Central Conveying Systems

Digicolor is a leading manufacturer of central granulate conveying systems for the plastics processing industry. Central conveying systems are made up of a modular system of pellet conveying components suitable for industrial use. From these, customer-specific complete solutions for pellet conveying technology are put together.

Conveyor systems from Digicolor are characterised by industrially suitable conveyor components and systems: Granulate containers, material separators, machine hoppers, granulate conveying lines are consistently made of stainless steel as far as technically possible. This quality feature ensures that the systems are durable and easy to clean.

The areas of a conveyor system that could be susceptible to wear due to the processing of glass fibre-reinforced materials can be reinforced with targeted wear protection measures. Glass lines, glass bows, glass elements or hardened components are used here, for example.

New generation of granulate conveyor controls

Digicolor has recently launched a new generation of the ZSF centralised conveyor control system. This control system is based on the latest generation of Siemens CPUs and a Siemens colour touch display. This display can be used to control all functions of the granulate conveyor system as well as to operate and monitor drywell dryers. These controllers are manufactured in series and are available at any time – also for modernising existing pellet conveyor systems. As standard, 16 to 64 conveying points can be realised in several pump circuits. The new “Visu Plus” control system with a large 22″ touch panel is available for larger pellet conveying systems and can be used to parameterise, operate and monitor all the functions of a pellet conveying and drying system. There is also an OPC-UA interface for connecting this control system to higher-level systems.

Vacuum blowers for central conveying systems

The heart of every granulate conveying system is the vacuum blower and filter station. This is where the vacuum required for conveying the pellets is generated and distributed via suitable vacuum pipes to the conveying consumers in the processing plant. Dust filters clean the conveying air cyclically and ensure that unwanted material dusts are separated from the suction air.

The quality of the compressor blower is of decisive importance for the performance and durability of the vacuum blowers. Digicolor relies on side channel blowers for medium pellet conveying distances. For long conveying distances, claw vacuum pumps have proven their worth in conveying applications.

Digicolor uses only quality products for both, side channel blowers and claw vacuum pumps. These have proven their performance in decades of practical applications and are continuously being further developed. Side channel blowers are practically maintenance-free. Claw vacuum pumps require little maintenance. This pump technology requires an oil change, depending on the operating hours.

Frequency-controlled variants can be used for both pump technologies in order to realise a conveying system that is gentle on granulate. Frequency control is also important when the performance of the vacuum pumps has to be automatically adapted to different conveying distances, throughputs in kg/h and pellet properties.

Optimization of pump systems

For the individual design of the granulate conveying technology, Digicolor offers a large selection of blower and filter stations that are optimised for the respective application. These centrepieces of central conveying systems can be integrated into a wide variety of pellet supply topologies. Suitable PLC-based controls support the user in operating and monitoring the granulate feeding system. This allows all the necessary conveying parameters to be set and optimised. In addition, it is possible to set and monitor maintenance intervals, pump running times and filter cleaning cycles.

Electric motors of modern vacuum pumps have had the energy efficiency class IE3 for some time. This means that, in addition to optimum application technology, maximum energy efficiency can also be achieved.