Extrusion International USA 2-2020

46 Extrusion International 2/2020 COMPOUNDING – CASE STUDY aquatherm is the leading worldwide manufacturer of plastic pipeline systems made from PP-R (Picture 1). Areas of application include potable water applications, heat- ing systems, fire sprinkler systems, air-conditioning and refrigeration technology, as well as surface heating and cooling systems. The product range comprises more than 17,000 articles in seven product lines. aquatherm prod- ucts are found in a wide variety of buildings and ships all over the world. To ensure worldwide product availability and provide lo- cal services, aquatherm works closely with long-standing partners in over 70 countries around the world. The com- pany employs more than 600 people in Germany, Italy, the UK, US, and Canada. The company manufactures ex- clusively at their headquarters in Attendorn and in Rade- berg, both in Germany. Today the family company, which was founded in 1973, is managed by the second genera- tion. Over 20 years ago, aquatherm began switching from vacuum generation with conventional oil-lubricated vac- uum pumps for material feed to using MINK claw vacuum technology, a new technology in those days. The advan- tages at the time were as obvious to management as they are today: MINK claw vacuum pumps operate without aquatherm is the leading worldwide manufacturer of PP-R (polypropylene random copolymer) pipe systems for plant engineering and building services. At their headquarters in Attendorn/Germany and their subsidiary plant in Radeberg/ Germany, aquatherm annually manufacturers 38,000,000 meters of pipe and over 40 million molded parts like fittings for pipeline construction. At their Attendorn site, aquatherm relies on MINK claw vacuum technology from Busch Vacuum Solutions for material feed from their external silos to the extrusion lines, as well as for degassing molten material in the screw sections of the extruder, and exclusively uses MINK vacuum pumps throughout the entire production process Complete Vacuum Supply with MINK Claw Vacuum Technology Picture 1: Pipelines from a cooling water treatment system in an industrial plant (Picture: aquatherm) Picture 2: Glimpse of the machine roomwith theMINK claw vacuumpumps fromBusch that supply various feed circuits with vacuum (Picture: Busch Vacuum Solutions)