Mixer Control for Rubber Compounding

Mixer control for rubber compounding is critical to quality and production efficiency. Most often, to produce a rubber compound, a combination of plastic resin (pellets, flakes, powders, or liquid) is combined with other materials, including liquids and bulk solid materials. Sterling Systems & Controls, Inc. has introduced a customized system for a rubber compounding application. This system includes a variety of mechanical equipment, such as a bulk bag unloading system, complete automation of the mixing and batching processes, and electrical controls.

Batched ingredients (liquid and solid materials) must be mixed. A specialty mixer is used. The workhorse mixer of the rubber manufacturing industry is the internal mixer, or Banbury (named for its principal inventor), in which heat and pressure are applied simultaneously. The internal mixer uses two interrupted spiral rotors moving in opposite directions at a set RPM, as the compounding process requires for the specific rubber compound to be produced. The shearing action in the internal mixer is intense, and the power required for the mixing/blending operation can be quite high.

Mixer control for rubber compounding is required to produce the end product and is automated for optimal efficiency. This is a part of the overall automation and process control system provided by Sterling Systems & Controls, which includes the mixing/blending process, main batching process, auxiliary batching, drop mill process, extruding, and cooling.

An HMI mixing screen provided in Sterling Systems’ automation system is an extension of the main batching screen, which shows all of the equipment associated with the mixer. From the mixing screen, the user can control the mixer’s RPM on the formula being run and view the status of and control related equipment. This screen also offers a data trending screen, allowing the user to view the batch temperature, mixer torque, power, and mixer speed for the last twenty hours.

Sterling Systems & Controls, Inc. has over 50 years of experience providing efficient solutions for process equipment, batching, micro, minor and bulk weighing, bag unloading systems, as well as plant automation. Sterling’s designs utilize the latest technology to provide specialized data management, raw material management, along with production data tracking. For more information contact Sterling Systems & Controls.