Nordson has developed an online tool that quickly calculates the resin cost savings achievable with installation of a BKG BlueFlow gear pump, plus the number of months in which the investment in the pump is paid back in full.
Installed between the extruder and the die, a gear pump shifts the job of building melt pressure from the extruder to the gear pump.
Beside reducing stress on the extruder and potentially increasing throughput, the gear pump significantly reduces the effect of process variations on melt pressure, which enables extrusion processors to run with narrower tolerances without compromising product uniformity.
The new online tool, called the Gear Pump Payback Analysis, can calculate resin cost savings and investment payback time on the basis of resin price, output rate, pressure variation with and without the gear pump, and capital investment.
Christian Schroeder, Global Product Manager from melt delivery products at Nordson, said: “Even with a new screw, pressure variation without the use of a gear pump typically is the +/-5 per cent range, making it necessary for the processor to use more resin in order to ensure that the finished product meets specification.”
“By reducing pressure variation to as little as +/-1 per cent, the BlueFlow gear pump makes possible resin cost savings that can generate a full return on investments in a matter of months.”