Acrison Feeders Tackle Tough Compounding Challenge
Acrison International has recently commissioned a new BDF weigh feeder at Jackdaw, the leading nylon compounder in the UK, bringing the total of Acrison feeders within this harsh environment to 16.The bin discharge feeder (BDF) has two parallel conditioning augers mounted within a non-converging feed chamber, and a centrally located metering auger. There are 9 standard designs of conditioning auger to promote product flow, and more than 100 different configurations of metering auger for optimum performance across a wide range of product types.
Jackdaw demands a high degree of versatility. All its feeders need to be able to run any filler or additive, from titanium dioxide and talc to glass fiber and glass beads, which have vastly different bulk densities, particle size and flow characteristics.
Obviously, no one design or configuration of feeder could possibly cope with this huge variety but this is where the Acrison feeders make their mark.
The machines have been supplied with an optimized array of customized and completely interchangeable specialist augers and agitators, each specifically designed to maximize flow and feed accuracy.
The BDF type feeder installed for metering titanium dioxide, fiber glass and glass bead has one special design of conditioning auger and two different designs of metering augers to achieve unmatched metering performance across the range of ingredients.
This metering performance is crucial at Jackdaw, as the entire extrusion line quality is largely dependent on the feeder. In fact, it is partly a demonstration of the feeder's quality and reliability that Jackdaw's products are so well received in industries with demanding quality standards such as the automotive industry.
'Because we don't have dedicated lines, our equipment is continually being changed, cleaned, stripped down and modified to accommodate the diversity of our product lines,' explained Roger Frost, engineering manager at the plant. 'As a consequence, all our equipment needs to be extremely versatile and has to withstand a fair degree of man-handling — as well as being accurate to within 0.5%. It's a tall order for a feeder!' he added.
This requirement for robust, accurate and easy to clean feeders led Jackdaw to Acrison — one of the international leaders in the precision metering of dry solids by volume or weight, and the closely related flow promotion and blending of such materials.
