Asaclean® is the purge of choice for several extruder manufacturers and dozens of compounders. We know what you’re dealing with and have the products and experience to make your process run smoothly.
Here’s why Asaclean® Purging Compounds are the preferred choice for the best compounders worldwide.
Compounders rely on twin-screw extruders due to their superior performance and customizability. You process almost all resins and allow for different additives and fillers to be combined to achieve different pellet sizes and shapes with an impressive array of possible properties.
While the possible end-product has endless combinations, these factors dramatically increase the chance for contamination issues.
Compounders are laser-focused on the product specs of their customers. Any possible variant to the process, especially contamination from a previously run or unexpectedly degraded material, can throw off the process and create delays in production due to off-spec product.
Changeovers, contamination, screw pushes, and extended downtime.
If you’re reading this, these are probably some of your concerns as well.
Fortunately for you, Asaclean® offers affordable, high-performance options optimized for compounders’ needs. Regardless of your processing issues, we have solutions for you.
“I’m absolutely amazed with the performance of Asaclean®. The polymers/fillers that I’m mixing in our small compounder really stick to the equipment, and we can only get about 80 – 90% out of the mixer post-run, so it’s quite a mess. Put Asaclean®, mix for a few minutes, and the mixer body is immediately clean.”
On average, Asaclean®’s compounding customers save 53% on reduced scrap & downtime.
Once we identify your needs, we will help you choose the best grade of Asaclean® for you.
For compounders, Asaclean® Purging Compounds:
With the world-class R&D team of Asahi Kasei in Japan, Asaclean® offers incredible cleaning performance coupled with expert technical & product support.
There’s a reason extruder manufacturers and compounders alike rely on Asaclean® for cost savings. The products really work for single and twin-screw applications.
“Here at Brabender, we’ve used Asaclean® Purging Compounds for many years. We run the most exotic material combinations and thanks to Asaclean®’s high temp and strong-cleaning products we clean up quickly and easily. EX Grade is our favorite due to the high scrubbing capabilities at even higher temperatures. Some in-person customers were so impressed that they use Asaclean® for their own needs. Asaclean® gets 5-of-5 stars from our team.”
Both mechanical and chemical purge types can help twin-screw processors maintain their machines contaminant-free. Mechanical purge compounds do an excellent job of safely scrubbing screw and barrel surfaces. However, the cleaning performance is restricted predominantly to the surfaces where material flows through with a decent amount of pressure. For twin-screw machines that use simpler screw types and mixing elements, a mechanical purge can work perfectly.
However, to administer proper cleaning in low-pressure areas (like near vents) or in hard-to-reach areas (found on more complex screw mixing elements), a chemical purge gives a better result. Chemical purge compounds like NCR Grade achieve cleaning by a measure of a chemical reaction that is contained in the machine during a soak period. The chemical reaction creates gases that quickly get into hard-to-reach areas that can be considered low-pressure or low-flow (commonly known as dead zones or dead spots) that otherwise may not be directly and physically scrubbed by a mechanical grade.
Work with your Asaclean® Purging Expert to find the best solution for you.
Asaclean® Technical Service Representatives offer a unique level of service in areas the industry. Many of our Purging Experts used Asaclean® as customers themselves before joining our team. Your point-of-contact isn’t a salesperson. They are a processor.
With over 200 years of combined processing experience, we understand the challenges compounders face, and are here to help.
When you work with Asaclean®, you have access to free ongoing consultations with a subject matter expert.
When you use regrind or virgin resins to purge, the material creates another layer over any existing resins, color deposits or carbonized material within the barrel and on the screw. In time, these layers become additional sources of contamination, making purging even more difficult. Once your machine returns to production, carbonized materials eventually break free and contaminate your product. Twin-screw extruders cannot afford material or carbon contamination. Fortunately, these issues are easily avoided by selecting the appropriate purging compounds for your specific needs.
Contamination will occur regardless of your screw design. Adopting preventive purging practices not only saves your facility from machine downtime. It also reduces your scrap rates, customer rejects, and line shutdowns. You can’t afford to wait to run purging compounds until the last minute because, by that time, you’re already suffering from contamination issues or color streaks.
Using a purging compound at regular intervals prevents contamination from the beginning.
Typically, it only takes 1-2-barrel capacities of purging compound to prevent contamination. Preventative purging saves time and money through efficient use of capacity and prevents unplanned downtime.
There are three main benefits to implementing a preventive maintenance program and purging process at your facility:
Earlier we touched upon how twin-screw extruders need to be incredibly customizable. They are modular to allow for screw combinations and feature unique mixing sections and some rather exotic machine settings. These factors, as well as the resins, additives, etc. are a perfect storm for contamination issues. If your line has additional feed streams, these issues occur even faster.
Because compounding is a continuous process, scrap occurs very quickly and often requires a teardown. Be conscious of your settings and collect data to understand how changes impact the MFR and processing temperatures of what you’re compounding. Extrusion is a low-pressure process so processors can’t manipulate pressures as they can in injection molding. Pay attention to venting. Plugging vents can help with purging. Pay attention to your settings and follow proper purging procedures to make sure you’re getting the best performance from your Asaclean®.
Also, we hear from many compounders who think that their screws are self-cleaning. Self-wiping is not the same as self-cleaning. Screw design does not have a significant impact on removing contamination.
Introducing a purge program can easily help compounders cut downtime by 50-75%. But when it comes to cleaning twin-screw extrusion equipment, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all process or purging-compound solution. Carbon builds up in your machine’s dead spots: mixing sections, dies, downstream equipment, etc. These are low-flow areas that would benefit from a chemical purging compound. But if you are dealing with frequent teardowns, a strong cleaner might be needed as well.
Without the right purging compound and procedures, you run the risk of increased reject rates. However, determining the proper purging compound grade is not simply about eliminating color and carbon contamination—it’s also about the impact on your bottom line. Taking a holistic approach will help you improve efficiency and profitability.
Request your free 10-minute purging consultation with an Asaclean® Purging Expert and set yourself up for success today. When you reach out to a purging expert for a free consultation, they will look at several key things to consider in order to select the right grade and quantities necessary to choose the best purging compound for your system.
Sometimes a change in product requires you to swap out a screw element, and this can be time-consuming if the screws are not in an ideal condition for removal. Asaclean® has several large compounding customers who run several resins or the same resin with different additives. Often compounding different resins requires different screw designs or the compounder is required to pull screw to ensure processing resins don’t mix. Most polymers by nature tend to adhere to screw surfaces, and these layers present challenges not only for screw cleaning but also for screw removal.
A typical compounder may pull a screw four to five times a week. Those producing color masterbatches are likely to pull screws every day. Some plants may carry duplicate screws, but these can cost tens of thousands of dollars in additional capital expense. For most compounders, pulling a screw and cleaning it may be the only option to get back into production. This process can be labor-intensive and incredibly costly since downtime can cost upwards of $1000 to $1200/hr. It’s not uncommon for compounders to struggle with 8-12-hour screw pushes. Built-up material on screw flights is very difficult to remove. You need a solution that removes the need to clean the screw by baking it in an oven, by using wire brushing, torching, etc. These secondary processes also raise the likelihood of injury or of accidentally breaking an expensive screw component.
Compounders push screws for three main reasons:
Although screw pushes might be necessary in your plant, that doesn’t mean they need to be time-consuming, profit-sucking headaches. There are purging compounds specifically engineered for screw pulls/pushes. Screw pushes using Asaclean® EX Grade often save processors 75-90% on downtime.
Aside from regular and preventative-maintenance purging, use a heat-stable purging compound like Asaclean NCR Grade for temporary or extended shutdowns and sealing, especially over weekends or holidays.
During a shutdown without purge, oxidation occurs which causes contamination, delaying startups and resulting in extended machine down. NCR creates an “air-tight” time and scrap environment in the barrel and promotes further cleaning during the shutdown.
Request your free 10-minute purging consultation with an Asaclean® Purging Expert and set yourself up for success today. When you reach out to a purging expert for a free consultation, they will look at several key things to consider in order to select the right grade and quantities necessary to choose the best purging compound for your system.
Request a free sample of Asaclean® Purging Compounds for your plant and start saving today.
Use our free calculator to see how much you could be saving with Asaclean® Purging Compounds.
