Strictly-Extrusion

DeWal Industries, Canada, which extrudes UHMW-PE films and tapes, says the latest versions of the films are giving a new lease on life to thermoset rubber hose, conveyor belts, and weatherseals. The company uses UHMW-PE films to add abrasion and chemical resistance to rubber products and to reduce their coefficient of friction.One application is automotive weatherseals, where 2-mil film is put in high-wear areas (e.g., window channels) of rubber weatherstrips. This is said to be a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to fiber flocking. Films can also be wrapped around hydraulic hose and adhered to conveyor belts used for moving chemicals or foods. Tel: (800) 366-8356, www.dewal.com

Extruder manufacturer Chase Machinery is a leading supplier of pex-al-pex pipe extrusion lines worldwide. The company has already exported its pex-al-pex pipe extrusion lines to Iran, Vietnam, Portugal, Indonesia and Malaysia. Just now another line is shipped to Greece, the second of its kind to Europe. Pex-al-pex pipes combine advantages of both plastic pipes and metal pipes, but eliminates their disadvantages, thus now these pipes are widely used in Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Australia. However, aluminium is quite expensive, especially for big size pex-al-pex pipe,its high costs stopping this multilayer pipe to develop forward in some ways.

After many years of experience Chase Machinery has successfully launched to use steel sheet to replace alu-sheet in making bigger sizes of multilayer pipes. This pex-steel-pex pipe is more cost-effective than HDPE pipe, PPR pipe or metal pipes. It is a very attractive solution for pipes pipes from 40-1000mm.
The company has delivered more than 40 sets of extrusion lines for this pex-steel-pex composite pipes,to be the pioneer and leader in this fields. For more information: http://www.chasemachinery.com

Said to be the first of its kind, a production-scale profile coextrusion line for development of TPE automotive weather seals has been installed by Solvay Engineered Polymers at its Automotive Applications Development Center.The line will be used to test seals composed of a TPO backbone with a TPV sealing surface as replacements for thermoset rubber. The Davis-Standard system has three extruders with diameters of 3.5, 2.5, and 1.5 in. The smallest extruder can apply a slip coat or cosmetic cap layer. Tel: (248) 391-9500, www.solvayenginee redpolymers.com

PolyOne announced today the investment in new production facilities in Germany and the launch of a new range of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE). The TPE product range will be marketed under the brand OnFlex thermoplastic elastomers and includes a new range of “next generation” vulcanised thermoplastic elastomers (TPE-V).

For some time PolyOne has marketed a full range of TPE, including Bergaflex® TPE-S (styrene block copolymer) and TPE-V (vulcanised polyolefin-based elastomers). The TPE-V based on conventional technology had limitations in some applications particularly in the automotive sector, or where coloration with masterbatch or bright colors were required. The new range of OnFlex-V TPE-V overcomes these limitations.
As a result of PolyOne’s recent investment in proven TPE-V technology, OnFlex-V will be immediately available from PolyOne’s facility in Germany. This new ‘next generation’ vulcanised thermoplastic elastomers (TPE-V) has improved colorability, and significantly reduced odour and fogging.
OnFlex-V offers the typical mechanical and themal properties associated with a
TPE-V, including low compression set, high operating temperatures (up to 135C), and good chemical resistance. The added benefits of OnFlex-V include:
• Wide hardness range (Shore 40A to 60D), covering the needs of most applications and the ability to be processed by injection molding, extrusion, and blow molding;
• Excellent ‘white’ base color enabling bright and pastel shade colors to be achieved. The product can be supplied either pre-colored to the customer’s specification, or natural which can be colored ‘in-process’ using a color concentrate, for example with PolyOne’s OnColor color concentrates;
• Very low odour and low fogging grades available, to meet the requirements for automotive interior parts.

As part of this project, PolyOne will expand the production area at it’s facility in Gaggenau, Germany. When completed this will result in increased capacity for all OnFlex thermoplastic elastomers including the new OnFlex-V product. The new production area also allows for further expansion as demand for the product range continues to grow.

Commenting on the investment, TPE platform manager Marc Setzen explained “The expansion in both capacity and technology base brings our capability to a new level. It is the first step in our enhanced commitment to serve our TPE customers, and I am personally excited by what the new OnFlex-V product range brings us.”

At Fakuma PolyOne will announce its OnFlex TPE range including OnFlex-S
(TPE-S), OnFlex-V (TPE-V) and OnFlex-O (TPE-O). PolyOne will demonstrate the coloration capability of this new TPE-V compound at Fakuma by injection molding parts using OnFlex-V TPE-V together with new OnColor-HL highly loaded color concentrate.

HT Troplast, one of Europe’s leading PVC profile manufacturers, has started production of its own PVC stabilisers.

HT’s Profine subsidiary will cover the KBE, Kömmerling, Trocal and Knipping profile brands extruded at the various group locations in Berlin, Pirmasens and Troisdorf.

The company has invested E4m in the plant, with 20% of that being provided by the local state of Rhineland Palatinate.

The plant is at the same location as the Kömmerling plant in Pirmasens near Saarbrücken. It will provide 7,000tpa of calcium-zinc stabilisers for the group’s 300,000tpa PVC compound production once it reaches capacity in mid-2004.

New technology involving Fireguard (R) Low-Smoke / Zero Halogen, or LSZH (TM), compounds enables installers of cable in municipal, public-utility, and similar projects to save time and costs by using semi-flexible plastic conduit while eliminating concerns about excessive smoke generation in fires, it was announced today at IWCS by Teknor Apex Vinyl Division (Booth 407).

Under a pending patent applied for jointly by Teknor Apex and cabling system supplier ARNCO Corporation, ARNCO has used a specially formulated Fireguard LSZH compound to develop Fiber-Guard (R) LSZH conduit, a coilable product that contains no halogens either in the base polymer or in flame retardant additives. The first application of the new conduit is in a five mile-long (8-km) project beneath the city of Chicago.

“Unlike metal conduit, which is shipped in standard 10-foot-long (3.0-m) sections and must be assembled on-site, semi-flexible plastic conduit comes in continuous coils that can be fed through the city substructure with minimal disruption of surrounding components,” said Robert Washburn, ARNCO’s vice president of R&D. “In addition, continuous conduit permits use of new fiber optic cable blowing techniques, which are precluded by the enormous number of joints required in any sizeable installation of metal conduit.”

The Chicago project involved running cable through the stations and tunnels leading into the city center on one route of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) railway system. CTA requirements call for use of low-smoke / zero-halogen coiled conduit in order to increase the visibility of exit areas in the event of a fire and to reduce the toxic effects and corrosion caused by acid gases emitted as combustion byproducts.

“Fiber-Guard LSZH conduit provides the CTA with the best of both worlds,” said
ARNCO’s Hank Hartman, director of business development. “Most importantly, it helps ensure public safety in the event of a tunnel fire. At the same time, it has contributed to the economical and on-time completion of a project that would otherwise have entailed tedious, labor-intensive ‘one-stick-at-a-time’ assembly.”

Proven Technology for Cable Compounds Is Applied to Semi-Flexible Conduit
Fireguard (R) is a Teknor Apex tradename for compounds that meet the most stringent low-flame, low-smoke requirements for wire and cable insulation and jacketing. While most Fireguard products are PVC-based, Fireguard LSZH compounds are polyolefin-based, completely halogen-free formulations. They were originally developed for insulation and jacketing of copper and fiber optic cable for communications and data transmission.

“While Fireguard LSZH compounds have been used successfully in the U.S., our main goal in developing them was to support companies that manufacture in or distribute to Europe, where smoke-toxicity restrictions are particularly stringent,” said Donald G. Ouellette, industry manager for Teknor Apex. “To transfer this technology to applications in conduit, we adapted the Fireguard LSZH formulation for use in the process of extruding tubing.”

The CTA installation is just the first of what Ouellette envisions to be numerous uses of Fireguard LSZH compounds in conduit. “We see possibilities in conduit used by natural gas distributors, cable TV companies, telecommunications providers, and electrical utilities,” Ouellette said. “Unlike traditional materials used for plastic conduit tubing, Fireguard LSZH compounds do not emit the type of combustion byproducts that have raised concerns about toxicity.”

The new Fiber-Guard LSZH conduit fits right into what ARNCO calls The System, according to the company’s Hank Hartman. “ARNCO has created a synergistic approach to the challenges of cable installation,” Hartman said. “To make installations faster, more precise, and more cost-efficient, we have developed a system of standard and custom-built conduit, couplers, cable-placing equipment, pull tapes, chemicals, and accessories for use in industries as diverse as telecommunications, data communications, cable television, and electrical utilities.”

Since its founding in 1996, Battenfeld Chen Extrusion Systems Ltd, Shunde, PR China, a member company of SMS Plastics Technology, has been extremely successful. The machinery manufacturer has experienced a continuous increase in sales, which reached 13 million US $ in 2003, being ten times the sales figure realized in the beginning. A full order book and an expanding product line now make it necessary to extend the company’s production capacity.

On a 17,000 m² site, also in Shunde, close to the existing facility, a new building with an 8,300 m² production hall and technical center, and a 1,200 m² office block is currently under construction. The capital investment for this ultra-modern, generously dimensioned new facility is estimated in excess of 2 million US $. Completion is planned for the beginning of 2004.

The strategy that has brought success to the Shunde company is the local production of high-quality extrusion equipment with proven western-standard Battenfeld technology. At present Battenfeld Chen Extrusion Systems has a workforce of 110 employees and ships between 25 and 35 complete extrusion lines annually. Inspired by the excellent reception of its pipe and profile extrusion equipment in the market, the machine manufacturer has extended its product range to include also blown film extrusion lines. This has met with an overwhelming response: orders for seven blown film lines have been placed so far, with three lines already installed and operating to the customers’ complete satisfaction. The management of Battenfeld Chen Extrusion Systems estimates that the blown film line business will constitute 30% of the company’s total sales volume this year. New product lines are planned for the coming year as well, including conical twin screw extruders to be introduced at the Chinaplas-Beijing in December.

The Plexiglas division of Degussa, which extrudes PMMA sheet, is to begin sheet production in Russia next year.The production should begin by mid-2004. The sheet will be produced by a three-way joint venture company, owned by Degussa’s subsidiary Rohm, and two Russian companies that currently market Plexiglas in the region: Unichem Group and ZAO Orgsteklo.
The planned capacity, of several thousand tonnes, will meet demand from both Russia and neighbouring countries in the CIS. Construction of the plant, which will be located in Podolsk in the greater Moscow area, is expected to begin this month.

Unveiled in cooperation with Kiefel Extrusion at June’s NPE show in Chicago, new Borclear RB707CF polypropylene from Borealis Group is said to overcome conventional PP limitations in blown film. It delivers superior optical properties in combination with good processability and excellent stiffness/tenacity balance, and is intended for coextrusion as sealing layer in flexible packaging.
Borealis recently developed a new class of polypropylene random terpolymers called Borclear. The latest development in this unique family is the RB707CF grade for extrusion of blown film on conventional lines. Up to now the majority of PP grades were limited in this kind of processing, due to their poor processability, low tenacity, and especially poor optical properties. Processability of Borclear RB707CF with 1.8 MFR was demonstrated at NPE on a Kirion blown-film coex line from Kiefel Extrusion GmbH of Germany, represented here by Kiefel Inc., Wrentham, Mass. The new resin is also said to show very good sealability and seal strength, as well as excellent bonding to metallocene PE grades. Borealis intends to supply this resin to U.S. customers directly from Europe.
For further information, contact Anton Wolfsberger, Borealis GmbH, Business Unit Film & Fibre in Linz, Austria. Tel: +43 732 6981 088, E-mail: anton.wolfsberg er@borealisgroup.com.

NFM Iddon of Leyland in Lancashire, formerly Iddon Bros., has launched a new range of single screw plastics extruders from 20 mm to 250 mm in diameter. These machines can be supplied with various options including vented barrels, AC or DC Drives, high output screw designs and mixing elements, and are fitted as standard with PLC touch screen controls and bi-metallic barrels. A major innovation of the range is the use of the monoclamp and swing hinge, which eliminates downtime for tool changeovers by offering instant access to tools and offers leaf-free production. The clamp is fitted to the company’s extensive range of co-rotating twin screw and rubber extruders. The range of plastics extruders are aimed at the compounding market to complement the TEM range of co-rotating twin screw extruders, however NFM also has available high output screw designs for polyolefin pipe, profile, cable and sheet extrusion for all sizes of single screw machines. NFM has supplied larger than 250 mm OD extruders previously and can tailor any size to a specific customer specification. The company can also provide turn key extrusion systems incorporating downstream equipment, materials handling, gauging and support frames and stillages.