Refining and Extruding
Nowadays, worm presses are used in the soap industry for following functions:
- Continuous mixing of soap with additions
easy to be dosed. - Refining of soap by use of refining sieves
in front of the perforated disk. - Evacuating and extruding of soap
to a continuous bar.
- SELA Shortening knife
These functions are carried out by worm presses with single worm (type E) or with twin worm system (type Z) according to the requirement.
Plodders can be made with one stage (type Simplex), with two stages (type Duplex) or in special cases with three stages (type Triplex).
- Simplex Single Worm Refiner
The combination of several stages allows the connection of mixing-refining or refining-evacuating-extruding in one machine.
Instead of homogenization by a roller mill the soap can also be refined by means of a refiner worm press. In order to reach the refining effect, fine refining sieves are used in front of the sieve-hole disk having a mesh width of about 0.5 mm.
- Simplex Twin Worm Refiner
The question whether homogenizing by a roller mill or refining by a plodder is to be preferred in this processing stage, farreachingly depends on the raw materials to be processed, saponification and drying procedure and the requested qualities of the definitive product.
| Design/ Function | Simplex >S< | Duplex >D< |
Mixer | Simplex Mixer
| Duplex Mixer
|
| Refiner >R< | Simplex Refiner
| Duplex Refiner
|
| Extruder >V< | Simplex Plodder
| Duplex Plodder
|
- Dosing system for continuous mixers
- Liquid dosing device
- Marbelizing device
SELA-Plodders (Specifications for one stage)
| Prod. rate** soap/hr kg | Single worm system for normal soap | Twin-worm system for viscous and pasty soaps or high outputs | ||||
| Type | Ø mm | Drive Motor kW | Type | Ø mm | Drive Motor kW | |
| 300 | E 160 | 160 | 7.5 (5.5)* | Z 120 | 120 | 11.0 (7.7)* |
| 500 | E 200 | 200 | 11.0 (7.5)* | Z 160 | 160 | 11.0 (7.7)* |
| 750 | E 250 | 250 | 15.0 (11.0)* | Z 160 | 160 | 18.5 (15.0)* |
| 1000 | E 250 | 250 | 18.5 (15.0)* | Z 200 | 200 | 22.0 (18.5)* |
| 1500 | E 300 | 300 | 22.0 (18.5)* | Z 250 | 250 | 30.0 (22.0)* |
| 2000 | E 350 | 350 | 30.0 (22.0)* | Z 250 | 250 | 37.0 (30.0)* |
| 2500 | E 400 | 400 | 30.0 (30.0)* | Z 300 | 300 | 45.0 (37.0)* |
| 3000 | E 400 | 400 | 37.0 (30.0)* | Z 300 | 300 | 55.0 (45.0)* |
| 4000 | Z 350 | 350 | 55.0 (45.0)* | |||
| 5000 | Z 350 | 350 | 75.0 (55.0)* | |||
| 6000 | Z 350 | 350 | 75.0 (55.0)* | |||
| 7000 | Z 400 | 400 | 90.0 (75.0)* | |||
| 8000 | Z 400 | 400 | 90.0 (75.0)* | |||
* Drive power for laundry soap in parenthesis. ** Stamped soap tablets. Plodder output is 30 - 40 % higher.
- Duplex vacuum twin worm plodder
Refining and extruding are made in a Duplex vacuum plodder. In the first stage soap is compressed, refined and supplied to the vacuum chamber in shape of noodles. After evacuation, a continuous bar is extruded in the second stage.
- Soap bar leaving the compression head
As standard, the pressure worm of the first stage running with constant speed is engaged by means of an electronic soft starter actuated via a filling level probe in the vacuum chamber. The pressure worm of the second stage is equipped in series with a variable-speed motor with frequency control, so that the bar speed can be adapted continuously.
- Vacuum chamber in special design
Normally, at capacities from 3,000 kg/hr on, plodders with twin worm system are used. In case of very viscous and pasty soaps this plodder type is used also for lower capacities.
When stamping soap tablets in squeezing dies, a waste of ab. 30% results from this stamping process. This waste is supplied again to the plodder continuously. This additional capacity of the plodder must be considered when dimensioning the line.