Propex: pilot and production plant for the propellants and explosives industry.

Propex: Pilot and Production Plant for the Propellants and Explosives Industry

Propex Research and Engineering and its associated firms were founded in Cologne some 80 years ago. In the early 1940s, the firm moved its site to its present location in Staufen in the Black Forest, West Germany. It developed from its origins as a producer of laboratory equipment and instruments for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry into a manufacturer of calorific mixers and eventually became an established supplier of mixers and kneading machines. Towards the end of the 1950s, following an American order, the firm launched into the market for the production of plants and equipment used in the manufacture of propellants and explosives. The latest range of activities is no longer confined to mixers and kneading machines, but also covers up- and down-stream facilities.

Propex nowadays is in a position to offer its services in the design of complete manufacturing plants with the requisite technology. It also offers training facilities for customer's plant operatives and carries out the final plant and equipment performance trials.

In addition, Propex places its proving grounds in France at the disposal of potential customers to carry out trials, to test the Propex machines with their own materials and also to develop new processes and material compositions in close co-operation with major manufacturers in Europe.

In 1988 Propex succeeded in obtaining several major orders, especially in France and the Far East, against American and British competition.

Propex's upstream plant and equipment numbers the following range of products:

* The low-cost Planetron Standard range of mixers with capacities of one to 400 litres, featuring specially designed planetary blades, hydraulic drive, stationary mixing bowl, no bearing seals in the mixing area, infinitely variable speed, remote control for all functions and optional mixing and discharge under vacuum.

* The Planetron Series 2000 mixer for the mixing of composite, slurry cast double base and gas generator propellants as well as plastic bonded, cast Lova and other types of explosives.

* The Planetron Series 3000 kneading machine, available for batches of one to 6000 litres, featuring an automatic mechanism for lowering the gear unit and a draw-off mechanism for the blades. Optional equipment includes hydraulic drive and pneumatic or computerized command.

* The HKD 1600 Duplex heavy duty mixer for single, double and triple base gun and rocket propellants fitted with a horizontal two-shaft kneader, Duplex blades and built-in discharge screw which can substantially shorten the mixing time by comparison with the conventional Z-blade mixer.

* The HKS 50 Z-blade heavy duty mixer for the production of gun propellants and special plastic bonded explosives, which is available in different sizes ranging from 0.6 to 3000 litres capacity. These are equipped with electric or hydraulic drive and available with optional computerized command.

* The Conterna continuous mixer for the production of high energy content materials, produced in four types, depending on size and capacity. The Conterna consists of multiple chambers connected in tandem each housing one above the other two infinitely variable speed kneading elements that continuously convey the solid or liquid material from one chamber to the other until it is discharged from the final chamber. Different mixing tools can be used, ranging from Z-type or Duplex blades to rollers, mixing bars, etc. Each chamber can be used as a proportioning chamber, and vacuum mixing or kneading is possible through the addition of a vacuum chamber; granulation attachments can also be fitted as required. Besides the special granulators and continuous driers, the Propex "Loss-In-Weight-Feeders" complete the Conterna system.

Propex rounds off the above with a wide selection of downstream equipment, among which the following:

* Vacuum casting chamber adapted to the discharging of kneading bowls used in the vertical Planetron machines.

* Lifting and tilting device for discharging the Planetron Standard and Series 2000 kneading bowls.

* Lifting and pressing device.

* Premix plant for mixing components separately from the rest before final mixing.

* TNT melting and casting plant, giving perfect homogenization and mixing and casting under vacuum, available in sizes ranging from 5 litre laboratory size to 400 and 600 litres capacity.

In addition, Propex offers a wide choice of presses, viz.:

* PBX and TNT Press,

* Vertical powder press,

* Type HSP 1100 for horizontal extrusion,

* Nitrocellulose alcoholization press,

* Double cone mixers and mixing drums for further treatment of powders,

* High-pressure-reaction vessels in different sizes ranging from one to 100 litres, together with a number of laboratory testing and measuring instruments and equipment such as:

* Rocket testing stand,

* Crawford CB 100 propellant linear burning rate bomb unit,

* CV 100 closed vessel for analysing the burning behaviour of propellants,

* Adiabatic calorimeter system for determining the explosion heat of propellants, powders and pyrotechnical materials,

* Explosive testing equipment for calculating the shock sensitivity thresholds of explosives.

Finally Propex and Engineering produce wrapping and lining equipment, an explosive compounds recycling plant, cutting machines for powder strands and an explosives drier.

The above should suffice to give an idea of the scope of Propex Research and Engineering's activities and production capabilities in the field of propellants, explosives and powders, where the firm now occupies a dominant position.