Van Beek, Drunen, the Netherlands, recently supplied customised twin screw heat exchangers to Xeikon, a leading Belgian innovator in digital printing technology. The heat exchangers are employed to protect high quality toner powders from critical melting temperatures.

“Our raw materials have changed, which means the melting behaviour of the toners has also changed. As a result we had to look for in-line heat dissipation with the right equipment for us”, said Mario Discart, production engineer at the Xeikon toner plant in Heultje, Belgium.

The former Belgian manufacturer of digital presses and plate setters for the graphics and packaging market has since 2015 been part of the Flint Group, the world’s second largest ink producer. Xeikon now produces 600t of toners per year for the Flint Group Digital Printing Solutions division. “Toner production is very complex, we have to engineer our machines ourselves”, explained Discart.

Thorough cleaning of the screw conveyors is crucial when changing over from the production of one colour to another, a six-weekly process. Discart said: “Cleaning is largely carried out automatically with compressed air, which means that 90% of the remaining powder is blown away. After that the screw conveyor is easy to dismantle”. For optimum cleaning the design has extendable rails, which ensures that the screws can be removed quickly and easily. The screw shafts can be removed for quick and thorough cleaning: a necessary task that since the implementation of the new screw heat exchangers saves half a day’s work.

The twin screw heat exchangers prevent agglomeration of the toner powder particles. “Previously we had problems with this, because of the low melting temperatures of the powders” said Discart, who is well pleased with the  solution offered.

Perry Verberne, director of Van Beek, is very positive about the cooperation between the two companies and what he sees as a unique project: “Xeikon is a classic example of how Van Beek wants to work. All the aspects for which we are responsible in the area of design, production and further development came together here. We were able to build test machines live into the production line and talk at length with the customer about their wishes in order to finally build a customised design.” www.van-beek.nl
 

A Van Beek screw-type heat exchanger and, below, installed at Xeikon’s Heultje toner plant, with production engineer Mario Discart in the foreground
 

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