FDC pipe extrusion line delivers ultimate flexibility in diameters and wall thicknesses

- battenfeld-cincinnati was the only machine manufacturer able to meet our requirements in terms of full automation and ultimate flexibility - Kenn E. Byllemos, COO of Emtelle Denmark based in Sønder Felding, explains their decision to work with the German-Austrian extruder spe-cialist. For about one year, the plastics processor has been operating a complete extrusion line from Bad Oeynhausen, Germany at its plant in Denmark, which produces 4-layer pipes with diameters ranging from 200 to 800 mm according to SDR classification (DIN 8074), as well as in special customized sizes - and all of this with minimal changeover times and scrap quantities. With its extremely flexible ma-chine components, battenfeld-cincinnati optimally meets the market demand of its customers from the pipe industry.

Emtelle ranks among the global players in the telecommunications industry. It produces pipeline communication network solutions worldwide, as well as micro and mini cables which can be blown in, thus combining under one roof the core competencies of develop-ing and manufacturing plastic pipes with the production of blown-in fiberglass cables.
Emtelle continuously expands its product portfolio, for example at its Danish plant in Sønder Felding, where pressure pipes for water transport are currently also produced. To be able to fill all of its customers’ orders promptly and without large inventory, the pipe manufacturer decided to purchase a complete FDC pipe extrusion line from battenfeld-cincinnati to replace an existing, less flexible line.

- The greatest advantage of the new line is its enormous flexibility - Kenn E. Byllemos expresses his satisfaction with the pipe extrusion line, which was installed about a year ago. This line is a 4-layer co-extrusion line with four extruders and a co-extruder for color stripes, which also includes two FDC calibration sleeves and a complete set of FDC downstream equipment. In this way, diameters ranging from 200 to 800 mm can be handled by a single line, which is unique in the industry. The smaller of the automatic calibration sleeves handles diameters from 200 to 355 mm, the larger diameters from 400 to 630 mm. Diameter ranges from 710 to 800 mm can be handled with standard calibration sleeves.

- In contrast to competitors products, our calibration sleeves are made of a cylindrical, rolled metal sheet that comes close to a standard calibration in its design. The pipe dimension can be changed during production – seamlessly and fully automatically. Both standard and customized sizes can be produced with our cali-bration sleeves, not only in terms of external diameters but also in terms of wall thicknesses, which may vary for example between 6.3 and 57.2 mm - explains Brigitte Diekhaus, Project Leader at battenfeld-cincinnati.