12.0 mm diameter co-rotating twin screw lab extruder unveiled at NPE 2009 by Indian manufacturer

Steer has released Omicron 12, a state-of-the-art, co-rotating twin screw lab extruder at NPE. The extruder has been conceptualized and designed to cater to the rapidly changing market requirements of the pharmaceutical, polymer & elastomer industries worldwide. “With intelligent design as its cornerstone, Omicron 12 is built with distinctive features that boost quality and capability. It is a ideal choice for improving productivity and product quality through continuous processing in the field of research, offering the advantages of economies of scale by lowering costs and minimizing wastage,” said Dr. Babu Padmanabhan, Managing Director, STEER. “One of the most important features of Omicron 12 is its ability to offer the widest flexibility available in the R&D platform today. Its distinguishing feature is its capability to produce material at extremely low output rates, enabling minimal wastage of expensive materials and ingredients, thus lowering costs in the development of new products. Omicron 12 will be a major asset to the industries with its capability of providing outstanding dispersive and distributive mixing, thus assuring a consistent, high-quality product,” added Dr. Babu. Omicron 12 allows for a large degree of customization across several components, for any given application, from the L/D, barrel & screw configuration and the material of construction to the heating and cooling mediums and controls. The key features of Omicron 12 include: A servomotor and drive that can deliver the rated torque even at low speeds. A compact gearbox with more than adequate torque rating and accurately timed output shafts. A processing section that includes a segmented clam-shell design and heating and cooling for both halves. The segmented clam-shell barrels are clamped together with ‘Jiffy clamps’ for quick disassembly and reconfiguration. A screw shaft made of high-alloy steel and continua splines enhancing the torque-carrying capacity. Screw elements & barrels consist of special grade tool steels that display high wear and corrosion resistance and enhanced breaking strength and fracture resistance. The die assembly is a simple three-piece construction consisting of a removable die plate available in various strand size and number combinations. The base is an elegant, stainless steel mono-shell housing unit housing the extruder processing zone with the human machine interface panel situated in the top section.