ABB Drives Help Mix Rubber Compounds

ABB is supplying two variable speed drives and accompanying motors to Rochdale-based Farrel, a manufacturer of processing equipment for the plastics and rubber industries. The drives will run Farrel's Intermix batch mixer machines for two customers in China that produce rubber compounds for automotive tyres. The Intermix is used in rubber and plastics applications and is particularly designed for technical rubber products.

The order comprises two ABB industrial drives and appropriate ABB motors, one set of 1,400kW and the other of 1,000kW. The drives and motors were selected to provide the high torque needed for mixing rubber compounds. Rubber mixing machines can have a very high current overload duty, up to 200 per cent in some cases. When fed with material, the overload can be experienced for up to six seconds. Overloads can also occur if the rubber starts to cure and harden, if left in the mixing vessel following an electrical failure, for example.

For the Chinese applications, the ABB 1,000kW drive and motor can provide an overload current of 150 per cent, while the 1,400kW package can provide an overload current of 180 per cent. Both motors are water cooled, which helps provide high output power per unit of weight.

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