MEAF Machines B.V. www.meaf.com Plastic Pipes Surface. Geometry. All-In-One. Optical Inline Inspection of Extruded Products www.pixargus.com Small- budget solutions Hall 10 Booth F28