As a leading supplier of high quality extrusion equipment, American Kuhne is proud to introduce AKcelerator. It will be e-mailed every other month in our never-ending quest to improve our customer's quality, efficiency and profitability. AKcelerator has been designed and engineered to maximize your time, bringing you valuable information including:  

• Technically Speaking:  Learn the secrets to success from our experienced mechanical, electrical, and process engineers.

• Product News: Hear it here first!

• Worth Noting:  Press releases, new sales representatives, and AK personnel updates.

• AKt Now!:  Exceptional value offers on products and services for new and existing customers.

We are confident that you will find the information contained in AKcelerator valuable. You may also want to forward it to a colleague. If you are not already on our mailing list and would like to subscribe, or wish to unsubscribe, simply click "Subscriber Services" at the bottom of the page. 

Welcome to AKcelerator!

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING...

Screw and Barrel Wear Sabotage Output Quality

Now you can afford to do something about it.

Wear of screws and barrels can significantly effect throughput and quality of extrusion products.  As wear occurs, the natural reaction of process engineers and operators is to simply increase screw speed to compensate for the evolving loss in output.  While this approach is successful in accomplishing the short-term goal to regain throughput, the increase in screw speed can significantly increase melt temperature causing a variety of related process problems.

How much is it costing you now?

In high output and/or low melt temperature applications, any wear will reduce usable rate, since the extruder is operated in a maximized condition.  Certainly wear of 0.020" on the screw diameter will reduce rate measurably (perhaps 10%), and rebuilding would be easily justified.  Most manufacturers will allow screws to wear to .050-.070" or more, living with reduced rates or higher than desired melt temperatures (and the resulting decrease in productivity and quality).

When should you replace?

Depending upon the application, screw life can range from 6 months to 5 years.  As a general industry-wide rule of thumb, it is believed that typical barrel life is, on average, 2 to 3 times that of the screw life (with compatible wear resistant materials).  Tungsten Carbide based materials (Colmonoy 83 on screws and Xaloy 800 or equivalent on barrels) typically yield 30% to 100% longer life compared to the "standard" materials (Colmonoy 56 and Xaloy 102 or equivalent).   

What about hi-tech treatments?

Fortunately, the cost "adders" to upgrade from conventional treatments to more wear resistant materials have dropped significantly in recent years and, as a result, many extrusion processors have decided on the Tungsten Carbide pairing of the screws and barrel linings to maximize life.  In some cases, wear guarantees can be included to provide added insurance of the value of your added investment.

The Bottom Line

While it may be difficult to accurately ascertain the wear rate and resulting impact on productivity with your existing screw and barrel, it's never too late to inspect them as any significant wear (over .020" to .040") will certainly indicate a measurable loss in output and/or quality.  The added benefit of a new screw and barrel, is that base line data can be documented, to be compared at regular intervals, for routine evaluation of output loss and melt temperature increase.  Given today's production pressures and/or requirements for maximum profitability, new/rebuilt screws and new barrels are often easily justified with fast pay back, often in just a few months.

For a more comprehensive discussion of this topic, a technical paper, "The Effects of Screw and Barrel Wear on Extruder Performance," is available at http://www.clk9.com/enews/t.asp?S=10&ID=174&NL=28&N=60&SubscriberID=25591&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eamericankuhne%2Ecom%2F.

-- PRODUCT NEWS --

Pushing the Envelope - Turbo Style
NewTurbo-Air Barrel Cooling System

Continuing to push the performance envelope, American Kuhne has developed an all-new, low-cost super-efficient barrel air-cooling system.  The new, field proven TURBO-AIR COOLING SYSTEM provides all of the low maintenance advantages of conventional air-cooling but with high heat removal capability approaching that of "high maintenance" water-cooling systems.

While most processors have expressed the desire to abandon their maintenance intensive water-cooled systems, many have been unable to switch due to the significantly higher cooling requirements of their process.  For the first time, customers have an air-cooling system available that will allow them to hold the existing barrel set-points with confidence on 2.5 inch through 6 inch extruders. 

The TURBO-AIR COOLING SYSTEM can also be cost-effectively retrofitted to all brands of existing extruders!  Get more details about this innovative air-cooling system at the 2003 ANTEC Conference in Nashville. 

HDPE Performance Under Pressure

New HP² Steward Barrier Screw

After years of research, American Kuhne's Ed Steward has developed a new barrier screw for HDPE that provides 10% to 20% output increases compared to previous screw designs when operating under high head pressures. This design maintains excellent melt quality and pressure stability for outstanding dimensional control.

"HP²" signifies high performance at high pressure. It is ideally suited for enhancing the performance of sheet, pipe, profile, blow molding and other demanding HDPE applications requiring high outputs with high head pressures. E-mail Ed Steward (esteward@americankuhne.com) or call him directly at 860-886-7745 (ext.114) to learn more about this revolutionary design.

SEE YOU AT NPE 2003!

Look for plenty of excitement coming out of the American Kuhne Booth # 6139. Be sure to stop by.  Watch for further booth details in the next AKcelerator.

WORTH NOTING

Welcome Aboard, Brian Caulfield.  We are pleased to announce that Brian Caulfield is our new Inside Sales Manager.  Brian brings over 19-years of extruder experience to his new position and looks forward to supporting our current and future customers.  Do not hesitate to e-mail Brian Caulfield (bcaulfield@americankuhne.com) or call him directly at 860-886-7745 (ext.126). 

New American Kuhne Reps. The following new sales reps have recently joined the AK family:

EPM Sales (630-761-9898): covering Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Minneapolis, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Kansas.  EPM provides sales coverage through eight experienced salespeople. Their website is http://www.clk9.com/enews/t.asp?S=10&ID=174&NL=28&N=60&SubscriberID=25591&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eepmsales%2Ecom

Pro Plastics (317-813-3055): covering Indiana and Kentucky.  Pro Plastics employs five seasoned professionals serving the territory. Their website is http://www.clk9.com/enews/t.asp?S=10&ID=174&NL=28&N=60&SubscriberID=25591&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eproplasticsusa%2Ecom
 

AKt Now!

Now through March 31, 2003:

• All new Steward Barrier Screws are 15% off our standard pricing (as always, duplicate screws are 20% discounted compared to our standard pricing).
• Replacement Barrels (for both AK and non-AK machines) are discounted 5% from our standard aggressive prices. Barrels 3.5 inch and larger will receive FREE* borescoping.

*  Customer pays travel and living expenses only, no daily service rate will be charged for on-site or travel time. 

E-Mail Privacy Notice: AKcelerator is a regular e-mail newsletter of American Kuhne, Inc. and is not sent unsolicited. You can unsubscribe by replying to this e-mail with Unsubscribe in the subject line, or use the options above.

Tel: 860-886-7775 ● Fax: 860-887-7621