With its test and experimentation laboratory, Bausano starts with the customer's specific formulation and undertakes structured analyses aimed at making each extrusion line completely tailor-made. Before designing a system, Bausano carries out analyses using a capillary rheometer, which studies the behaviour of the material when it flows and deforms, in order to understand its viscosity as a function of the shear rate gradient. With rheological material characterisation, Bausano is able to define the type of materials that can be extruded on an existing plant; optimise head design; and fine-tune the design of the screws.
At the same time, the information collected is processed using a plastograph. Here, the customer's starting materials are fed into the chamber, where they are heated and undergo shear stresses between two counter-rotating rotors. During machining, the torque applied to the rotating screws is measured, which provides information on the viscosity of the molten material and on any changes produced by machining on the system (gelation, branching, degradation).
The results of these analyses are compared with data processed by software dedicated to fluid-dynamic analysis. This pre-design phase allows the development of new extrusion heads, dies and screws to be optimised by predicting exactly how the material will behave during the machining process.
The data returned by the laboratory instrumentation can be tested in advance at Bausano’s factory.
The expanded test room now has two counter-rotating twin-screw extruders MD30 and MD75. The first, for small production trials, allows the customer's formulation to be introduced into the machine and the extruded output to be observed before the line is scaled up to industrial level. The second, dedicated to trials on medium-sized plants, is aimed at guaranteeing the productivity targets required by the customer and providing a sample of material so that it can also be subjected to internal quality controls. There are two more complete systems: the first, based on an E-GO single-screw extruder for testing PP/PE base blends for the production of single and multilayer pipes, and the second, based on a single-screw extruder from the E-GO R range to test the possibility of regenerating waste materials.
Bausano is able to test the customer's system twice. Prior to setup at the customer's production site, Bausano starts up the line in its own factory, either in the presence of the customer or virtually, to validate the design assumptions and test its performance, operation and noise levels. Bausano technicians are able to intervene promptly even before the factory acceptance test (FAT), guaranteeing maximum flexibility for the customer. In this way, Bausano offers a space where customers can refine their R&D, for a concept of innovation that goes beyond technological progress and also embraces the value-added services sector.
“The priority for Bausano is customer satisfaction. This is why our distinctive feature lies both in the exclusive range of pre-design services which, starting from the customer's formulation, allows us to tailor-make the best extrusion line, and in the possibility of verifying the design itself with double testing,” says Giovanni Bausano, R&D Manager at Bausano. “In addition to this, there are the after-sales services, which include an extremely well-stocked warehouse of accessories and original spare parts, and a specialised, timely assistance, both onsite and remote, for an all-round support capable of reducing machine downtime and guaranteeing continuity in the production department.”
