Vacuum technology at the service of plastics

At the start of April, the Nova Milanese (near Milan) headquarters of Busch Italia, the Italian subsidiary of the German multinational Busch, provided the venue for a press briefing entitled "Companies up close - The best of vacuum technology at the service of industry". For the plastics processing industry, this multinational, which specialises in the development of vacuum pumps and solutions, offers Cobra, Mink and R5 - its systems for extrusion, injection moulding, thermoforming and pneumatic transport, which stand out, in particular, for their performance levels, resistance to wear and energy savings.
The dry screw vacuum pumps that are part of the Cobra range can guarantee high vacuum levels very close to absolute vacuum. Furthermore, they do not require the use of ejectors, "Roots" devices or other kinds of support for the vacuum level necessary for the ongoing process. Thanks to the dry technology, there are no operating fluids (usually oil or water) to dispose of, and therefore there is less ordinary maintenance. NC 200-630 B is the model most widely used in plastic materials processing.
When a high vacuum is not necessary, the Mink range of pumps is recommended. Features of these pumps are the dry technology and rotary lobes and the absence of contact between the moving parts inside the pump. These pumps are particularly efficient in terms of power requirement, allowing energy savings of up to 60%. MM 1104-1402 is the model most established in the processing of polymers.
The R5 rotary pumps, available in the vane type and oil-lubricated versions, have been developed specifically for applications requiring variable vacuum, and have been shown to be reliable both in continuous operation at limit pressure and with medium vacuum levels. The internal oil separator has been optimised to guarantee clean discharge in all working conditions. The 165, 305, 205 and 255, which feature a larger tank and double oil separator, are the models most widely used in the plastics industry.
The Busch group currently has around 2,600 employees and 57 companies in 39 countries. In 2013 the Italian subsidiary sold more than 7,000 vacuum systems, worth over 11 million euros, a result that represented a 7% increase on the 2012 figure.