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Case Study | Speed-controlled plastic vacuum conveying

Flexible and intelligent conveying systems with speed-controlled vacuum generators

Due to their use of Elmo Rietschle side channel compressors and vacuum pumps, motan's METRO G and GRAVICOLOR product lines are a prime example of how material flow and productivity in the plastics industry can be improved through the digitalization of process workflows.


motan holding

The motan Group, headquartered in Überlingen on Lake Constance, was founded in 1947. As a leading provider of systems for continuous raw material handling, it operates in the fields of injection molding, blow molding, extrusion, and compounding.

The company's application-oriented product portfolio includes innovative, modular system solutions for storage, drying, and crystallization, as well as for conveying, dosing, and mixing raw materials for the plastics manufacturing and processing industry.

motan holding gmbh

Fully automated material handling

A major customer with a production facility in Monterrey, Mexico, is already benefiting from these energy-saving opportunities. motan-colortronic supplied and installed all equipment for the site's fully automated and centrally controlled material handling system. More than 500 gravimetric mixing and dosing systems from motan's GRAVICOLOR series are in operation there, along with over 1,500 material loaders. The Ethernet-based control system, combined with a higher-level display system, enables the integration of the control systems required for drying, mixing, conveying, and storage. Each of the production lines, each with approximately 25 injection molding machines for new goods and regrind, is supplied by two Velocis side-channel compressors from the Elmo Rietschle Division of Gardner Denver. Detlev Schmidt, Head of Sales at motan-colortronic, explains the key advantages of the system concept in terms of operational reliability. "The compressors are completely maintenance-free and extremely quiet," says Schmidt. According to him, another advantage of frequency-controlled devices is the possibility of economical transport thanks to the amount of compressed air adapted to the required material throughput.
Motan Factory

Elmo Rietschle Products

The power range of the frequency-controlled, energy-efficient side channel compressors has been expanded, now reaching a peak power of 22 kW.

C-VLR 301 claw vacuum pump with frequency-controlled IE3 motor; suction speed up to 370 m³/h; ultimate vacuum in continuous operation of 200 mbar (absolute). The sound pressure can be significantly reduced using modern acoustic technology.

Elmo Rietschle Products

Überblick über Mehrwert

Die Tabelle zeigt die Energieeinsparung durch den Einsatz intelligenter Umrichtertechnik bei variierenden Durchflussmengen. Eine Beispielrechnung für den Betrieb eines einzigen, frequenzgeregelten Seitenkanalkompressors mit 11 kW über 20.000 Betriebsstunden zeigt eine Ersparnis von 3900 €, wenn bei einem Strompreis von 0,13 €/kW dessen Energieverbrauch um nur 10 % gesenkt werden kann.

Es lassen sich allerdings noch viel nachhaltiger Kosten einsparen. Die leisen, wartungsarmen Kompressoren und Vakuumpumpen besitzen alle ein modulares Design mit je nach Anforderung anpassbarer Steuerung. Daher können die Hersteller von Geräten und selbst die Bediener auf erhebliche Reserven zurückgreifen, die sich aus dem Zusammenspiel der Steuerungssysteme mit den frequenzgeregelten Antriebssträngen und ihre flexible Anpassung an die Systemtechnologie ergeben.

energy saving chart

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