Extrusion International 3-2024-USA

40 Extrusion International 3/2024 compound mixing shops. The company’s customers in the technological rubber products and global tire indus- tries can use the fully automatic mixing lines installed in the lab to test their recipes at production scale. Just recently, the group ordered a further inspection system from PIXARGUS. “The benefits of the system were compelling,” says Ricarda Kendler, who is Head of the Technical Center & Process Engineering at HFMixing Group. “To start with, the sample preparation is very easy and as many samples as desired can be continu- ously inspected 100%.” Not less important is the fact that the PIXARGUS system can inspect both raw batches and final mixtures. “Most of the measuring methods available focus on the inspection of vulcanized samples. For us it is, however, crucial to be able to measure the quality ex the mixer, that is to say in the non-vulcanized state. We have no doubt that we can achieve this with the PIXARGUS system,” emphasizes Kendler. Enhanced quality data analysis for more process reliability For lab environments, PIXARGUS supplies the Profil - Control 7 Roughness system as a compact smart version, for mixing rooms as an inline system. The software of the systems, designed to operate within an integrated data network, provides a wide range of analysis func- tions. By relating the analysis data from the mixing room to the data acquired by the inspection systems checking the quality of the final product at the end of the produc - tion chain, it is possible, for example, to tell which com- pounds will produce optimum quality and which ones will result in out-of-spec production. “With this knowl- edge, we can make the production processes even more reliable for our customers,” says Michael Frohn, Head of Sales at PIXARGUS. PIXARGUS GmbH Industriepark Aachener Kreuz, Monnetstr. 2, 52146 Würselen, Germany www.pixargus.de PIXARGUS, INC 10176 Intern. Boulevard, Cincinnati, OH 45246, USA www.pixargus.com MEASUREMENT AND INSPECTION TECHNOLOGY Closed-Loop Recycling of HDPE  – Pellets for Food Contact with OMNImax Recycling System High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is widely used in the manufacture of bottles, pipes and containers because of its strength and rigidity, but also in personal care products, detergents and industrial fluids because of its durability. Another major application is the manufacture of bottle caps and milk bottles. A recycle stream already exists due to changes in deposit regulations and the attachment of bottle caps to the bottle. The caps go through the same washing systems as PET, are then separated in the float-sink tank and can be further processed. As a result, they also meet the high-quality requirements for bottle flakes. I f treated with the Gneuss "Super Clean Process", the regrind can be reprocessed back into a bottle cap, thus closing the recycling loop. The Gneuss OMNI max recy- cling system used in this process has undergone multiple challenge tests and has been awarded several food con- tact approvals/LNOs. The technology does not require any upstream or downstream process steps. This is of great importance for polyethylene, as it can only be treated in other processes at very low temperatures and requires long residence times due to the slow diffusion processes involved. The OMNImax purifies the polymer by subjecting it to highly efficient degassing using an MR Spure extruder Regrind from HDPE bottle caps