British Plastics & Rubber articles from December 2002

British Plastics & Rubber archives from December 2002

Nonlinear modelling paves the way to bespoke polymers. (Process Modelling).
December 1, 2002... Computer modelling to predict the result of using differing sets of processing conditions can enable anything from a moulding machine to a polymerization reactor to be set up at its optimum. But not all the factors that have to be taken into...

New technology devised for nanocomposite compounding. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... COMPOUNDING technology and a special screw configuration for its ZSK MEGAcompounders have been developed by Coperion Werner & Pfleiderer for the incorporation of nanofillers into commodity and engineering materials. Nanofillers, known as...

Enhancements to Battenfeld compounding extruders. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... A NEW feeding hopper has been developed for the Battenfeld range of pelletizing extruders combining a small co-rotating twin screw feeding a vertical single screw crammer. This new design allows a more accurate feed to the main extruder...

Co-operation in in-line compounding. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... TWO German extrusion equipment companies have set up a co-operation to develop inline compounding systems. Leistritz, which is primarily a compounding equipment supplier, and Breyer, which makes complete lines for film, sheet and tube...

From prototype to full series. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... Berstorff's ZE-UTX twin screw extruder series which was shown in 60 mm prototype form at K'2001 has now been extended to encompass 40, 50, 60 and 75 mm models. The first machine, a ZE40 UTX, has been running since the beginning of the year in...

Co-ros intended for high filler loading. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... MODEL 2C corotating twin parallel intermeshing screw extruders from Bandera are intended for compounding materials with a high percentage of fillers, reinforcing materials or pigments, and with heat sensitive additives, flame retardants and...

Lab extruder reproduces high production screw speeds. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... NEW twin screw laboratory extruders with screw speeds up to 1,000 RPM have been produced by APV Baker to mimic the trend towards running industrial extruders at higher speeds. The machines are intended for applications in powder coating,...

Air quench pelletizer option for lab compounder. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... THERMO PRISM has extended its range of pelletizing equipment to include a small face-cut air-quench system for use with its 16 mm Eurolab Digital twin-screw extruder. It is mounted on a simple roll-away trolley and is interchangeable with the...

Compound wood-filled plastics for subsequent or direct extrusion. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... B & P COMPOUNDING is offering a 'try before you buy' plan for its co-rotating twin screw compounders through Uniplex Machinery Sales. The machines are available from 25 mm to 133 mm diameter in various LD ratios depending on application....

New extruder installed for wood-filled compound production. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... WTL International of Macclesfield has installed a Cincinnati Fibrex compounder to make its recently introduced Natraplast wood filled polymer. Natraplast is filled with up to 75 per cent by weight of recycled soft wood flours and fibres...

Vent Port Stuffer is improved. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... THE Vent Port Stuffer introduced a year or so ago by Screwtech Engineering has been further improved to provide a number of vacuum connection options and an easier cleaning process between colours. The vacuum body is now in two halves, which...

Multi-purpose rubber extruder restricts batch temperature. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... COLMECS's new CTE conical twin screw rubber extruder is said to be particularly efficient in reducing batch temperature because of the high thermal exchange across the surfaces of the screws, hopper and extruder section and its relatively low...

Gearing makes manual screen changing easier. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... A MANUAL screenchanger said to improve on the operation of conventional manual screenchangers has been introduced by Maag Pump Systems Textron. Instead of the long lever necessary on some systems to achieve the necessary operating force the new...

Pellet screener for small quantities. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... A NEW pellet screener described as cost-effective for dealing with smaller quantities of product has been produced by Rotex Europe. It has a special horizontal gyratory motion and fully visible screening surface and requires little maintenance....

Focusing on small volumes increases mixing efficiency. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... MIXING times can be reduced and product quality and consistency improved by using its In-Line rotor/stator mixers instead of immersion mixers, says Silverson Machines, which has developed a number of models for application with plastics and...

'Enormous' wear tackled. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... BKG (Bruckmann & Kreyenborg Granuliertechnik) has developed an underwater pelletising system for glass fibre filled materials. The company says that enormous' wear rates occur during the transport and drying of such pellets so that a special...

Flexible wall feeder handles a range of additive formats. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... THE recently introduced C-Flex range of extrusion feeders from Colortronic can be used to add granules, powders and flakes. The machines have steep hopper walls made of polyurethane which are massaged externally to give a consistent mass flow...

Chronos Richardson sold to Canadian company. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... MATERIALS handling equipment supplier Chronos Richardson has been sold by the Babcock International Group, who bought it 18 months ago, to Premier Tech of Canada. Chronos Richardson specialises in packaging systems and equipment for powders and...

Grade reductions have helped thermoplastic compounders. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... TECHNICAL compounding in Europe will have accounted for more than 3.5 million tonnes of polymer usage in 2002, but the growth of the compounding sector is no longer outperforming the growth in the European polymer markets, according to Applied...

Additive prices up. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... SEVERAL additives manufacturers are planning January 1 price increases. The price of Martinal aluminium trihydrate flame retardants sold by Albemarle Corporation of the USA and its affiliate Martinswerk of Germany is to be increased by 10...

Speciality compounds being planned for rotomoulders. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... CIBA Specialty Chemicals' plastics additives division has joined forces with ICO Polymers to make special effect compounds for rotational moulding. ICO will introduce new Icorene grades including materials with enhanced UV protection for...

'Silver bullet' biocide beats MRSA. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... ADDMASTER has introduced anti microbial masterbatches which release silver ions in a controlled manner for the reduction of virulent MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) infections in hospitals and nursing homes. ...

DuPont Dow cuts the cost of processing EPDM. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... EPDM grades with improved processing performance have been introduced by DuPont Dow through the use of gas phase/metallocene catalysis production methods. The new Nordel MG grades have a Mooney viscosity of more than 100 achieved without the...

Non-arsenic biocides. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... AKCROS Chemicals has added two non-arsenic biocides to its Intercide series. The new biocides -- BTX 100 and BTX 200 -- are supplied in paste form for combination with compatible carriers, such as DIDP or ESBO, and added to the product...

Joint venture in new additive formulations. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... Colour Tone Masterbatch and AddMaster UK are jointly to develop a new range of additive formulations based on rigid PVC polymer specific masterbatches. AddMaster, masterbatch and technical compounds specialist, has been seeking a PVC...

Pushing up the low temperature resistance of nylon compounds. (Compounding).
December 1, 2002... ATOFINA's new Lotader XX1336 terpolymer for use in masterbatches provides a significant increase in the impact resistance of PA6, even at low temperatures, says the company. The optimum masterbatch consists of 20 per cent Lotader XX 1336 and 80...

Production monitoring tool is extended. (Blow Moulding).
December 1, 2002... IMPROVEMENTS have been made to Sidel's EIT (Efficiency Improvement Tool) which aims to optimize the operation of high throughput bottling lines. It gathers information from PLCs and sensors mounted on the line, machine by machine, and records...

PET preform/bottle testers handle multiple tests and check nylon barriers. (Blow Moulding).
December 1, 2002... AGR*TOPWAVE has introduced new instruments for performing multiple tests on PET bottles and preforms and for checking the distribution of nylon-based barrier materials. The Gawis AutoFeed non-contact laboratory system for automatic...

New polyolefins increase bottle and can performance. (Blow Moulding).
December 1, 2002... BIMODAL and metallocene HDPEs are being introduced for improved mechanical performance and higher gloss bottles, while random copolymer polypropylenes have been brought to market for higher temperature operation without loss of transparency or...

Thompson support business taken over by BMC Controls. (Blow Moulding).
December 1, 2002... BLOW moulding machine rebuilder and service agent Steve Thompson Engineering is closing, and Steve Thompson is moving to the USA to work for a technical moulding company. The spares and repairs side of the business has been transferred to...

Open access granulator can be reconfigured on site. (In-House Reclamation).
December 1, 2002... THE CONCEPT granulator exhibited by Rapid at the K'2001 exhibition has gone into production as the Series 45, and will become the basic design of all Rapid's large sized granulators. The machine is being billed as 'the granulator that users...

Wheelie bin could be optimum clean room scrap conveyor. (In-House Reclamation).
December 1, 2002... BESIDE THE PRESS granulation may not always be a desirable option. If different models of granulator are involved they may have different evacuation systems, and dust may be generated which could foul clean rooms or cause irritation to workers....

Rapid adds shredders for pre-breaking large lumps. (In-House Reclamation).
December 1, 2002... RAPID has developed new RS1000 and RS1400 shredders for use in conjunction with its 35 or 45 series granulators for the reduction of large lumps of material. The shredders have a slowly revolving rotor to minimise the possibility of lumps being...

Additional shredder option from Blackfriars. (In-House Reclamation).
December 1, 2002... A RANGE of single-shaft shredders has been added alongside the Mocc twin shaft shredders sold by Blackfriars to complement its own-build range of granulators. The Gross shredders are built in two basic designs with cutting chamber openings...

PVC pulverised. (In-House Reclamation).
December 1, 2002... A TURNKEY installation recently completed by Colortronic at Wavin Ireland pulverizes and conveys scrap rigid PVC at 500 kg/hr. The material is conveyed from the existing grinder using a CSP conveying unit with customer specific software. A...

Visteon buys from Getecha. (In-House Reclamation).
December 1, 2002... GETECHA granulators have recently been installed by Visteon in its British and American plants. In Britain Visteon has put in a medium-sized Getecha RS3004 at its Enfield plant to conduct trials into the feasibility of granulating interior...

Waste re-use project brings grant for BIP. (In-House Reclamation).
December 1, 2002... WHILE not actually returning it to the main production process, BIP has found a way of diverting waste from its amino moulding powder production away from landfill and into a saleable product -- and has even found a use for the waste from the...

TRACS removes airborne granulation dust. (In-House Reclamation).
December 1, 2002... Rapid's TRACS (Transport, Recovery and Air Cleaning System) has improved the working environment for production workers at injection moulder Plastal in Gothenburg, Sweden, by reducing the granulation dust in the air. The TRACS system is...

Components assembled in-mould, every shot. (Injection Moulding).
December 1, 2002... BILLION has joined with French mould-maker Grosfilley in the development of a process for assembling two halves of a component within the mould. At first glance it seems very similar to the Birkby's Plastics In Mould Welding process, but...

From GAM to AIM as the market blossoms. (Injection Moulding).
December 1, 2002... GROWING interest in gas-assisted moulding have pressured Cinpres Gas Injection to move its manufacturing, sales and administration to bigger premises a mile from its former site in Middlewich, Cheshire. CGI says it is expanding in spite of...

Pockets machined for cavity inserts. (Injection Moulding).
December 1, 2002... HASCO P plates can be used with the new KR 25 bolster plates supplied with finished machined pockets for cavity inserts. There are 11 standard bolster plate sizes from 246 x 246 mm (pocket size 155 x 155 mm) to 396 x 496 mm (pocket size 245 x...

Sandretto improves the energy efficiency of its big machine series. (Injection Moulding).
December 1, 2002... Machine series. (Injection moulding) THE medium/large tonnage Mega T injection moulding machine series from Sandretto is being replaced by a more energy efficient model. The Mega T was introduced at a time when the space between debars...

Demag and Van Dorn back together again. (Injection Moulding).
December 1, 2002... DEMAG Ergotech and Van Dorn Demag are to pool their resources to form a global injection moulding machine manufacturing group with machine production on three continents. The two companies, both part of Mannesmann Plastics Machinery, have...

Metric Quick Change moulds match US frames. (Injection Moulding).
December 1, 2002... A STANDARD metric mould insert system has been introduced by DME, with components compatible with the previous US-dimensioned frames. The company says that more than 24,000 DME frames in use in North America will accept inserts from its new...

Retrofit cuts cost of MuCell product development. (Injection Moulding).
December 1, 2002... TREXEL has developed a retrofittable injection unit enabling its MuCell microcellular foam moulding process to be used on an existing moulding machine without major surgery. Until now the process has needed a 28 D screw, and so has called...

Increased functionality for hot runner temperature controllers. (Injection Moulding).
December 1, 2002... NEW Smart Series temperature control modules for hot runner systems have been produced by DME and are applicable to single and multizone mainframes. SSM-l5-02/01 modules have a higher degree of selectivity compared with earlier designs and...

Nozzle valve gate design prevents wear. (Injection Moulding).
December 1, 2002... AN IMPROVED single valve gated nozzle has been introduced by Mold-Masters. The Accu-Lever has a lever mechanism and a cam that directly and axially engages the valve pin's head. Mold-Masters says that this mechanism completely eliminates...

The friendly face of extrusion control. (Pipe & Profile Extrusion).
December 1, 2002... REAPING the benefits of microprocessor control without the intimidation of a complex control panel has been addressed by Boston Matthews in its new XL entry-level PLC Control System. While the XL is Windows-based and uses icons found on...

Impact modifier for pipes. (Pipe & Profile Extrusion).
December 1, 2002... A NEW impact modifier for pipes and profiles which can also be used as a process aid for foam core pipes has been introduced by Elkem Materials, a subsidiary of the Norwegian Elkem ASA chemicals company. Sidistar T 100 is an inorganic...

Price cuts for adjustable calibrating sleeves. (Pipe & Profile Extrusion).
December 1, 2002... The price of Rival adjustable calibrating sleeves has been reduced substantially following a management buy-out. Henrik Holvad has bought the company from his father, and has invested [euro]540,000 in a new machine to produce sleeves more...

Twin screws specially suited for highly filled PVC. (Pipe & Profile Extrusion).
December 1, 2002... THE LATEST Cincinnati 'argos plus' parallel twin screw extruders are claimed to be specially suited to processing highly filled PVC compounds as used for pipe production. Effective screw length has been extended by 2D to 28D. As with conical...

Foam core maintains its performance. (Composites).
December 1, 2002... A GROWING number of applications are turning to foam-cored sandwich composite technology because it offers a better weight/stiffness combination than monolithic constructions. But there is still doubt over its long term behaviour under dynamic...

Doubled capacity for composite profiles. (Composites).
December 1, 2002... IMHOTEP of Mansfield has moved to new premises to more than double capacity for its thermoplastic composite profiles. These are made from virgin or recycled thermoplastics extruded over bundles of continuous glass fibre reinforcement, and with...

Control over six heated bonding zones. (Composites).
December 1, 2002... AN IMPROVED temperature controller for the repair of aerospace and marine composites components has been introduced by JR Technology. The Hot Bonding Controller HBC-43 Mark II controls up to six zones independently with inputs for up to 32...

Plastic/steel composites formal with a simple mechanical lock. (Composites).
December 1, 2002... The 'collar joining' system of joining plastics and sheet metal components developed by BASF uses a simple mechanical lock to anchor the meal component in the plastic. The collar reference comes from the hollow boss produced on the sheet...

Heat reflection puts twin wall PC on greenhouse roofs. (Engineering Materials).
December 1, 2002... AN INNOVATIVE zig-zag structure has enabled double-walled polycarbonate sheet to be used for greenhouse roof glazing, giving the benefits of strength and thermal insulation without the light transmission loss that may be experienced with...

BASF polyamides pioneer active air intake. (Engineering Materials).
December 1, 2002... MANN + HUMMEL co-operated with BASF in the development of the first active intake manifold system for a direct-injection petrol engine and the components are now in series production for the new Audi A4 2.0 FSI 4V. 'FSI' stands for fuel...

Zeon to use AES technology to make tougher TPVs. (Engineering Materials).
December 1, 2002... ZEON Chemicals and Advanced Elastomer Systems are to co-operate in thermoplastic elastomers, with Zeon licensing AES technology involving heat and oil-resistant thermoplastic vulcanizates. It intends to use AES technology with its own specialty...

Improved silicones for high voltage insulation. (Engineering Materials).
December 1, 2002... A NEW series of silicone rubber compounds has been introduced by Dow Corning for moulding high-voltage insulators, surge arresters, weather sheds and other HV components. HV 1650-50 is a 50 durometer material with a low modulus, primarily...

Multibase launches new type of TPE incorporating silicones. (Engineering Materials).
December 1, 2002... MULTIBASE, a French company acquired by Dow Corning earlier this year, has launched a new type of high performance thermoplastic elastomer with the brand name TPSiV. This stands for thermoplastic silicone vulcanisate and refers to the structure...

DuPont fine tunes its product line. (Engineering Materials).
December 1, 2002... THE Butler Slim gas lighter from Rowenta relies for its sliding switch on a hard-soft combination of DuPont Deirin acetal with Ponaflex thermoplastic elastomer from Pongs & Zahn Plastics. The switch frame is moulded in Delrin in order to...

ABS tailored for smart card moulding. (Engineering Materials).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... A NEW grade of ABS specifically for moulding smart cards has been introduced by Dow Plastics. Emerge ABS 5100 is part of Dow's Emerge product line of engineering plastics intended for information technology equipment applications. It has...

Pad printer reduces the complexity of complex jobs. (Finishing).
December 1, 2002... THE KCNC pad printer from Kent International is capable of printing on large and long products with an area up to 350 x 750 mm. It is designed for complex multi-colour work and users who need to print on unevenly shaped items such as computers,...

How to cope when bottle shapes go up and batches come down. (Finishing).
December 1, 2002... THE LATEST screen printing machine from format is designed to meet growing needs to cope with decreasing batch sizes hand in hand with an increasing variety of shapes of bottle. The RS 2350 can be set up electronically for quick changeovers and...

Sigmasoft and the 3D view of moulding: Clive Maier looks at a true 3D flow simulation program with a long pedigree which has lately become available in the UK for sale, lease or on consultancy. (Software Review).
December 1, 2002... COMPUTER-aided simulation of the injection moulding process amounts to virtual moulding. You make your experiments -- and your mistakes -- in the computer where they are quick and cheap, not in the moulding shop where they are time-consuming...

Cost estimating programs--what do you need? (Software Review).
December 1, 2002... FARADAY Plastics, the government-sponsored body for UK plastics research and development, is assessing options for a public domain software model for estimating the cost of injection mouldings. The study is being undertaken as part of Faraday's...

Taiwanese flow program comes to the UK. (Software Review).
December 1, 2002... MOLDEX3D injection moulding simulation software is now available in the UK and Ireland from FlowHow UK, a new sales and support operation headed by plastics CAE specialist John Gosden, formerly of Moldflow. Moldex3D was developed in Taiwan...

Cross-industry standard crucial for e-collaboration. (Software Review).
December 1, 2002... E-collaboration - the process of working together dynamically by internet, intranet or by wireless devices - is being held back by the lack of a single universal software standard for design applications, according to Ticona global e-business...

Dow Corning Plasma Solutions. (What's New on the Web).
December 1, 2002... The site has been launched to showcase Dow Corning's new Plasma Solutions business. Plasma technologies have been around for some time and are frequently used to modify material surfaces, in preparation for printing or adhesion for example. Now...

Hosokawa Micron. (What's New on the Web).
December 1, 2002... This new site details the range of size reduction, containment, mixing, drying, classifying and agglomeration equipment available from Hosokawa Micron. The information has been designed to help engineers select and specify suitable systems. ...

DuPont plastics. (What's New on the Web).
December 1, 2002... DuPont has rejigged its web site as a plastics portal serving as a gateway to 60 plastics product lines and 10,000 product types from resins, films and filaments to precision parts. A 'super search' materials selector lets visitors scan the...

BPF Business Support Network. (What's New on the Web).(British Plastics Federation new web-based service)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The British Plastics Federation's new Business Support Network is a web-based service that signposts 'best-in-class' service providers. The listed providers or 'partners' all have a proven track record in the plastics sector and include...

Eureka. (What's New on the Web).(Eureka magazine)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The web site of Eureka magazine is not strictly plastics but provides a valuable source of information on UK engineering products and services. At the heart of the site is a searchable database listing more than 100,000 products from over...

French rekindle research into biopolymers. (Environmental Issues).
December 1, 2002... PRODUCTION of biodegradable plastics from vegetable materials is seeing a revival in France, with several research projects under way and commercialisation of at least one product expected some time during the coming year. Erstein's sugar...

Polymer Training reaches out to industry. (Environmental Issues).
December 1, 2002... POLYMER Training is taking training to industry by stepping up its regional activities with the addition of two new locations. New centres in Essex and North Nottinghamshire have been selected to serve local plastics industry clusters who will...

Hot melts in fabric farm. (Adhesives).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Hansel Textil UK now has a range of hot melt adhesive webs made in Germany by ABTec, a joint venture between Hansel and Spunfab USA. They encompass polyester, polyamide and polyolefin webs ranging from 14 gsm to 50 gsm at 150 cm wide. ...

Phenolic antioxidant. (Antioxidants).
December 1, 2002... Clariant has produced a new phenolic antioxidant for use with polypropylene and high density polyethylene. Hostanox O 310 XP is a free-radical scavenger antioxidant with 'unusual extraction stability'. Used alone it offers improved oxygen...

New agent bonds PVC coatings to synthetic fibres. (Bonding Agents).(Bayer Chemicals)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Bayer Chemicals has developed a new bonding agent that offers outstanding adhesion of PVC plastisols to fibres and fabrics of polyester and polyamide. The one-component system is based on a TDI polyisocyanate and is characterised by low...

Carbon blacks for cables. (Carbon Blacks).(Cabot Corporation has developed two new conductive carbon blacks for use in electric power cables)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Cabot Corporation has developed two new conductive carbon blacks for use in electric power cables. Vulcan XC200 is intended for strippable shields while the XC500 grade is for fully bonded shields. Existing carbon blacks can be used to...

Mould cleaner for use with semi-permanent release agents. (Mould Cleaning).
December 1, 2002... Axel Plastics Research Laboratories has produced a new mould cleaner for closed-mould applications that use semi-permanent release agents. XTEND CX-525 has been formulated to cut through 'scumming" and crusted-on styrene deposits with a...

First new process aid technology for a decade. (Process Aids).
December 1, 2002... DuPont Dow Elastomers claims that its newly-introduced Viton FreeFlow Z additives constitute the first new process aid technology for the plastics industry since the early 1990s. The materials use an optimal combination of rheology-modified...

New SLA resins. (Prototyping Materials).
December 1, 2002... 3D Systems Corporation is to release four new resins for its stereolithography (SLA) systems by the year end. Accura SI 10 is a general purpose material that is superior to current products by virtue of its long vat life and part-building...

Purging compound is cleaner, safer, easier. (Purging Agents).
December 1, 2002... Plastic Moulding Supplies has introduced a heavy duty purging agent. HD-Purge is based on a high density polyethylene and can be used with all materials over an operating range from 150 to 370 degC. In use, the purging compound undergoes a...

High-slip release agent for RTM. (Release Agents).
December 1, 2002... The latest product from Axel Plastics Research Laboratories is a high-slip mould release intended for resin transfer moulding and for use with difficult resins and non-gelcoated parts. Xtend 825 is a reactive resin solution that cures to a...