Hosokawa Alpine has expanded its high-efficiency cooling system for blown film extrusion. The system consists of the Alpine CRX cooling ring series for outer cooling and the Alpine HT cooling tower for inner cooling. The new CRX 5, CRX 7 and CRX 10 sizes are now available. Also new is the VarDAR after-cooling unit, which prevents blockages.
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Energy-efficient cooling ring for outer cooling
The cooling ring is a key factor in energy-efficient film production. “For the Alpine CRX series, we opted for a low-counterpressure system. This allows us to make more efficient use of the available cooling capacity and increase line throughput,” says Dr. Holger Niemeier, Executive Vice President at Hosokawa Alpine. The base body is fully thermally insulated and also contributes to increased energy efficiency. In addition, the insulation avoids condensation formation on the outer surface. The high-performance cooling ring is also characterised by optimised air distribution, resulting in improved film tolerance. Since the Alpine CRX only has a single cooling air supply line, it can be easily integrated in the system.
Inner cooling with unique technology
The efficient inner cooling is provided by the Alpine HT cooling tower. The new nozzle geometry of the cooling tower reduces the counter-pressure, thus ensuring optimum use of the available cooling capacity. The unique monomer collection system for paraffin retention is also employed. The system developed by Hosokawa Alpine prevents paraffin splashes on the film bubble, which substantially increases cooling tower cleaning intervals. The high volumetric flow of the Alpine HT cooling tower guarantees extremely high line output.
VarDAR post-cooling unit prevents blockages
The cooling system from Hosokawa Alpine can be supplemented with a VarDAR post-cooling unit. This provides additional external cooling of the film bubble when producing film that tends to block. The aftercooling unit enables an increase in output and effectively prevents blocking of the film tube in the take-off. If the height of the production hall is limited, the height of the line can be reduced by using VarDAR to prevent blocking here as well. The post-cooling unit is installed between the calibration cage and the flattening of the take-off and can be variably adapted to different diameters depending on its size. Retrofitting to existing systems is also possible.
