Coperion manufactures twin-screw extruders, feeding and bulk solids handling equipment, and complete systems for the plastics industry.
Coperion GmbH
Stuttgart (Feuerbach) · NanjingNew on Amplifa
About Coperion
Coperion is a plant manufacturer and system supplier for the plastics industry headquartered in Stuttgart-Feuerbach. The company manufactures co-rotating twin-screw extruders of the ZSK, STS and CTE PLUS series, feeding and feeder systems, pneumatic conveying technology, valves, mixers as well as complete and partial plants for compounding, recycling and material handling. The ZSK extruders cover throughputs from 1 kg/h to 135 t/h at screw diameters of 18 to 420 mm and are used worldwide in more than 16,000 production lines. Materials processed include polyolefins, engineering plastics, PVC, XLPE, HFFR, recyclates and battery materials; industries served, in addition to the plastics and recycling industry, include chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, food and battery production. The company was founded in 2000 as a subsidiary of Georg Fischer by merging Werner & Pfleiderer and Buss and has belonged to the US group Hillenbrand since 2012. In 2014 Coperion employed around 2,500 people worldwide, 1,200 of them in Germany; the export share was 75% in 2019.
- Site
- Stuttgart (Feuerbach)
- Processes
- Twin-screw extrusion compounding, High-capacity extrusion, homogenization and pelletizing of polyolefins, Underwater pelletizing (UG), Water-ring pelletizing (WRG), Eccentric air-cooled pelletizing (EGR), Food/pet food extrusion and direct-expansion pelletizing (ZGF), EcoFresh silo devolatilization/deodorization, Gravity/inline bulk solids heat exchange (Bulk-X-Change BXC)
- Materials
- Polyolefins, Engineering plastics, Recycled polymers / rHDPE / rPP, PVC, XLPE, HFFR, PA, PE
- Certificates
- CE conformity (optional depending on requirement)
- Founded
- 2000
- Employees
- 2,500 worldwide
- Industries
- Plastics industry, Plastics recycling, Chemicals, Petrochemicals, Batteries, Food & pet food
- 01
Engineering and plant planning (basic design, FEED)
- 02
Design and manufacture of extruders and process components
- 03
Plant construction: assembly, site management
- 04
Commissioning and training
- 05
Service: spare parts, maintenance, modernization
Materials and Processes
Polyolefins
Large-volume compounding, homogenization and pelletizing of polyolefins, including downstream of polymerization reactors.
Engineering Plastics
High-torque compounding of engineering plastics, e.g. on the ZSK Mc18.
PVC
Temperature- and shear-sensitive processing, among others on Kombiplast and two-stage systems.
XLPE
Cable compound production on STS and CTE systems.
HFFR
Halogen-free flame-retardant cable compounds as an extrusion application.
Recyclates (rPP, rHDPE)
Mechanical and chemical recycling, including silo devolatilization with EcoFresh.
PA, PE, PP, PET
Processing of flakes and fibers in recycling, fed by ZS-B MEGAfeed side feeding.
TPE/TPR/TPV, EVA
Elastomer and foam compound applications on CTE PLUS extruders.
Battery Materials
Processing of battery materials on ZSK twin-screw extruders.
Food and Pharmaceutical Plastics
Extrusion and direct expansion of cereals, pet food, pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals.
Locations
Stuttgart (Feuerbach)
DEHeadquarters, engineering and sales
Stuttgart
DEEngineering (CTE PLUS gearbox and base frame design)
Nanjing
CNManufacturing of STS and CTE PLUS extruders
- Heller CNC machining centers (gearbox housings)
- Carl Zeiss coordinate measuring machine
- Faro measuring arm
Components
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twin-screw extrusion compoundingPlastics | – | – | 1 kg/h – 135 t/h | – | Polyolefins, Engineering plastics, Recycled polymers, Battery materials, Food, Pharmaceuticals, Specialty chemicals, PVC, Masterbatch, Cable compounds, Powder coatings, Biodegradable plastics |
| High-capacity extrusion, homogenization and pelletizing of polyolefinsPlastics | – | – | – | – | Polyolefins, Polypropylene |
| Underwater pelletizing (UG)Plastics | – | – | 100 t/h | – | Thermoplastics, Polyolefins |
| Water-ring pelletizing (WRG)Plastics | – | – | approx. 15 t/h | – | Thermoplastics, Filled/reinforced plastics |
| Eccentric air-cooled pelletizing (EGR)Plastics | – | – | – | – | Thermally and shear-sensitive products |
| Food/pet food extrusion and direct-expansion pelletizing (ZGF)Plastics | – | – | – | – | Cereals, Aquaculture feed, Pet food, Food, Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals |
| EcoFresh silo devolatilization/deodorizationPlastics | – | – | 6.8 t/h | – | Plastic pellets (rHDPE, rPP) |
| Gravity/inline bulk solids heat exchange (Bulk-X-Change BXC)Heat treatment | – | – | – | – | Plastic pellets, Fertilizers, Mineral powders, Food |
| Pneumatic conveying (pneumatic/hydraulic conveying systems, dense-phase conveying)Engineering | – | – | – | – | Powders, Pellets, Chemicals, Food, Plastics, Minerals |
| Pellet/powder gravimetric feeding (loss-in-weight and volumetric feeders)Plastics | – | – | – | – | Powders, Granules, Glass fibers, Liquids, Chocolate chips, Waxy liquids |
| Shredding, grindingEngineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Plant/system planning and design, FEED, project managementEngineering | – | – | – | <5,000 t/a – >500,000 t/a | – |
33 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Co-rotating twin-screw extruder ZSK (ZSK MEGAcompounder, Mc¹⁸, Mv¹⁸, MEGAlab, Kombiplast, ZSK NT) | Coperion ZSK 18–420 | – | Throughput 1 kg/h – 135 t/h; screw diameter 18–420 mm | – | More than 16,000 lines worldwide |
| Co-rotating twin-screw extruder STS (Mc¹¹, Mc PLUS, 25 Mc¹¹, two-stage) | Coperion STS | – | Specific torque 11.3–13.6 Nm/cm³ | – | Manufactured in Nanjing |
| Co-rotating twin-screw compounding extruder CTE PLUS (CTE 20–165 PLUS) | Coperion CTE 20 PLUS to CTE 165 PLUS | – | Screw diameter 22–165 mm; motor power 3–1,200 kW; throughput 2–5,000 kg/h | – | Nanjing |
| CTE PLUS two-stage compounding pelletizing system | Coperion CTE 50-120 / 65-150 / 75-180 / 96-200 PLUS | – | Throughput 100–1,800 kg/h | – | Nanjing |
| Underwater pelletizer UG | Coperion UG | – | Throughput up to 100 t/h | – | – |
| Water-ring pelletizer WRG | Coperion WRG | – | Throughput approx. 15 t/h | – | – |
| Eccentric air-cooled pelletizer EGR | Coperion EGR | – | – | – | – |
| Concentric pelletizer ZGF | Coperion ZGF | – | – | – | – |
| Strand pelletizer | Coperion | – | – | – | – |
| Side feeder ZS-B / ZS-B MEGAfeed | Coperion ZS-B, ZS-B MEGAfeed, ZS-B easy | – | – | – | – |
| Side devolatilization unit ZS-EG | Coperion ZS-EG, ZS-EG easy | – | Throughput increase up to 30% | – | – |
| Feeding enhancement technology FET | Coperion FET | – | Feeding capacity can be increased up to 3x | – | – |
| Screen pack changer SWZ | Coperion SWZ | – | Screen change without production stop | – | – |
| Melt pump MP | Coperion MP | – | – | – | – |
| Cooling die MEGAtex (HMMA) | Coperion MEGAtex | – | – | – | – |
| Loss-in-weight feeders (single/twin screw, ProRate PLUS-S/M/L/MT) | Coperion K-Tron ProRate PLUS | – | Feeding capacity 3.3–4,550 dm³/h (depending on model/material) | – | – |
| Feeder series (single/twin screw, vibrating, solids volumetric pump BSP, belt, liquid, micro screw, | Coperion K-Tron | – | – | – | – |
| Rotary valves ZRD/ZXD/ZVB/ZVD/ZKD/ZVH/ZXQ/ZFD | Coperion | – | ZVH suitable up to 3.5 bar | – | – |
| Diverter valves WEK/WET/WZK/WYK/WRK/WHK/WGV | Coperion | – | Pressure up to 6 bar; temperature up to 100°C | – | – |
| Slide gate valves FFU/FUS/FUH/FUT and samplers PN80/PN R/PN S | Coperion | – | – | – | – |
| Mechanical bulk solids mixer MIX-A-LOT and static silo blenders (CFB/FCB) | Coperion MIX-A-LOT | – | Static blender volume >1,000 m³ | – | – |
| Elutriators/separators HFS/UGS/SRS/TSM | Coperion | – | UGS up to 120 t/h; SRS up to 100 t/h; HFS up to 40 t/h | – | – |
| Filters and separators (static, pulse-jet, cyclones) | Coperion / Coperion K-Tron | – | – | – | – |
| Blower packages (positive pressure, vacuum, regenerative blowers, rotary vane vacuum pumps) | Coperion K-Tron | – | 2–10 inch conveying systems | – | – |
| Vacuum receivers/loading heads (2400 series, P series) | Coperion K-Tron | – | – | – | – |
| Dense-phase conveying system omniveyor and pressure vessels, AIM modules | Coperion K-Tron omniveyor | – | Noise <83 dB | – | – |
| Bulk solids heat exchanger BXC | Coperion Bulk-X-Change | – | – | – | – |
| EcoFresh silo devolatilization system (two-chamber/single-chamber) | Coperion EcoFresh | – | Devolatilization chamber volume 24–132 m³; residence time 9–10 h | – | – |
| Hoppers/bins, bag dump stations, glove-box bag dump stations | Coperion K-Tron | – | – | – | – |
| Control systems CSpro / EpcNT / EpcS7 | Coperion CSpro, EpcNT, EpcS7 | – | Based on Siemens S7-1500 / S7-400HF PLC | – | – |
| Heller CNC machining equipment (gearbox housing machining) | Heller | – | – | – | Nanjing |
| Coordinate measuring equipment (Carl Zeiss) | Carl Zeiss | – | – | – | Nanjing |
| Coordinate measuring device (Faro) | Faro | – | – | – | Nanjing |
Additional services
Quality
Every CTE PLUS extruder line undergoes a FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) at the Nanjing plant before delivery. Gearbox housings are machined on Heller machining centers and inspected on measuring equipment from Carl Zeiss and Faro.
| Evidence | Nanjing |
|---|---|
| CE conformity (optional depending on requirement) |
History
- 1880
Founding of Werner & Pfleiderer in Cannstatt (predecessor company)
- 1884
Founding of Albert Buss & Cie. in Basel (predecessor company)
- 2000
Coperion founded by Georg Fischer as a subsidiary; acquisition of Waeschle, Buss and Werner & Pfleiderer
- 2006–2007
Sale by Georg Fischer to the investment company Lyceum Capital
- 2008
Hartmann Fördertechnik GmbH (Offenbach) joins Coperion
- 2010
Hillenbrand acquires K-Tron
- 2012
Acquisition by the US industrial group Hillenbrand
- 2013
Merger of K-Tron with Coperion; the division operates as Coperion K-Tron
- 2014
Around 2,500 employees worldwide, 1,200 of them in Germany