Nova Installs Nine-Layer Blown Film Coextrusion Line to Enhance Customer Collab
As part of a several upgrades at its Calgary R&D facility, Nova Chemicals has installed a semi-commercial scale nine-layer blown film coextrusion line.
The cornerstone of what is said to be a broader set of purchases and upgrades at the Calgary R&D facility’s Center for Performance Applications of Nova Chemical Corp. is a new, state-of-the-art Brampton Engineering nine-layer blown film coextrusion line.
Aimed at enhancing customer collaboration and product and application development capabilities, the new semi-commercial scale line enables in-house production of complex multi-layer films to optimize coextruded film structures and determine which polyethylene and other materials perform best.
The line is capable of running several different complex film structures per day with precise layer distribution and converter-quality film rolls. Films produced on the line will support Nova’s expanded applications development work for the food packaging, heavy-duty sack and other flexible packaging markets.
Technical services manager Sarah Marshall says that Nova Chemicals is the first PE resin producer in North America to have a nine-layer line. “This investment provides a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with our customers and quickly generate new ideas and applications utilizing our resins to help them succeed. It helps deliver on our commitment to expand our innovation capabilities and provide greater value to our customers.”
Before this installation, Dow Chemical's seven-layer Alpine line in Freeport, Tex. was considered the most complex blown film installion at any PE supplier location.
Want to find or compare materials data for different resins, grades, or suppliers? Check out Plastics Technology’s Plaspec Global materials database.
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