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The Plastics Drying and Blending Experts 860.627.5110 www . dri-air.com Press-Side Systems DRI-AIR offers an extensive range of multi-hopper drying and blending systems to maximize the productivity of your presses and extruders: Drying systems with up to 12 hoppers Blending systems for virgin, regrind, and colorant Multi-press systems for drying and conveying DRI - AIR ® ... our name Made in USA minimum minimum flow rate necessary to achieve the ΔT setpoint. According flow minimum flow rate necessary to achieve the ΔT setpoint. According rate minimum flow rate necessary to achieve the ΔT setpoint. According necessary minimum flow rate necessary to achieve the ΔT setpoint. According to minimum flow rate necessary to achieve the ΔT setpoint. According achieve minimum flow rate necessary to achieve the ΔT setpoint. According the minimum flow rate necessary to achieve the ΔT setpoint. According ΔT minimum flow rate necessary to achieve the ΔT setpoint. According setpoint. minimum flow rate necessary to achieve the ΔT setpoint. According According minimum flow rate necessary to achieve the ΔT setpoint. According to Steinbichler, this can save up to 80% of mold-cooling energy by regulating pump speed and flow while maintaining effective cooling. The new HB-Therm TCU with variable-speed pump will be available only through Engel. However, Engel's OPC-UA communi- cation and iQ flow control will be open to other TCU suppliers. NEW SCREWS AT K In the category of "system solutions," Engel has inaugurated a new Dept. of Plasticizing Systems, which is resulting in new screw designs, two of which will be at K. One is a new mixing screw for automotive, where ability to handle a wide range of materials—from talc-filled PP to PC/ABS—is more important than maximum speed. The screw has a long L/D and incorporates multiple shear elements for better mixing. It is accompanied by an improved nonreturn ball valve. The second example is a new barrier screw for packaging with a mixing head. Also with long L/D, it incorporates new flite cladding for wear resistance. Engel is also investing 17 million Euros over five years to boost screw screw manufacturing capacity up to 100% and cut lead time by up to half. manufacturing capacity up to 100% and cut lead time by up to half. TOWARD THE SMART FACTORY Engel's K exhibit will emphasize three elements of the Smart Factory, which Engel calls "inject 4.0": smart machines, smart production, and smart service. One element is the new OPC-UA platform-independent communication protocol discussed above. Mold cooling is only the first implementation; robots could likely be next. In the category of smart service, Engel will introduce the e-connect.monitor module to develop 24-hr continuous remote moni- toring of machine conditions to schedule maintenance, predict wear or component failures, and generally maximize machine availability by reducing both planned and unplanned downtime. Two new diag- nostic modules are now in development. One is said to eliminate the need to pull a screw to evaluate wear. Instead, easy-to-install sensors are said to require only a few minutes to evaluate screw performance. Engel has developed ultrasonic technology to measure the clearance between the screw flights and the barrel. The sensor can be mounted magnetically on the outside of the barrel. New ultrasonic sensors mount magnetically on the outside of the barrel to assess screw wear. This is part of Engel's new e-connect.monitor development program for predictive maintenance. Close -Up On Technolog y