Wittmann Battenfeld Advances DC Control for Mould Temperature Units
For the past two decades Wittmann Battenfeld has led the drive for every piece of equipment in the injection moulding cell to be as transparently low-energy as possible. Wittmann-made temperature controllers are no exception.
The role of temperature control – an integral part of the injection moulding cell – is critical in managing energy and production cost. Processes that require the management of an unvaried pattern of 220 C over lengthy production schedules are energy intensive by definition.
Driven by environmental concerns, Wittmann has found that substituting direct power, or direct current (DC) to moulding cells instead of alternating current (AC) can deliver a rise in energy efficiency and profitability of up to 15%.
Those that attended Wittmann’s Competence Days in Vienna in June 2024 saw the working proof of this in action; the demonstration of the Tempro Plus temperature controller working in a battery powered injection moulding cell.
The creation of DC networks parallel to the existing AC power supply offers the processing advantage of providing the generated DC power unconverted for direct use. Wittmann believes that this is so far an unexploited resource and has set itself the goal of tapping this efficiency potential to the full.
The new Wittmann Tempro Plus DC demonstrated last June reaches exactly the same high-performance rates as the equivalent conventional Tempro plus AC-powered models. The Tempro plus D90 DC presented in Vienna is suitable for temperatures of up to 90°C and has a heating capacity of 9 kW with 750 V DC. The cooling capacity is 40 kW for a differential temperature of 75 K.
This DC Temperature Controller version already comes with a 1.1 kW synchronous motor and an inverter as part of the standard equipment package. The motor drives a seal-less submersible pump with a maximum working pressure of 7.5 bar and a maximum flow quantity of 60 l/min. In cavitation-free operation, practical values of up to 40 l/min and 5 bar are reached. The inverter enables direct connection to the machine’s interim circuit as well as speed control in line with the desired process parameters. In this way power conversion loss is prevented and the pump speed is adapted to the requirements of the process. The net result is a hefty two-fold increase in energy efficiency.
These energy savings are critical since – for plastics processors – the metric of product carbon footprint (PCF) is increasingly coming into sharp focus. As part of the quotation process companies will increasingly be asked to quantify the energy – the PCF – that will mould products, parts and components – and on a per-unit basis. Furthermore, this competence is likely to become a competitive factor, one that will be needed in quotations for future moulding work.
In summary, a two-fold saving in energy efficiency and a 15% saving in production profitability may also make this an attractive ‘win win’ answer for many injection moulders worldwide.
And now that the DC concept has been fully tried and tested, Wittmann is ready to roll out a variety of solutions to the marketplace. No doubt the upcoming K Show this October in Düsseldorf will provide a perfect platform in this regard.
Read more from Wittmann Battenfeld here.
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