Different temperatures inside the extrusion die influence the melt’s flow behaviour which leads to irregular wall thickness sizes around the circumference of the pipe. This applies in particular to pipes with a large diameter. It takes some time for the pipe to be measured and the extrusion die to be centred as line speed is low and mass throughput is high. A lot of material is used during this period of time. Costs occur which could have been avoided if an early centring device had been in use. The centring aid supplies data on wall thickness distribution right after production start based on which the die head can be centred straightaway.

ECCO centring unit which is easy to operate was designed specially for this task. Ultrasonic sensors mounted on the calibration sleeve measure wall thickness distribution as early as the pipe is calibrated. Measuring data is evaluated and automatically displayed on a 10 inch monitor. Any variation in wall thickness distribution is immediately visible and information is available on its exact location. Sections which are too thin or too thick can be compensated through manual adaptation of the extrusion die. This way, the pipe is already centred after a few metres and the production process can be continued precisely under the set conditions. The fast start-up and reduced start-up scrap save considerable costs so that the system purchase will have paid back after a few months only.

ECCO is easily retrofittable on a calibation sleeve. A special engineering package is available including a description for assembly and the water and power supply. The perfect solution is to combine the system with the flexible MAXFLEXX calibration sleeve by iNOEX for simultaneous adaptation of exterior diameters to different pressure classes. A purchase well worth considering when an investment is made into ECCO.