Strictly-Extrusion

With the introduction of Battenfeld Gloucester’s new ThermoFlex Technology for the production of mono and multilayer sheet, the company has sold a record number of sheet lines in 2006 to date in its 45 year history. These orders include several PET, PP, PS and Urethane sheet lines and represent growth worldwide from the US, Mexico and Asia. Activity has been seen in both market entry and market expansion applications.
One major growth area is in the disposable Polypropylene products market. To support increasing demand, one of Battenfeld Gloucester’s North American customers recently purchased their 11th and 12th sheet lines from the company. Each system was a ThermoFlex Model 120 OL/Hydraulic 3-Roll Stack for processing a PP homopolymer with clarifier at a line speed of 52-115 FPM and a 700 kg/hr - 800 kg/hr gross output. There are also two more sheet lines in production for this customer who purchases both mono layer and coextruded systems.
Other systems recently provided include polyurethane sheet lines for automotive and clothing/shoe applications, both mono and co-ex, co-extruded PET and PP sheet lines for packaging, as well as multi-layer HIPS products. The recent sheet equipment sales success, which includes a sheet system engineered and built for running recycled APET on a horizontal stack machine, can also be attributed to the penetration of this new market.
ThermoFlex Technology for the Most Demanding Sheet Production Requirements
The ThermoFlex Sheet System incorporates a three-roll hydraulic stack, with the option for post cooling rolls for additional flexibility in a variety of applications. These include horizontal, vertical or 45-degree slant stack, each application specific. The systems can be applied to monolayer or multilayer products of up to seven layers, addressing the growing trends of using coextrusion for increased packaging requirements and other demanding applications. Independent AC flux vector drives are used throughout for the widest possible speed range. Stack roll widths are available from 1050 mm (42′) to 2790 mm (110′). Roll sizing for ThermoFlex systems are determined based on applications and production requirements and can vary from 300 mm (12′) to 920 mm (36′).
The ThermoFlex technology offers a cost effective option for processing a variety of materials with the highest optical quality. Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering is pleased with the results of its sheet growth this quarter and is focusing to increase customer support to expand its presence even further.

DuPont Fluoroproducts has announced it is increasing global prices for all grades of DuPont™ Tedlar® polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) films by an average of 10 percent. This increase will be effective September 1, 2006. PVF films, marketed by DuPont under the Tedlar® brand, are used in a variety of applications in electronics, aerospace, construction, graphics and other market segments.
This price increase reflects higher raw material costs and the high value that these products deliver to end-use products. It will also support reinvestment, new product and technology development.
DuPont is a science company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by solving problems and creating solutions that make people’s lives better, safer and easier. Operating in more than 70 countries, the company offers a wide range of products and services to markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel.

Davis-Standard, LLC is pleased to announce that Mr. Robert Daboub has joined the company as regional sales manager for the Extrusion System’s Pipe and Profile Group. Prior to joining Davis-Standard, Daboub was the sales and marketing manager at Inplex, LLC, a custom plastic tubing and profile manufacturer. Prior to Inplex, Daboub was with AAR Aircraft and TRW Hartzell, both manufacturers of aircraft engine parts. A graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor’s degree in business administration, he brings seventeen years of plastics industry experience to his new position.
From his home office in Palatine, Illinois, he will be responsible for sales of extruders and extrusion systems for both the Profile and Rubber groups. His territory will include the states of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Daboub can be contacted at rdaboub@davis-standard.com.

Kuraray Co., Ltd. and Kuraray Trading Co., Ltd. announced that the price of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) resin extruded sheets, COMOGLAS, and PMMA cast sheets, will increase for shipments commencing August 21, 2006. Details of the price increase are set out below.
Against a backdrop of vigorous demand for PMMA sheets for all types of optical and transparent materials, the supply and demand balance in Japan and Asia has been tight. Furthermore, the prolonged increases of crude oil and naphtha prices have adversely impacted profit from all types of PMMA sheets.
In order to maintain future security of supply amid the rise in demand, and to improve profitability of both PMMA extruded COMOGLAS and cast sheets, both Kuraray and Kuraray Trading will implement the price increases as outlined below.

Uhde has been awarded a contract to engineer China’s biggest single-line polypropylene plant. The plant will be built by Sinopec subsidiary Tianjin Petrochemical Company at their site in Tianjin, some 100km south-east of Beijing, and is to come on-stream in 2009. The contract includes engineering services as well as assistance in the commissioning activities.
The plant will use Basell’s Spherizone® process to produce polypropylene (PP), i.e. a wide range of ultra-modern plastic chips with outstanding mechanical properties which can be processed into film, bottles and other containers. The Spherizone® technology is Basell’s most advanced process for the production of PP and uses an innovative multi-zone circulating reactor system. The reaction conditions allow a full range of high-quality PP grades to be produced.
This new contract marks another milestone in Uhde’s cooperation with Sinopec following the contract awarded by Sinopec International Company for a polyethylene plant in Maoming, Guangdong Province, and completion of the world’s biggest vinyl chloride plant for Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical Corporation in Zibo, Shandong Province, in 2005.
Uhde has been represented in Beijing, China, for over 25 years and has in this time successfully executed over 80 plant contracts. Since the establishment of its subsidiary Uhde Engineering Consulting (Shanghai) in 2005 Uhde has been able to provide its customers with important services locally.
Uhde is a company in the Technologies segment of the ThyssenKrupp Group and has a workforce of more than 4,300 employees. The company’s activities focus on the design and construction of chemical and other industrial plants in the following fields: refining technologies, plants for fertilisers, organic intermediates, polymers and synthetic fibres, electrolysis plants, gas technologies, plants for oil, coal and residue gasification, coke plant technologies and pharmaceuticals.

Dow Corning has introduced a family of pre-blended silanes for crosslinking polyethylene that simplifies compounding when making crosslinked PE pipe (PEX) in a one- or two-step process or making crosslinked PE wire and cable insulation (XLPE) in a one-step process.
Dow Corning® Z-6358 Silane, Dow Corning® Z-6358 B Silane, Dow Corning® Z-6398 S Silane and Dow Corning® Z-6398 B Silane are vinylsilane blend products useful for producing crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE).
Dow Corning® BY27-614, Dow Corning® BY27-614 B and Dow Corning® BY27-614 LB are polyethylene based additive masterbatches used with the new silane blends for the XLPE process.
Crosslinked polyethylene is used for water pipes and wire and cable applications because of its high performance in heat, chemical and pressure resistance, weatherability and insulation properties.
The pre-blended silanes include peroxide so the user does not have to handle each separately. The blends all have a shelf life of at least six months.
Silane Blends
Dow Corning Z-6358 Silane is a blend for XLPE pipe applications, and consists of vinyltrimethoxysilane, peroxide grafting catalyst and crosslinking catalyst. Preferably, it is used with Dow Corning BY27-614 in the XLPE manufacturing process.
Dow Corning Z-6358 B Silane is a blend for the “B” system XLPE pipe process, and it consists of vinylsilane and peroxide. It must be used with Dow Corning BY27-614 B, which contains the crosslinking catalyst for the XLPE process. In the B-system, the catalyst is contained in the masterbatch. The B-system has several advantages over conventional silane blends in the market. These include products with a longer shelf life as well as more flexibility in the choice of the ratio of catalyst to silane.
Dow Corning Z-6398 S Silane is a blend made especially for wire and cable applications, and consists of vinylsilane, peroxide, catalyst and antioxidant. It can be used without masterbatches because all that is needed is the polyethylene.
Dow Corning Z-6398 B Silane is a blend for B-system wire and cable applications. It must be used with Dow Corning BY27-614 LB masterbatch containing the crosslinking catalyst.
Masterbatches
Dow Corning BY27-614 is a HDPE-based antioxidant masterbatch. It should be used with Dow Corning Z-6358 Silane blend.
Dow Corning BY27-614 B is a HDPE-based antioxidant masterbatch for the B-system and contains the crosslinking catalyst. It must be used with Dow Corning Z-6358 B Silane blend.
Dow Corning BY27-614 LB is a LLDPE-based antioxidant masterbatch for B-system wire and cable formulations and contains the crosslinking catalyst. It must be used with the Dow Corning Z-6398 B Silane blend.
For more information, visit www.dowcorning.com/silanes.

DuPont Fluoroproducts is increasing global prices for all grades of DuPont™ Tedlar® polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) films by an average of 10 percent. This increase will be effective Sept. 1, 2006. PVF films, marketed by DuPont under the Tedlar® brand, are used in a variety of applications in electronics, aerospace, construction, graphics and other market segments.
This price increase reflects higher raw material costs and the high value that these products deliver to end-use products. It will also support reinvestment, new product and technology development.
DuPont Fluoropolymer Solutions is a leading producer of fluoropolymer resins, additives, films, finishes and dispersions, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), PFA (perfluoroalkoxy), FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene), ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene) and PVF (polivinylfluoride), marketed under the registered trademarks DuPont™ Teflon®, DuPont™ Tefzel®, DuPont™ Tedlar® and DuPont™ Zonyl®. Major markets for these fluoropolymer products include the automotive, chemical processing, semiconductor, oil exploration, chemical handling, data communication, aerospace, electronics, housewares and building
industries.
For further information visit the DuPont company website at www.dupont.com/teflon. DuPont is a science company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel.

Coperion Werner & Pfleiderer in Germany has applied for a patent on a novel process for compounding and direct extrusion of plastic filled with hollow particles. The compound is a heat-insulating syntactic foam containing 50% by volume (30% by weight) glass microspheres. It is used as a mid layer in a steel/polypropylene composite pipe for undersea oil transport. Scotchlite microspheres from 3M range in size from 10 to 120 microns with 50% of them less than 40 microns and 90% less than 80 microns.
The trick is not to crush them during mixing. Coperion says its ZSK MegaVolume kneader, which has an unusually high free volume in the screw, can blend the microspheres into melted PP with minimal breakage. Microspheres are added about halfway down the barrel with a twin-screw side feeder. High free volume in the screw also folds more air into the melt, so the machine has a special degassing vent to keep melt from escaping.
The eight-layer pipe was developed for Bredero Shaw Norway AS in Orkanger, Norway. It includes both conventional and syntactic foams separated by a solid PP layer, as well as a solid PP outer skin, and adhesively modified PP next to the steel inner core. The entire process line is installed in two air-conditioned, 40-ft shipping containers for mobile production of undersea pipe along the Alabama Gulf Coast. The two containers can be installed side by side or on top of each other and don’t require a building–only a foundation pad and utility hook-ups. The project will be presented at the SPE ANTEC meeting in Charlotte, N.C., this month.

Process Control Corporation, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is pleased to unveil a new operator interface control panel for use on the X-Series line of continuous gravimetric blenders, the Guardian Series line of gravimetric batch blenders and the Gravitrol extrusion and linespeed control systems. This new operator control panel utilizes a 5′ color touch screen interface. The touch screen interface allows for ease of recipe entry and maneuverability around the various monitoring and control screens. With just a touch of the screen, the user can change to any page. The pages also display more information than the standard two-line display.
This new screen, in conjunction with Process Controls new automation tools - Trend Manager and Material Manager, helps to streamline the information gathering process. Trend Manager and Material Manager are versatile data collection and charting instruments, which allow users to analyze data over time. Trend Manger collects information on blender performance and/or Gravitrol® System performance. Material Manager analyzes the material usage of a blending system. They can work separately or in conjunction to collect, analyze, and store information on your production line effectiveness.
Trend Manager assists in tracking and plotting production data to better serve your production needs. It can track the accuracy of blend percentages, layer distribution ratios, and overall line stability. Also, layer distribution can be tracked on co-extrusion lines to assure a good, consistent finished product.
Material Manager accurately tracks the material usage of each blender used in the production line. Recording material usage allows the system to report on how much and which type of material was used on each job, shift, blender, and recipe. This system of recording material usage will provide processors with a better understanding of the costs incurred in processing an order. Additionally, Process Control’s Material Manager software is able to identify and minimize waste.
Both data gathering systems will operate on a Microsoft Windows-based PC. Communication is established with the mini-op controller using a serial/ Ethernet port connection, with the aid of a DDE server package residing in the host PC. All protocols supported by the mini-op controller are also supported by Trend Manager and Material Manager.
As a processor, you’ll benefit greatly from this new, easy-to-use touch screen interface control panel and automation software. The data collected will assist you in improving your production system and performance, thus lowering costs.

A company in Germany has developed a way to make a meltable wood-based polymer that can be extruded, palletized, and injection molded. Tecnaro GmbH in Eisenach is a commercial spinoff from the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT) in Pfinztal, Germany. Tecnaro takes lignin, a natural polymer in wood, that has been separated from cellulose in the papermaking process and mixes the lignin with natural fibers such as sisal, hemp, or linen plus additives and colorant dyes. The resulting product, called Arboform, is a biodegradable thermoplastic that can molded into figurines, speaker cabinets, auto instrument panels, chessmen, golf tees, or rifle stocks. Moldable Arboform has been sold since 2000. Now, Tecnaro is pursuing extrusion applications such as artists’ crayons and cosmetic pencils. Tel: +49 3691/621-320, e-mail: info@tecnaro.de, www.tecnaro.de