The Italian hot runner specialist HRSflow presents for the first time its new ECOflow hot runner system designed specifically for high energy efficiency. Compared with systems of conventional design, the energy consumption can be lowered by around 25 %. At the same time, a very homogeneous temperature distribution is attained in the hot runner, resulting in high-quality injection-molded parts. Because it has been possible to significantly reduce the weight and volume of the ECOflow hot runner, the energy saving when e.g. injection molding large-format parts for the automotive industry such as bumpers, wheel arch liners, instrument panels etc. is particularly marked.Energy efficiency and a stable thermal profile for the hot runner systems have always been at the heart of HRSflow's new products and further developments. The company's know-how and expertise in thermal analysis that has been amassed over many years also provided the development basis for the new ECOflow hot runner system. The aim was to significantly reduce energy consumption without impairing the performance needed for injection molding. To do this, the dimensions of the hot runner system, the contact areas between the hot runner system and the mold, and the materials used for it were analyzed and optimized in order to minimum the heat losses. Consequently, the system uses a special material with low heat conduction and high strength for the contact elements between the hot runner and the mold plates, such as supports and positioning pins.
The weight and volume of the manifold have now been cut by around one third with the ECOflow hot runner system. As a result, a much smaller cut-out in the mold is required. Furthermore, the time taken to reach a thermally constant, stationary operating state is much shorter than with a hot runner system of conventional design, and any fluctuations are balanced out more quickly. The low weight of the manifold also requires less heat for heating to operating temperature.
Like all its hot runner systems, the energy efficient ECOflow systems from HRSflow undergo thorough thermal analysis on the computer. The geometry of the runner and the nozzles is optimized to ensure a high level of conformity between simulation and practice. The software for thermal analysis evaluates the uniformity of the temperature distribution in the hot runner system, the power consumption of the system, the heating-up time and the operating conditions of the heaters.
For every supplied ECOflow hot runner system, the power consumption is always given under stationary operating conditions.
