Electricity is expensive, polymers are scarce, and carbon dioxide emissions are too high. In every respect, conserving resources makes sense. For conservation of resources to work for the long term, a well-coordinated package of measures is needed. KraussMaffei has many options to choose from in its portfolio.
1 + 1 + 1 = 3. Simple and clear, isn't it. If you want to save energy, however, you should give more thought to the basic principles. If measure 1 also improves the effectiveness of measures 2 and 3, you achieve more than the sum of the individual parts. The KraussMaffei approach is based on ISO 50001, with the goal of helping customers to set up a systematic energy management system.
Plastics processors are currently under pressure from many sides. Increased costs can often not be passed on in the part price, regulations and taxes are multiplying, and negative media coverage even makes it hard to find specialized employees. On the other hand, never have there been as many incentives for those who want to manage their companies in a sustainable manner.
KraussMaffei has the solutions for this in the areas of process management, drive technology, temperature management as well as data and services. All of these can also be used for existing equipment and some can be used for machines from other manufacturers. For example, you can equip the machine with a BluePower servo drive and Weekly Timer to consume energy only when and in the amount it is absolutely necessary. You can avoid scrap using the familiar APC plus (Adaptive Process Control) function, which controls the component weight for each cycle individually. dataXplorer gives you insight into the depths of the process to improve the entire production process. Finally, smartAssist and socialProduction give you the opportunity to respond to problems in real time.
A well-founded energy management system is an effective risk prevention option, given that more and more industries are being integrated into an emissions cap-and-trade system that can make excess CO2 emissions costly. Thus high energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are a strategic risk for companies. On the other hand, investments that help to increase energy efficiency enjoy government subsidies in Germany. KraussMaffei offers relevant advice here as well.
Only the power that is really needed: The BluePower servo drive controls the pumps according to the optimum requirement/energy requirement. The example calculation based on a GX 1300 injection molding machine (clamping force 13,000 kN) makes the savings clear. If we assume 6,000 production hours, a shot weight of 1,155 grams and a cycle time of 60.3 seconds, the BluePower servo drive saves up to 75,000 kWh of electricity a year. At an energy price of 0.12 €/kWh, that equals $9,336 in U.S. Dollars. The CO2 footprint is also slashed. The BluePower servo drive means up to 30 fewer tons of emissions are released into the atmosphere.
Save electricity and money with the BluePower servo drive.
If you are familiar with the MC6 machine control system, you know the Weekly Timer, which is built into this system. The Weekly Timer can be retrofitted for older models. The Weekly Timer knows exactly when the oil preheating, the barrel heating and the mold heating have to be started so that everything is ready at the start of production. This can be configured separately for each day of the week. Does the temperature fluctuate due to weather conditions or a newly installed plasticizing unit? No problem—the Weekly Timer takes these into account and compensates for them. This eliminates machine waiting times.
With Weekly Timer, the machine operators can precisely set the desired start of production of the injection molding machine.
It gets hot in the screw barrel—and as little of that heat as possible is to reach the outside. This is ensured by the EcoPac insulating sleeves that can be wrapped around the cylinder and are available for all injection unit sizes. They stabilize the temperature profile and increase process stability. The heating time is reduced by up to 30 percent. The savings for energy consumption are particularly lucrative, with up to 40 percent being possible. As a result, the investment for the EcoPac insulation pays for itself in a year or two. For the example calculation with an MX 1000 injection molding machine (clamping force 10,000 kN) and 6,000 production hours, this cuts the energy consumption by up to 24,000 kWh. If you multiply this by a price of 0.12 € per kilowatt hour, you get a savings of $2,987 U.S. Dollars. Also, up to 9.6 fewer tons of CO2 are released.
Insulating to provide value: The Eco-Pac insulating strips make it easy to reduce energy consumption by up to 40%.
Need to configure a process to be as energy-efficient as possible? Machine operators often lack the time to optimize processes, with the result that manufacturing sometimes consumes more resources than necessary. In these cases, the EcoButton offers easy support, ensuring that the process runs with optimum energy efficiency. Plasticizing time or speed, clamping force, injection pressure limit or accumulator pressure. For each of these, the system determines the optimum energy values, which in fully automatic operation then take effect within a few reference cycles. Of course, this also means that the costs for energy consumption are reduced to the absolute minimum.
Maximum energy efficiency at the press of a button: The EcoButton function ensures optimum energy setting within a few cycles.
Remote Support - Digital Services
The major advantage of digitalization is speed. When errors are recognized quickly, they can be eliminated immediately—and, on the upside, areas of potential optimization can be taken advantage of just as quickly. The many digital services from KraussMaffei make an active contribution to conserving resources. dataXplorer can assign the energy consumption to each individual process step and serves as the interface to an energy management system. APC plus compensates for external influences and enables consistently high component quality thanks to intelligent and automatic closed-loop control systems.
Another example is smartAssist, our mobile audio and video communication system with augmentation that gives the customer's onsite service technicians access to our domain expertise. The intuitive app can also be used with smart glasses to carry out remotely guided maintenance. Using socialProduction, the production process of the injection molding machines is continuously monitored by a patented, self-learning process. Relevant anomalies and trends in the process are identified at an early stage based on all detected machine data and communicated proactively by means of user notifications in a shared chat room. The process parameters are evaluated completely autonomously and without prior configuration by the process owner.
Reliable service wherever you are, wherever you need it: The smartAssist app gives the customer fast support from the KraussMaffei technician via audio and video communication.
In injection molding, mold cooling is a critical factor for component quality and cycle time—and it is energy-intensive. Sometimes, however, it pays off to accept a slightly higher level of energy consumption per hour in order to decrease it per part produced. For example, when using the Orca temperature control system. Unlike a conventional water distributor, it uses ultrasound to measure the flow velocity and quantity. This takes place from the outside and without making contact with the medium. As a result, the Orca distributor block does not have any cross-section narrowing, meaning fewer pressure losses. Energy efficiency is improved, the cycle time drops and the quantity produced per hour is boosted.
This is the case, for example, at one of the three largest automotive component suppliers in Germany. The KraussMaffei customer uses the Orca temperature control system and thus could decrease the cycle time for bumper production by a whole 7 percent. Because the injection molding machine plasticizes more quickly and the tempering units have to discharge a larger quantity of cooling water, the energy consumption per hour increased by just under 5 percent, but dropped by 0.17 of a kilowatt-hour per component. At a production rate of 270,000 components per year and a current electricity price of EUR 0.12 per kilowatt-hour, this soon provides a savings of $5,712 in U.S. dollars per year.
Additional benefits are that the Orca system is maintenance-free and intuitive to use, performs measurements without contact and can store hundreds of tool data records. This reduces scrap and increases process control. It can be delivered either as a stand-alone system or as a solution fully integrated into the MC6 control system from KraussMaffei. Thus it offers the ideal solution for making processes even more transparent and resource-conserving.
Everything in view: The Orca temperature control system monitors and regulates (optional) all cooling circuits individually with respect to flow rate and temperature and thus ensures optimum heat exchange combined with stable process control.
Climate change is a global challenge. Many governments are responding with individual subsidy programs for activities in industry to attain their national climate targets. The new KraussMaffei machines include many proven solutions for decreasing energy consumption. Technologies that cut energy consumption by half make a large contribution and usually fulfill the requirements for subsidies.
KraussMaffei has a network of independent and certified consultants who guide you through the entire process, from gathering data and analyzing potential to applying for the subsidies.
For more information, visit kraussmaffei.com.
Krauss-Maffei Corporation 7095 Industrial Road | Florence, KY 41042 | USA |
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