During the 1970s, the production trend moved towards syn-
chronized extruders – counter-rotating extruders were hardly
used any more at that time. The different systems’ manner of
working is compared in Figures 5.1 and 5.3. In the synchro-
nized system, the synchronized intermeshing principle and
the higher screw revolution speed creates a higher shear ef-
fect in the polymer and pigment products. I should mention
at this point that these developments didn’t simply happen in
large bursts, it was a continuous process.
Due to the advancement in the field of extrusion, for exam-
ple, through special elements for the screw with very high
shear and dispersing effects, masterbatch color selection be-
came more and more versatile and increasingly higher in
terms of pigment concentration.
We know that you are very experienced in working
with companies around the globe, especially with firms
in Russia and Eastern European countries. What can you
tell us about this from personal experience?
TENNER
: Over the years, the export situation changed in that
an increasing number of machines were exported for ma-
sterbatch production. Three countries are particularly note-
worthy here: the USA, Russia and Romania.
In the 1970s, we established a subsidiary in New Jersey (USA)
for Leistritz – and it is still very successful in the market to this
day.
In the former Soviet Union, we supplied machines to Akade-
mograd, which lies about 20 km from the center of Novosi-
birsk. Basic research in 20 elementary scientific fields was
carried out here.
Another Eastern Bloc country to which we delivered a large
number of machines was Romania. Color masterbatches and
processing batches for various applications were manufactu-
red there. Our partner in Romania was Elena Ceau escu, the
president’s wife. Their great desire was to make plastics pro-
Fig. 4: LAB film blowing system (Source: Noris Plastic)
Fig. 5.3): Synchronized system
(Source for both images: Leistritz AG)
➠ www.norisplastic.deExtrusion International 5/2016
27
Fig. 5.1): Counter-rotating & intermeshing system
cessing popular in the country. Among other things, they also
wanted to create many new jobs.
Looking to the future, it can be said with great certainty that
there are still many interesting possibilities in the raw mate-
rials modification field, i.e. Masterbatch/Compounding.
These include the replacement of metal and wood through
plastics and many other related applications.
Mr. Tenner, thank you very much for your interesting
story. We wish you all the best!