Unknown makes unloved is long gone with PU sieve decks. They have been around for more than 40 years and in the last ten years, their application in the recycling industry has taken off. Does steel still win out over PU in 2016? Is steel still such a strong choice when it comes to screen decks? These are questions to which the answer is increasingly pronounced in favour of Polyurethane.
PU screen decks possess special positive properties that set them apart. Both in ease of use, production efficiency and durability. As long as the temperature of the materials offered does not exceed 75°C., it could be said that PU screening decks are definitely superior to steel decks.
Geha Laverman has been working with sieve giant Ludwig Krieger for more than 25 years. This leading German manufacturer is perhaps the pioneer in the field of PU sieve decks. A high-tech company, it started developing and testing PU for wear technology as early as 1970. Anno 2016, it still has in-house production of the entire supply range. Ludwig Krieger's vast expertise of the Polyurethane moulding process is appreciated and applied throughout Europe.
Plastics and wear technology seem incompatible but... PU screens do last up to five times longer than steel screens. Obviously, this depends on a number of factors with the material to be sieved playing the most important role. A major advantage for the environment is that the operational noise level is convincingly lower than steel screening decks. The plastic screening decks are fitted with tensioning edges, allowing them to replace your steel screening deck one-to-one.
Then there is Ludwig Krieger's modular Clip-Tec system which brings many other advantages over tensioned screen decks. The screen is actually constructed from screen deck elements where the maximum size per element can be 400 x 1600mm and the standard size is 300 x 1000mm. These elements can be replaced independently. This avoids the need to replace a partially worn or damaged tensioned screen deck in its entirety, for example as a result of a dump. The endless possibilities of Clip-Tec make this such a popular product because there is a wide choice of square or elongated meshes, thick sieve fields up to 70 mm for coarse products, extra-thin elastic sieve fields from 2 mm to prevent clogging when screening fine products, finger screens with fingers positioned in a triangle to prevent long parts from passing through, etc., etc. All interchangeable, too! The Clip-Tec system also has cast-in or clamped steel sieve decks. You can adapt the deck to the product in no time!
Clip-Tec goes beyond just screen covers. A wide range of side frames, brake frames, plastic carriers that replace the steel carriers in the sieve, and mounting strips with different profiles (to force the material over the perforation surface as efficiently as possible and a so-called beater ball (which knocks the sieve field clean) are available. And everything needed to convert a transverse/longitudinal sieve to the Clip-Tec system, for example!
Ludwig Krieger delivers a proven concept with the Clip-Tec. Yet, based on design, there are identifiable drawbacks that will remain unavoidable; fair is fair! For instance, a PU deck always features slightly fewer meshes than a steel deck but a slight overcapacity of your screening machine is enough to make the step to Clip-Tec. Also evident is the higher purchase price: approx. 300% but PU screening decks have a five times longer service life! This is where Cruyff's law:' Every disadvantage has its advantage' proves no sweat!
