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Online Colour change now a reality for Fibre Extrusion
Colour and additive technology innovators ColorMatrix are
declaring an end to downtime for colour changing in fibre
extrusion. This follows the launch of their new injection and
dispersion system for dosing their liquid additive formulations
into the polymer melt stream for fibre extrusion.
This important new development means that by adding colour online, post-extrusion, without the need for time-consuming machine stops or messy colour changes, there are significant savings to be made in both production downtime and product wastage for synthetic fibre and filament producers. The system also has the potential for multiple colour production from one extruder head giving further production efficiencies.
The fact that injection and mixing of the liquid additive takes place after extrusion also means that extruder settings no longer need adjustment when switching between additives. The elimination of extruder 'slip' with liquid additives at high addition rates is a further advantage to this new method of colouring fibre. Depending on the requirement, the system can be retro-fitted on existing extrusion lines as well as installed on new extrusion lines.
ColorMatrix demonstrated their innovative online colour change technology at the last year's ITMA exhibition. Declan Nealon, Extrusion specialist at ColorMatrix said: "Being able to show colours being matched, adjusted and made ready for production in a live demonstration led to a great deal of interest at the exhibition. We are now in development trials with a number of major fibre producers and results are showing exceptional dispersion of our liquid additives."
The system, which was developed in collaboration with Extrusion specialists FET, represents a step change on how synthetic textiles can be coloured and is a result of an intensive development programme. It is believed that this is the first time that specialists in both liquid colour and extrusion have worked so closely together to deliver an innovative package for melt injection and dispersion of liquid additives.
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