Simplifying plastic extrusion and injection moulding

Plastics extrusion applications benefit from specialised algorithms designed to optimise use of water, fan or oil cooling. Monitoring and control of the pressure in plastics manufacture can prevent damage to machinery caused by overpressure conditions. Eurotherm's P304i melt pressure indicator and P304c controller feature fast reacting overshoot free control to ensure continuous high quality production without waste. With industry standard connections to sensors and actuators and a quick code guided configuration, the units are quick to commission and apply.

The melt pressure indicator and controller improve operational efficiency thanks to: easy and effective auto-tune; universal and strain gauge inputs; a secondary input for differential pressure indication/control; analogue retransmission; easy and flexible configuration via PC software or front panel; Modbus RTU digital communications; and a high visibility three colour LED display.

Tim Linnell, Product Portfolio Manager, Invensys Eurotherm, comments: “Compatible with industry standard probes and strain gauges including Dynisco, the P304 uses automatic standard shunt calibration procedures making it ideal for new installations and retrofit. It has been designed to monitor and automate the pressure of molten plastic being forced through a die or into a mould. Usually a screen is used to filter out impurities, and as these build up on the screen, the pressure needed to push plastic through increases. If not carefully monitored and controlled, this pressure can cause damage to equipment. P304 combines the most advanced features for management of melt pressure of any instrument in its class with simplicity of use and a high speed 50ms cycle time so that rapid changes in pressure can be monitored and dealt with.”