FROM PC/ABS V0 TO CLEAR POLYCARBON IN JUST 60 MINUTES

In our first case study we purged a 200T machine of Black Glass Fibre PA6 using 5 kg of Barrel Blitz Universal (BBU) to produce clear natural polypropylene after just 60 minutes. And in a few hours we converted a sceptical client into a ‘believer’ (in the power of Barrel Blitz Universal, natch). The scepticism levels were lower for this case study because the client in question had already heard testimony from the client in the first case study! But they were interested to see how BBU worked as they produce a lot of PC ABS V0 materials and a large number of crystal parts but needed a solution to an ongoing black spec problem. Within a week a trial was arranged with Aquapurge’s Etienne Quinot, French Technical Sales. THE NEED FOR SPEED In this case study a 130T Battenfeld machine was in the frame and PC ABS V0 was the material that required purging. In normal circumstances stripping the screw on one of these machines could take anything up to 8 hrs. Potentially a whole day’s production lost. As PC ABS V0 is a fire retardant material, when it is heated it tends to burn, creating black specs faster than many other materials. So when you clean a machine running PC ABS V0 you need to remove those burnt in black specs. The Battenfeld machine was almost half the size of the machine in Case Study 1 and had been running PC ABS V0 all its life. It was a tough assignment. Etienne was determined to succeed. He used 8 kg of Barrel Blitz Universal (a high quantity bearing in mind the size of the machine, but still within the expectations of a first useage) until the material was coming out perfectly white and all black specs has been removed. This was achieved in just 1hr. THE URGE TO PURGE The initial purge cleaned the length of the screw. It is important to clean the tip of the screw and the end cap of the barrel because carbon builds up in the area also. The client agreed they would usually find a lot of degraded material at the endcap area of the barrel. But BBU’s first purge had extracted all accumulated carbon. A test run of clear Polycarbon production was carried out immediately after the purge and they all came out clear. Compare and contrast. After using an alternative purging agent one of our clients’ bigger machines was still producing material with black specs for 8 hours after purging, so they gave up and returned to black material production. ZERO BLACK SPECS OR MILKY MOULDINGS After 30 minutes of pure white polycarbon production our client could not find any black specs or ‘milky’ mouldings with white streaks on them, another potential issue especially if using a purging compound. Etienne explained: “This purge demonstrated what we could do in the worst case. I used a 25kg bag and left 17kg behind for the client, which they bought straight after my demonstration to carry out further trials.” After 2 weeks of production our client would only need to use 1 or 2 kgs every 2 weeks to maintain the machine in the same state. The trials went well so that our client purchased another 25kg bag once they’d used up the 17Kg, and have continued to have very good results with all their machines they used BBU on. On another occasion using 1kg on one of their 100T machine (our recommended usage guidelines on a ‘clean’ machine) we achieved PA6 to crystal clear polycarbonate on a machine that was only 1 month old. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY OUT BARREL BLITZ UNIVERSAL? If you would like to find out how Aquapurge products, including Barrel Blitz Universal could assist your ABS V0 and PC manufacturing process please get in touch. Barrel Blitz Universal can be used in any type of injection moulding machinery. In this case study it was a 130T Battenfeld machine and pure white material was produced after a lifetime of black flame retardant material. If you are not sure about the benefits click here to get in touch

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