NEW ENTEK CARBIDE-LINED EXTRUSION BARRELS PROVIDE HIGHER RIGIDITY, IMPROVED WEAR RESISTANCE
New Manufacturing Process Developed; Barrels Can Last 3x Longer than Competition

NPE 2006 – Booth No. 1304, McCormick Place South

Lebanon, OR (June 19, 2006) . . . ENTEK has announced it has developed a new manufacturing process for producing carbide-lined extrusion barrels. This new process uses a proprietary spherical carbide/nickel matrix, which offers numerous advantages over the competition, including higher rigidity and improved wear resistance. Carbide barrels are used in extrusion applications to resist abrasion and corrosion caused by highly-filled materials. ENTEK has invested considerable time researching and developing a better way to manufacture barrels using spherical carbides, which compared to traditional angular carbides, can provide much better wear resistance. The new process developed by ENTEK shows proven, significant improvement in barrel wear resistance and ultimately, much longer service life. Some of these improvements include:

-better wear resistance (3x longer life then tool steel)
-superior corrosion resistance due to nickel matrix
-thicker wear surface (.150” compared to typical thickness of .010”-.065” in competitive models)
-no weld lines in barrel due to ENTEK process – complete coverage of carbide throughout the bore profile eliminates splitting, chipping and premature wear
-improved apex strength due to ENTEK process – a metallurgic bond is used to bond the carbide to the base block, and spherical carbides have no sharp edges thus preventing cracking when under impact.

These new carbide barrels will be offered by ENTEK for both ENTEK E-MAX™ twin-screw extruders and other OEM extruders as well. They join the lineup of ENTEK replacement wear parts, including screw elements and barrels for co-rotating and counter-rotating twin-screw extruders.

About ENTEK

ENTEK Extruders are produced by ENTEK Manufacturing, Inc. Headquartered in Lebanon, Oregon, USA, ENTEK is a customer focused manufacturer of turnkey production systems, twin screw extruders, and components. The company is a leader in the extrusion of natural fiber-plastic composites (wood decking), pelletizing, custom compounding (mixing of colorants, fillers, etc), specialty sheet lines, and other markets including food and medical applications. In addition to producing state-of-the-art twin screw extruders, ENTEK’s highly-trained engineering department helps companies optimize production, and ENTEK’s turnkey expertise helps customers establish complete plant-wide operations, often from the ground up.

ENTEK began operations in the 1980’s as a producer of highly filled specialized plastic sheet for the maintenance-free automotive battery market. At that time the company was purchasing commercially available twin-screw extruders to support its core business, but quickly determined that it needed to develop its own extrusion solutions to support production of this difficult to process material. ENTEK Manufacturing, Inc. was established initially as a sister company to ENTEK International, to provide machinery and all turnkey engineering support.

Building off this success with its sister company, ENTEK has grown to become one of the industry’s leading providers of twin screw extrusion solutions. The company provides complete, turnkey engineering support that enables customers to develop and operate highly productive, efficient processing plants for a wide variety of materials. ENTEK Extruders feature high throughput and wear resistant components that can successfully process highly abrasive materials with minimal downtime.

Today, ENTEK is committed to continuing its dynamic growth by helping customers meet or exceed their business objectives, worldwide.