E4S Awards - HF Group

AI-based algorithm Smart Final Mix is capable of optimising final mixing processes in the tire and technical rubber goods industries.

By using the tool for optimising industrial processes in the technical rubber goods and tire industries, energy savings of up to 29 % could be achieved.

As shown in a technical paper, within the algorithm, data on batch-temperature, energy-consumption and mixing-quality are linked to each other and then optimised.

The technology, thereby, enables the optimal process-parameter settings that apply to the final-mixing process to be calculated. To describe the final mixing process, HF

Mixing developed mathematical models and approaches to measure mixing-quality and batch-temperature and link these to energy-consumption.

These parameters all relate to rotor speed, which is used for the mathematical modelling system, according to the HF Mixing paper.

Judging comments

Impressive to see that energy-savings of almost 30% can be achieved through using this app… This AI-based software tool is a very welcome development for rubber processing companies under increasing pressure due to rising energy costs while striving to support the tire & rubber industry in meeting net-zero targets.  By optimising energy-intensive processes the app offers significant benefits by increasing energy efficiency in the mixing room.