Page 59 - Plastic News November 2023

TECHNOLOGY

How to Effectively Reduce Costs with Smart Auxiliaries Technology

s drying, blending and conveying historically high prices, there are still
Atechnologies grow more sophis- supply chain issues in some resin
ticated, they offer processors great grades, while future expectations
opportunities to reduce cost through come into question with the growing the room is their electricity bill. For
better energy efficiency, smaller cost of polymer feedstocks. And, then auxiliary equipment that points direct-
equipment footprints, reduced scrap there’s the rising cost of energy which ly at resin dryers as a good place to
and quicker changeovers. Increased is real concern when it comes to the begin assessing cost reduction oppor-
throughput and better utilization of bottom line. According to Statista, the tunities. That cost will certainly not go
primary processing equipment and average retail cost of electricity rose away, but newer drying technologies
manpower are the results. from 7.18 cents per kilowatt hour in can go a very long way in bringing en-
Plastics processors have experienced 2021 to 8.45 last year with, and with ergy costs under much better control.
an array of challenges over the last dramatic differences in rates from A primary challenge of drying is un-
few years. Materials shortages, rising state to state. So, for many plants, the derstanding the moisture content of
energy prices, the lack of skilled la- most obvious cost reduction target the incoming resin pellets. This will
bor – they’ve all converged to pinch will be reducing energy consumption. vary based on resin storage methods,
margins in ways we’ve never experi- But there are many other sources of ambient plant conditions, and even
enced before. This perfect storm is waste in most processing plants that the season of the year. Supplier drying
forcing companies to reexamine their also contribute significantly to shrink- recommendations often can’t account
production processes to find new ing the bottom line. for that variability so the best-guess
efficiencies to reduce costs while in- Moretto is a well-known and estab- method is frequently used to deter-
creasing throughput. Today, there are lished provider of a wide range of mine drying time, which can often can
pathways to running a more profit- auxiliary equipment with a global lead to under- or over-drying. The
able plant by implementing more reputation for advanced technology in former can cause quality problems.
advanced auxiliaries that allow bet- auxiliaries and overall processing sys- The latter can too, and it absolutely
ter utilization of primary processing tems. Here are some of their sugges- wastes energy.
equipment, more consistent quality, tions on how to run a more efficient Today, most dryers have the ability to
quicker changeovers, and best of all, plastics processing plant by choosing measure the moisture content of the
reduced cost of operations. We’ll get the right drying, blending and convey- dryer air, which is a major improve-
to that in a moment. ing technologies. ment. But a more efficient and accu-
In general, while the cost of resins Reducing Energy Costs rate solution is to measure the mois-
finally stabilized this year, though at For many processors, the elephant in ture content of the resin itself.

PLASTICS NEWS 5959
November 2023 PLASTICS NEWS