Mixing / Blending

PROCESS CONTROLS AND AUTOMATION MIXING SCREEN

The first step in most rubber manufacturing processes is compounding. This requires the mixing/blending of various raw materials in a specific proportion to produce a rubber compound. 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 designed and supplied customized batching systems for rubber compounding applications. This system can include a variety of mechanical equipment, such as a bulk bag unloading system, electrical controls and automation of the batching and mixing processes. In this application, the automation control system includes a PanelView+ touchscreen HMI with a customized RSView ME software application.

As a part of the compounding process, the batched ingredients must be mixed. Because there are both liquid and solid ingredients a special mixer is generally 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 required by the compounding process for the specific rubber compound being produced. The shearing action in the internal mixer is intense, and the power required for the mixing/blending operation can be quite high.

MIXING WITH BATCHING PROCESS
Mixer Shown on Batching Screen

Mixer process control 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:

– Main batching process
– Mixing/Blending process
– Auxiliary batching
– Drop mill process
– Extruding
– Cooling

Mixing/Blending Control

The HMI Mixing screen is an extension of the Main Batching screen (shown above) showing 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, like on the Main Batching Process screen, but with the additional capability to view the status of and control the related equipment shown on the left side of the Mixing screen. This screen also offers a data trending screen that allows the user to view the Batch Temp, Mixer Torque, Mixer Power, and Mixer Speed for the last twenty hours.

WebCentral™ Supervisory Control

Added to this Rubber Compounding automation process control system is the Sterling Systems & Controls WebCentral supervisory control application. WebCentral™ is a software package that allows corporate users to access the database of a Sterling Systems & Controls, Inc. process control system, such as the mixer process control mentioned above, from a standard browser on a computer that is connected to the same network as the Sterling Systems database. This can be used to enter and manage all configurable items remotely. Sample WebCentral pages for the mixing process are shown here:

WEBCENTRAL MIXING STATUS SCREEN
WebCentral Mixer Status Screen

 

WEB CENTRAL MIXING TREND SCREEN
WebCentral Mixer Trend Screen

Working With Us

Give us a call today to talk about your business and process objectives and see how Sterling Systems & Controls can provide a custom engineered solution.  You can reach us by phone at 1-815-625-0852, toll-free in the USA 1-800-257-7214, or by email at sci@sterlingcontrols.com.

EMERGENCY SERVICE AFTER-HOURS: 1-877-794-1044