Rapra Technology: Research to increase extrusion output
Rapra Technology is part of a 14-strong European consortium that has secured Eur 1•4 million of EU funding for research into the use of supercritical CO2 as a process aid in extrusion. Further funding from other organisations in the consortium brings the research budget up to Eur 2•51 million. Other organisations in the consortium include Presearch of the UK, Queen’s University Belfast, Aimplas from Spain, Yelkenicilier from Turkey, AGOR from Germany, Cesap from Italy and the Spanish companies Plastire and Reboca.
The Freeflow project aims to increase extrusion output rates, reduce processing temperatures and reduce energy consumption. It will develop a prototype extruder that will allow full commercial development of the process. During the initial stages work will be undertaken to determine the general process requirements which will lead to the selection of the most appropriate polymers and processing equipment to permit maximum plasticisation with acceptable final product performance. The results of the work will be communicated through EU bodies that are members of the consortium such as the European Plastic Converters in Belgium, Promaplast in Italy, AVEP in Spain, PAGEV in Turkey and the British Plastics Federation in the UK.