Plastics Industry Wear Solutions
Plastics production is high and tight: High-volume production and tight quality requirements. Wear affects many parts of the production process, and takes many forms. Erosion, corrosion, and abrasion can damage extruder barrels, liners, dies, pipes, elbows, valves, and chutes, and halt production.
Applied correctly, tungsten carbide is the first material choice for wear-resistant pelletizing dies, knives, high-pressure plungers, barrels, and screws.
Our wear solutions are age-defying. They can extend component life up to 15 times longer compared to unprotected components.
Plungers
If you need complete reliability in your LDPE processing, then you need Kennametal hypercompressor plungers. Kennametal’s K94 carbide grade is the industry standard plunger material. During the plunger grinder process, you’ll achieve exacting size control.
As an added benefit to customers, Kennametal can conduct on-site, non-destructive testing. No job is too big with plungers available in diameters up to 7” and lengths up to 60”.
Pelletizing Plates
Underwater pelletizing plates are key to successful polyolefin extrusion. Kennametal’s plates are manufactured from PD-21 titanium carbide. Our pelletizing plates excel at thermal retention and fight wear throughout the process.
You’ll also worry less about orifice hole freeze-off and melt fracture with this grade of titanium carbide pelletizing plates.
Extruder Barrels
Extruder barrels encounter constant difficult wear conditions. Kennametal’s wear coatings act as a shield against erosion, abrasion, and corrosion. Our coatings encourage heat transfer in the barrels and reduce the risk of catastrophic failure.
Conveyance Systems
Blowouts are a constant threat in conveyance systems. Piping and elbows are at particular risk. Kennametal’s cladding material can reduce and virtually eliminate blowouts in conveyance equipment and give you peace of mind.
Protected systems can reduce maintenance costs and downtime, and prevent cross contamination due to blowouts.
Due to the extreme abrasiveness of AMODEL polyphthalamide pellets, which are composed of up to 50% glass, Solvay Advanced Polymers, located in Augusta, GA, was experiencing daily piping blowouts, particularly in the elbows of their conveyance system. After experimenting with long-radius-bend, pocket-back-deflection, ceramic-lined, glass and glass-lined, and tungsten-carbide-coated elbows, Solvay turned to Kennametal Conforma Clad™, dramatically increasing the life of their elbows from 21 days to more than nine years and significantly decreasing annual labor, parts, and lost product costs.