PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2018

PREFORM PRODUCTION PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 12/18 www.petpla.net 14 Interview with Gianfranco Zoppas at Sipa’s Open House in Vittorio Veneto Boundaries becoming blurred by Alexander Büchler Up until now, the PET world has been characterised by recyclers and processors. The pioneering Gianfranco Zoppas, the owner and founder of Sipa, has been blurring the lines that have existed for decades. In addition to its “Xtreme Renew” injection-compression preform line starting from flakes, the processor can bring the vital phases involved in PET processing in-house, while the recycler can also become a preform producer. At the in-house exhibition in Vittorio Veneto, Italy, Sipa showcased their latest development in Xtreme, blocked with a stretch blow mould and filling line: Xtreme Sincro Cube. The idea is as simple as it is bril- liant. The process from flakes to bot- tles takes place directly in one single thermal cycle instead of via granula- tion as has been the case previously. Many companies have attempted this but with varying levels of success - these have always resulted in specks and burned dark spots appearing in the bottle wall. Sipa has taken a new approach and is processing washed and sorted flakes which first pass through the Erema upstream food-approved decontamination system Vacurema Advanced or equivalent system to get the IV to the required level. From there, it goes via an extruder directly into the Xtreme’s hot runner. As the preforms are produced one after another in individual cavities – arranged on a carousel – the melt flow is continuous. The Xtreme system can pro- duce preforms that are up to 8% lighter than even the lightest injection moulded preform - but without com- promising on any key properties. Injection-compression moulding over- comes the issue of filling moulds with very thin walls, by floating core. This means lower injection pressure can be used, lower clamp force is needed and there is less stress on the melt. Xtreme is a clean machine too: it is the first totally oil-free high-output pre- form production system. Preforms are 100% controlled in-line by cameras to assure the best quality. The hot preform leaves the Xtreme and is transferred to a conditioning unit by means of transmission stars. This is where Sipa can demonstrate all of its 40 years of know-how in single-stage systems where condition- ing is vital for a uniform stretch blow- moulding process. Once the blowing phase is com- plete, the filling process takes place without a rinser or bottom cooling. The entire system has a number of distinct advantages:  Up to 8% of material can be saved by using the injection-compression moulding process;  The energy input in the preform pro- cessing is sufficient to produce the finished bottle. No infrared heating of the stretch blow mould is required;  The space needed for the inte- grated plant is significantly smaller than for a facility that has individual machines as preform handling, for example, is not required. “My dream: The Xtreme” PETplanet: When it comes to preform production equipment, we have seen many well-known machine builders come and go. Sipa has been very successful in this field for more than 20 years. What is the secret of your success? Zoppas: There is no secret. My vision is from pellet to pallet. Our focus is on the entire process chain for producing a PET bottle. This know- how is built in to all our preform sys- tems and moulds. PREFORM special Xtreme Sincro Cube Gianfranco Zoppas welcomes Alexander Büchler at the Sipa Open House.