By Ron Shinn
Hellweg Maschinenbau has developed an online system to measure bulk flow through a shredder, data the company said is the next step in the evolution of its Smart Control system and a precursor to implementing artificial intelligence (AI) control modules.
The digital Smart Control system was introduced in 2019 and is available on all Hellweg shredders and granulators. It records power consumption, motor speed and bearing temperatures. It can optimize the ratio between motor load and throughput.
The new Smart Flow technology, shown for the first time at K 2025, uses a sensor in the riser pipe of the extraction piping system to continuously measure bulk flow rate. The non-contact sensor uses microwave technology to measure changes in particle concentration and velocity.
The Smart Flow data is fed to the Smart Control system to be processed and displayed as mass ground per hour. This provides extrapolated statistical data such as grinding performance per day, week or month and can be sent to users’ MES systems.
Managing director Mark Hellweg said with the new data, Smart Flow users “have access to a valuable additional option for planning maintenance work and avoiding unforeseen downtime. Ultimately, it is not the machine’s grinding time that determines the service life of components such as knives, screens and V-belts, but the grinding work it performs.”
Hellweg said the control system is now ready to integrate self-learning artificial intelligence (AI) modules that can calculate the optimum ratio between material properties, feed and required power, then independently regulate the machine to maximize energy efficiency.
The Hellweg company, which has a reputation for its cutting-edge technology, is currently working on AI modules. Mark Hellweg, whose father, Bernd, founded the company in 1985, said in a recent email interview that he expects AI integration will begin early next year.
The company builds a range of machines, including mobile machine-side mills, slow-running and central granulators/grinders in different sizes, as well as complete, fully automated recycling lines.
Contact:
Hellweg Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG, Roetgen, Germany, 49-2471-4254, www.hellweg-granulators.com/en
