Welex Inc., USA has introduced a 7-inch extruder that can run up to 5,000 pounds an hour of high-impact polystyrene or PET, or up to 3,300 pounds an hour of high density polyethylene or polypropylene. Upsizing from a 6-inch to a 7-inch Mark III model yields a 30 percent increase in capacity. The new extruder is available in length-to-diameter ratios of 24, 30, 36 and 40.
Cabot, Belgium has launched a new conductive compound on LDPE basis. “Cabelec 4540″ has been developed for the production of conductive bags for packaging of electronics components and can be processed on conventional extrusion systems.
BP Amoco Chemicals, UK has purchased the Welton polyethylene film business of British Polythene Industries, U.K. It is planned to transfer machinery from Welton’s Norton, U.K., site to the Darton, U.K., plant of BP Amoco’s BXL Plastics subsidiary, also a producer of PE films.
Doellken Kunststoffverarbeitungs GmbH, Germany has strenghtened its international position. The company has purchased the Woodtape Group of the U.S. and Canada, a leading producer of corner profiles with about 300 employees. The Woodtape Group has already co-operated with Doelken in a Canadian joint-venture since 1990.
Natural fibers seems to be one of the fastest-growing additives for thermoplastics and thermosets. According to a new market study by Kline & Co., USA the North American usage of wood and agricultural fibers in plastics will grow up to 20 per cent anually in automotive applications and up to 50 per cent in certain building products. Three-quarters of this volume is wood fiber, and the rest comprises kenaf, jute, hemp, flax, and sisal. Wood fiber is used mainly in building products such as HDPE or LDPE decking, PVC window and door profiles, and decorative trim and railings.
Thyssen Henschel, Germany has reorganized its U.S. distribution and service network, establishing the Green Bay operation as headquarters for distribution of all products and for customer service and spare parts. The facility will maintain a stock of replacement parts, including at least one complete set of mixing tools for each size mixer. A technician will be available for contract service at customers’ facilities. The 24-hour
phone number there is 513-528-0400.
Bayer AG, Germany has purchased Sewon Enterprise Co., South Korea. Sewon has a market share of about 40 per cent of the South Korean polycarbonate sheet market and also makes acrylic and PVC sheet. The company will be renamed Bayer Sewon Ltd.
PVC pipe maker Vicplas International has entered the medical supplies sector via a 50:50 joint venture with the British LMA International to manufacture components for LMA’s airway management devices. The products are used to administer general anaesthetic. Vicplas believes the sector will provide significant growth potential. The joint-venture company, Forefront Medical Technology, has capital of S$500,000, and is expected to start operation in Sep 2000. LMA will license technological know-how to Forefront and also provide moulds and equipment.
Huntsman Packaging Corp., USA will upgrade equipment at its mulch-film facility in Harrington. The existing plant will be equipped with a Black Clawson multilayer cast film extrusion line with a capacity of 20 million pounds per year. Huntsman plans to develop products for its new YieldMaster films.
Compuplast Canada Inc. has launched Version 5.0 of its Flow 2000 Windows-based software for modeling flow in extrusion dies. It can help extrusion die designers optimize flow geometry or help processors predict performance of their dies with new resins or process conditions. New features include the ability to model flat-die coextrusion of up to five layers. The software displays a graph of velocity profile throughout the melt stream and numerical values of velocity, shear stress, residence time, and pressure drop.