In mid-October, more than 230 international visitors gathered to witness the high-performance WPC extruders from Cincinnati Extrusion once again at the two-day WOOD-PLASTIC COMPOSITES conference staged for the sixth time in Vienna. With the presentation of three extrusion lines in full production at the extruder manufacturer's technical lab, Cincinnati gave yet another impressive demonstration of its technological expertise.
WPC: a market with great potential
The total market volume for wood-plastic composites in Europe (EU 25 + Norway and Switzerland) was 66,000 t in 2007. This figure emerged from a study commissioned by AMI-Consulting, the results of which were presented by John Nash, Strategic Research Manager of AMI-Consulting, in his opening address. According to his forecast, the 35% annual growth rates maintained since 2003 will continue on a similar level, so that the market volume is expected to double by 2010.
According to AMI-Consulting, about two thirds of extruded WPC is used for decking in the European market. WPC also has a place in building construction for both outdoor and indoor applications.
Cost-cutting with simultaneous optimization of the end product attributes - this is not only a top priority among the 30 - 40 European WPC producers, but was also the central topic at this conference. ''Benchmarking performance'', ''performance costs'', ''aesthetics'' and ''standardization'' were only a few of the buzzwords mentioned in the speeches covering the development of markets, materials and machinery.
Line presentations focusing on decking
The extrusion line presentations at the technical lab of Cincinnati Extrusion also centered around the all-important topics of cost-cutting and increased efficiency. WPC
decking was produced on all three extrusion lines demonstrated, but with a different concept for each line.
The first one was a state-of-the-art, single-strand extrusion line equipped with a FiberexT80. In combination with a die and calibration unit from Cincinnati's partner Gruber & Co., it produced a classical extruded decking profile with a line speed of 2.0 m/min and an output of about 300 kg/h.
The second extrusion line presented focused entirely on economy and efficiency. A FiberexT58 and a FiberexK38 were combined with a die and downstream equipment from the partner company Greiner to produce a decking profile covered with a 2-mm layer of colored, weather-resistant WPC material in a co-extrusion process. This process offers the advantage of a 20% cut in material costs during production, thanks to a substantial reduction in the quantities of colorants and other additives required. The performance of the line presented was about 1.4 m/min with an output of 180 kg/h.
Cincinnati's WPC line presentation was rounded off with a high-speed WPC decking extrusion line. Using a FiberexA135 37D twin vent with a die and downstream equipment from Greiner, decking was produced in a twin-strand process at a rate of 2 x 2.0 m/min with an output of 800 kg/h. This type of line offers, above all, an enormous investment cost advantage. It is true that a single-strand process could be accomplished with a smaller-sized extruder, but two such extruders would have to be purchased to achieve the same output, which would also be necessary for all other line components.
