Extrusion
Foaming Expands Possibilities for Wood-Fiber Composites
Over a dozen processors already foam wood-fiber composites and an equal number are experimenting with it. Foaming with wood cuts resin cost and weight in half and brings design advantages. But it also requires particular know-how in materials formulation and extrusion hardware.
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Foamed PET Sheet Tackles New Markets
Perpetually in its infancy, PET foam sheet has been a hard sell for packaging producers over nearly a decade. It found successful niches in thermoformed ovenable bakery trays, meat trays, and reheatable dinner trays for home delivery to disabled persons.
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LCPs Break New Ground in Film Coextrusion and Thermoforming
Liquid-crystal polymer extrusion resins cost over $10/lb, but when used sparingly in 2-5 micron layers, they can be cost-effective in barrier packaging films.
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Metallocene PP & PE Weld Strongly to Each Other
Multilayer film applications such as packaging and diapers are just two areas that could benefit from spot welding (instead of gluing) polyethylene to polypropylene. Normally these two resins show poor adhesion to each other. But two years of research at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and at ExxonMobil Chemical in Houston show that metallocene-catalyzed polyolefins can weld to each other with bond strengths much greater than are possible with conventional Ziegler-Natta catalyzed polyolefins.
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Can Your Sheet Lines Meet New ANSI Safety Standards?
The new standard relates to the design and use of the take-off equipment. Its biggest impact will be to require older sheet roll stacks to be extensively rebuilt or replaced in order to meet new emergency nip-opening requirements.
Read MoreDie Drawing Makes ‘Plastic Steel’From Wood-Filled PP
A developer of new plastics technologies is applying low-temperature die drawing to take advantage of a new raw material: expanded, oriented, wood-filled polypropylene (EOW-PP).
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Medical Tubing Coextrusion Brings A New Level of Care
Coextrusion is on the increase in tubing for medical uses, with more layers, more exotic materials, and much thinner walls. These require unprecedented levels of dimensional accuracy and flaw detection.
Read MorePolystyrene Blown Film Starts to Get Some Respect
It has kept a low profile for the last 40 years, but more blown-film processors are starting to take a look at PS for breathable packaging and cellophane replacements. A couple of dozen processors worldwide have kept this technology quietly to themselves—but not for much longer.
Read MoreTwo More LLDPE Families for High-Performance Blown Film
Two new families of “enhanced” hexene-copolymer LLDPE resins for blown film are said to offer excellent impact resistance and outstanding hot-tack and heat-seal properties. One resin family reportedly can replace high-end octene LLDPE while the other is said to equal or surpass the performance of VLDPE or metallocene LLDPE (mLLDPE).
Read MoreGet a Stake in PVC Fencing
PVC fence markets are posting rapid gains, prompting profile extruders to install new machines by the dozens and convert existing plants from pipe and siding production. New players are jumping in, too including makers of wood-filled composites.
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