TPT January 2013

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Technology News
36 January 2013
X-RAY 6300 for 270mm diameter
PE tube quality control
SIKORA has recently commissioned the
X-ray device X-RAY 6300 at DYKA, a
gas and water tube producer in Overpelt,
Belgium. After extensive discussions,
project meetings and development work
over a three-year period, the project was
successfully realised.
Knut Szemjonneck, sales director
hose and tube, said: “At the beginning
of our cooperation, DYKA desired to
reliably measure single-layer PE tubes
during production. By pursuing this
goal with Sikora the basic concept
for a continuous quality control at
the extrusion of plastic tubes was
developed. In 2011, the first X-RAY 6000
device was presented to DYKA. DYKA
at no point of time questioned the quality
of the system. In fact it was intended to
present the technology to the staff (who
now work with it daily) so they could see
the advantages of reliability, operation
and support.
“Previously DYKA had tried alternative
measuring procedures within the factory,
but they were found to showweaknesses
and were rejected. Despite these trials
being conducted several years ago, the
bad memories were still present. The
Sikora device demonstration quickly
removed any doubts and misgivings
the staff held from the past. They were
quickly convinced of the advantages and
the reliability of the device, discovering
that this technology is excellent for
process optimisation and control. The
obvious next step was setting out the
technical specifications in detail and
tailoring it to the specific conditions of
their extrusion line.”
Their extrusion line produced natural
gas tubes made of polyethylene with
an outer diameter of 250mm and a wall
thickness of 25mm at a line speed of
6m/min. For the large diameters that are
typical for gas or water tubes the online
quality control is of enormous importance
for minimising costs. Due to the large
diameter of the product the X-ray device
X-RAY 6300 was chosen since it covers
a diameter range from 30 to 270mm. It
was installed between the first vacuum
tank and the spray bath. The function
of the X-RAY 6300 in this position is
to continuously control the quality of
PE tubes both quickly and precisely
during the production process. After
switching on the device all measuring
results such as wall thickness, outer
and inner diameter, eccentricity and
ovality are immediately available. All
data is presented numerically and
graphically on the processor display
system Ecocontrol which has simple
operation via an intuitive touchscreen.
Ecocontrol provides a clear overview
with a graphical line representation of
positioning of all measuring devices
to the user and utilising the special
control module Set Point, DYKA can
additionally control the diameter or wall
thickness to nominal value continuously
by automatically influencing either line
speed or extruder rpm. Hence, the
X-RAY 6300 fulfils all requirements for
process stability and permanent quality
control.
Sikora AG – Germany
Email:
Website:
X-RAY 6300 at DYKA in Overpelt, Belgium