PMC Acquires Datapaq Rotomolding Telemetry System

The Plastics Manufacturing Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology has acquired a Datapaq Rotomolding Telemetry System to help its Rotational Molding Center of Excellence advance the rotational molding process industry.

The system was purchased with a grant funded equally by the Society of Plastics Engineers and Pennsylvania's Plastics Initiative a major investment in Pennsylvania's plastics industry that seeks to improve the skills of current workers and provide future employees with the expertise needed to work in this advanced field.

Students, faculty and industrial clients of the PMC will have access to the Datapaq equipment for class work and projects. To date, five students (academic and seminar) have gained hands-on experience with the system. Through the academic process, at least 12 students have gained exposure.

Mounted to the arm of a Medkeff-Nye Shuttle PD developmental rotational molder, the Datapaq Rotomolding Telemetry System gathers up to 10 temperature readings by way of thermocouples. This data is then sent live with radio telemetry to a computer station. The temperatures are plotted versus time on the same graph.

The Rotational Molding Center of Excellence is actively engaged with research and development programs at six companies within the industry. Areas being addressed include:

• Development of semicommercial processing equipment with the capability to accurately measure and record in real time the temperature profiles associated with the heating and cooling cycles employed in the rotational molding process
• Development of fundamental relationships between key process parameters and properties of molded products
• Investigation of families of resins with the potential to deliver enhanced properties to rotationally molded parts, including definition of required resin properties, development of additive packages and definition of processing conditions
• Investigation and development of systems for enhancing melt stability of resins during the extended cycle times associated with rotational molding
• Working closely with molders to develop accurate time/temperature profiles of processes to improve cycle times and increase process efficiencies

The PMC established the Rotational Molding Center of Excellence in 2000. Since then, the center has established itself as one of the top resources in North America to provide research and development and training for the rotational molding industry.

Acquisition of the Datapaq Rotomolding Telemetry System has helped the center position itself as a world leader in evaluating and pursuing new technologies and equipment for use in rotational molding.

For more information about the Plastics Manufacturing Center and the Rotational Molding Center of Excellence at Penn College, call (570) 321-5533, send e-mail or visit online.