Making it easy to monitor mould temperature control
Engel – hall A5 booth 5203
Mould temperature control has a significant impact on product quality and the energy efficiency of the injection moulding process. The new Eco-Flomo temperature control system by Engel is claimed to be suitable for continuous monitoring of all injection mould cooling and temperature control circuits and to ensure transparency during the temperature control process. It detects irregularities to help boost process stability and reliability.
Eco-Flomo is integrated into the Engel injection moulding machine’s CC300 control unit. To make this possible, the new temperature control system uses the iQ flow control software platform for mould temperature control. The pressure, temperature and flow rate values are presented on the machine display in a neat and easy-to-understand format. These numbers are also saved on the system to ensure complete documentation – for instance, to satisfy record-keeping requirements.
Higher performance built in
The Eco-Flomo is available in two different designs: a basic version for straightforward flow rate and temperature difference monitoring and the Eco-Flomo plus version, which also comes with manually operated valves. These valves enable the machine operator to manually set the flow rate in the individual temperature control circuits to suit their specific needs. Relative to its predecessor (the Flomo), the Eco-Flomo’s performance levels have been enhanced, with the maximum temperature increasing to 120 °C. The maximum pressure is 10 bar.
Adjusting to new challenges
In launching the first Flomo electronic temperature control water manifold system, Engel was making advances in the mould temperature control space as far back as K’ 2010. Engel was an early mover when it came to laying the foundations for greater transparency and consistency in the temperature control process. A few years later, this was followed by the e-Flomo, which can use flow rate monitoring to automatically control either the flow rates or the temperature difference in each and every circuit. iQ flow control then saw Engel take the next step. This software is capable of connecting the e-temp-series temperature control units and the injection moulding machine via OPC UA to create a single unit. It is also able to control the pump speed in the temperature control units in line with the operator’s needs based on the values measured by the e-Flomo. This reduces energy consumption by up to 85%. To take full advantage of the potential offered by integrated temperature control, Engel has developed the new Eco-Flomo and Eco-Flomo plus to allow for upgrades at any time. Only the hardware needs to be replaced ahead of an upgrade, as eco-flomo and Eco-Flomo plus already use the iQ flow control platform.
