British Plastics & Rubber articles from October 2008

British Plastics & Rubber archives from October 2008

Conferences & exhibitions.(Calendar)
October 1, 2008... APPLICATIONS--ELECTRONICS February 4-5 Polymer Electronics 2009. Smithers Rapra's first conference on this subject in Barcelona, Spain. 01939 250383. conferences@rapra.net www.rapra.net/conferences APPLICATIONS--FILM ...

What's in a name?
October 1, 2008... This month's focus on packaging materials comes at an appropriate time. It mentions PP, PE, PET, and a few other materials besides. You know they are used for packaging and / know they are used for packaging. But the world at large doesn't. In...

Lighten up.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs--DEFRA--estimates that over 10.5 million tonnes of packaging entered the UK waste stream in 2007. An Envirowise estimate is that over half of this amount is related to the food and drink...

Light weight isn't always the right weight.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The almost incessant demand for packaging today is to reduce weight, so it seems counter to the trend to introduce a packaging material that is as dense as lead. But that's what Clariant Masterbatches Specialty...

Milk bottle handles are important to users, despite their extra weight.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... Milk bottles could be made lighter by moulding without a handle which, given the vast numbers produced, would have an interesting effect on the carbon footprint of packaging milk in plastic. But as Nampak found after researching the...

Bottle lightweighting wins award for Krones.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... Blow moulding systems specialist Krones cut the weight of a 500 ml still water bottle down to 6.6 g and won an award for it. Its PET lite 6.6 bottle won the 2008 Water Innovation Award in Gold from the trade periodical bottledwaterworld. ...

SABIC adds pharmaceutical polyolefins.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... SABIC has added a line of nine pharmaceutical packaging grades to its European polyolefins portfolio. The seven low density polyethylenes and two high density grades offer purity and consistent quality, and are intended for film, injection and...

Additive pushes up thermal performance of PLA.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... Thermoformed packaging made from PLA can be limited in its application by its tendency to deform at temperatures of 55 degC and above, restricting its use to the packaging of chilled food and beverages. DuPont is aiming to change that with...

RCPPs for moulding and films.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... Two random copotymer polypropylenes nave been added Dy Borealis. One has been designed for injection moutuec packaging and me other is intended for blown and cast films for food and medico packaging Both materials have been produced using the...

New things to do with Surlyn.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... DuPont is promising a new process for making cosmetic packaging using its Surlyn ionomer. The company will be showing existing applications for Surlyn at the Luxe Pack exhibition in Monaco at the end of the month. These include cream jars,...

Tuning multilayer bottle blow moulding can achieve a top to bottom colour shift.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A seamless colour shift along the length of a bottle carried out totally in the blow moulding process is now offered by Clariant Masterbatches. The Fade effect masterbatch has been added to its Enigma effects...

PCR all the way.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A PCR package package is being offered by M & H Plastics. The company is making bottles in post consumer reclaim PET and HDPE at levels from 25 to 100 per cent, and has now packaged these with labels also made from...

Carbon black: now one standard across the EU.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Recent specifications from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) define how carbon black is used in plastics products for food contact applications. And according to carbon black producer Cabot Corporation they...

EU approves film stiffener in food contact packaging.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... An additive made by Eastman Chemical for stiffening plastics films is now approved in Europe for food contact, enabling film producers to make food and non-food films on the same line. Plastolyn R1140 hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin is used...

Barrier blister film is PVC-free.(packaging materials)
October 1, 2008... High moisture barrier blister films based on a coextrusion of polypropylene and COC (cyclic olefin copolymer) are now produced by Amcor Flexibles as an alternative to PVdC-coated PVC film used in the pharmaceutical industry for packing...

Italian compounder buys.(compounding)
October 1, 2008... Italian compounder SO.ETER. has acquired the European subsidiary--also based in Italy--of American compounder Matrixx Group. Matrixx Europe has two production sites in Marcaria and Castetgoffredo (bought from Pozzi Plast in 2006) and...

Colour analysis works on pellets as they leave the line.(compounding)
October 1, 2008... An in-line colour control system for the direct scanning of granules is being introduced by Coperion. The company has signed an agreement with ROC OpticalControl, the developer of the ROC ColorControl Process, for the exclusive distributorship....

Ringextruder builder expands.(compounding)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] German extruder builder Extricom, best known for its multi-screw RingExtruder, has increased its production capacity at Lauffen am Neckar. The company also supplies replacement parts for co-rotating twinscrew...

Underwater pelletising 'more effective for WPC'.(compounding)
October 1, 2008... Underwater pelletising is said by BKG of Germany to be more effective than dry pelletising when producing heavily wood-filled composites. Conventional strand pelletising systems working with a wood content of 40 per cent can cause constant...

Biocide fights mould growth in wood/plastics composites.(compounding)
October 1, 2008... A good thing about wood/plastics composites is the high proportion of natural wood that can be incorporated which gives them a lot of benefits in terms of appearance, feel, workability, and cost. A bad thing about wood/plastics composites...

Screen changers keep flow paths short.(compounding)
October 1, 2008... A new series of filtration systems from Kreyenborg consists of manual screen changers (type HR) and slide plates (type FS-Y), Unlike piston-type screen changers the screen cavities are located on a swivel plate (HR) or a slide plate (FS-Y)...

High volume MAXX machines are getting bigger.(compounding)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The MAXX range of twin screw compounding extruders introduced by Leistritz in 2004 has been scaled up progressively, and the company is now planning to deliver its first 180 mm machine next year. The MAXX design...

Coperion combines operations into a single company.(compounding)
October 1, 2008... The long-standing industry brands of Werner & Pfleiderer extruders and Waeschle materials handling equipment look set to disappear as the Coperion Group of Germany more closely integrates its businesses under its own name. Coperion was...

ERP designed for injection moulding management.(injection moulding)
October 1, 2008... Enterprise resource software which its publisher stresses has been designed specifically for use in injection moulding has been introduced by Tru-Man Industries, based in Basingstoke. The company says Tru-Man Plastic Injection control was...

Free training on the Internet.(injection moulding)
October 1, 2008... Free on-line training is offered by Dilan Interactive Training of the USA, with a new download every six weeks or so. The latest is Universal Molding VI--Injection Unit Calculations. You have to register with your name, company name and...

Trexel links with Arburg to promote MuCell.(injection moulding)
October 1, 2008... A joint marketing operation to sell microcellular foam moulding on small injection moulding machines with the emphasis on electrical and electronic components has been set up by Trexel of the USA and Arburg of Germany. Trexel is offering a...

Power saver pays back within two years.(injection moulding)
October 1, 2008... A means of compensating for the reactive power of an injection moulding machine--the "non-productive" power returned to the supply during part of the AC cycle--on a per-machine basis has been made available by Wittmann Battenfeld. Because...

Two-platen machines get smaller and faster.(injection moulding)
October 1, 2008... Engel has taken its duo two-platen design down the size scale to 500 tonnes. Its new duo 500 pico is said to be the fastest dual platen machine on the market at 2.6 seconds dry cycle time, yet still to be energy efficient. [ILLUSTRATION...

More spin on gas injection patents.(injection moulding)
October 1, 2008... Gas Injection Worldwide has acquired exclusive rights outside the USA and Japan to the injection moulding patents owned by or licensed to GAIN Technologies. In particular this includes patents by Christoph Jaroschek, owned by Ferromatik...

Interest-free loans help with machine replacement.(injection moulding)
October 1, 2008... Low energy consumption Chinese-built Haitian Mars machines are being installed by two British moulders with assistance from Carbon Trust interest-free loans, available because of the power savings over the machines being replaced. Paul...

Robots now have seven axes and faster response when identifying parts.(automation & robotics)
October 1, 2008... It seems that six robot axes are no longer sufficient. ATM Automation has introduced a machine with seven axes that is said to give more flexibility for positioning. A conventional six axis robot, despite its flexibility, still has...

Name change as MCP splits from its parent group.(injection moulding)
October 1, 2008... Manufacturer of table -top injection moulding machines and vacuum casting prototyping equipment MCP Tooling Technologies has been restructured, It has been demerged from MCP Group following a merger of the remainder of the group with...

Surface test inks now direct from the manufacturer.(film & sheet conversion)
October 1, 2008... The surface tension test inks made by CDE Products for resale by Sherman Treaters are now available directly from CDE. The inks were supplied through Sherman until it was taken over by ITW subsidiary Pillar and the the ink operations relocated...

Camvac to be sold.(film & sheet conversion)
October 1, 2008... Amcor is to sell its Camvac flexible barrier film plant in Thetford to UK based holding company Gil Investments, the company which last year bought Akcros Chemicals. GIL also ownsTotal Polyfilm--the former Tyco Plastics UKfilm business -and...

Back-up forming capacity offers confidentiality.(film & sheet conversion)
October 1, 2008... Atrade thermoforming service operating as a back up to companies caught short of capacity by seasonal demand has been started by packaging design, prototyping and tool-making specialist TDX in Gateshead. Introduction of the service follows the...

One knife holder, two options.(film & sheet conversion)
October 1, 2008... A shear cut blade holder that can double as a razor blade holder, enabling both shear and razor blade slitting with a single holder has been introduced by Dienes Werke in Germany. The PSG mini 19DF is able to slit down to 19 mm widths...

Thinner means cheaper, but still at a cost.(film & sheet conversion)
October 1, 2008... Using less material to make a product is not necessarily going to bring a corresponding reduction in its cost. That's the message from British Polythene Industries that has told customers that it is to stop using published LDPE price indices...

Medical flexibles facility opens in Ireland.(film & sheet conversion)
October 1, 2008... Amcor Flexibles has opened a 5 million [euro] medical packaging facility at its Sligo, Ireland, site. The 25,000 sq ft unit houses new printing, pouch making and slitting equipment in a clean room environment. The Sligo site has over the...

Staggered delivery gets 20 m agricultural film line up and running on time.(film & sheet production)
October 1, 2008... A 20 m agricultural film line recently installed by Hyplast of Belgium was supplied by Davis Standard in sections timed to coincide with the building of a new factory. The line came from the USA, with the tower equipment shipped early for...

Wavin to cut another 200 jobs in Britain and Ireland.(pipe & profile)
October 1, 2008... British and Irish job cuts are to be trebled by Dutch pipe maker Wavin. The company is already restructuring to cut costs against a declining market and has scheduled around 100 redundancies. Now it is to increase this total by 200 jobs in...

Jobs go at Rehau.(pipe & profile)
October 1, 2008... The UK arm of German extruder Rehau is cutting jobs at its Blaenau Ffestiniog plant in Gwynedd and moving its automotive business overseas. There will be 46 redundancies from the nearly 300 people employed at the plant. The job cuts come...

Total inspection of small diameter medical tube.(pipe & profile)
October 1, 2008... A new version of the Pixargus visual inspection system for small diameter tubing is pitched specifically at medical applications. The Medictube-S system detects and classifies defects such as pimples, bubbles, gel particles, inclusions or small...

iNOEX optimisation technologies available for trial.(pipe & profile)
October 1, 2008... A technology centre has been set up by iNOEX at Bad Oeynhausen in Germany with three complete extrusion lines to demonstrate the company's three technologies for enhancing extrusion. These are: Advantage which automatically changes pipe...

Top changes at Cincinnati Extrusion.(pipe & profile)
October 1, 2008... Two senior directors at Cincinnati Extrusion, Erich Hauk, managing director of sales, and Hans Berlisg, managing director of marketing and services, will retire at the end of this year. From September I Marc Glabisch (sales) and Peter Hammer...

Feed bush cuts energy cost.(blow moulding)
October 1, 2008... Improved energy saving is being claimed by Kautex with a new design of extruder using an old technique. Its Q-extruder is fitted with a helically-grooved feed bush which modern CAD/CAM programmes make easier to design and machine. Whereas...

Jomar builds' world's biggest' IBM machine.(blow moulding)
October 1, 2008... Anew injection blow machine from Jomar in the USA is claimed as the world's largest IBM machine at 175 tonnes preform clamp giving scope for high cavity density moulds. Although it's billed as the biggest, Jomar is selling the M-175 on its...

SIPA to build-in Agr PETWall profiler.(blow moulding)
October 1, 2008... PET bottle analysis specialist Agr International has joined with SIPA of Italy, which makes stretch blow moulding systems, to integrate its PETWall Profiler into SIPA's rotary blow moulders. PETWall Profiler is an in-machine thickness...

Liquid colour pump is designed for frequent colour changes.(colour management)
October 1, 2008... A liquid colour dosing pump designed to meet the needs of processors using small dosage amounts with frequent colour changes has been introduced by Novosystems of Germany. The WB4000 pump can be fitted with three types of pump head: normal easy...

Looks silver but doesn't smell silver.(colour management)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A metallic silver masterbatch that can be used for food packaging without imparting a metallic taint to food packaged hot has been introduced by Viba Laboratories of Italy. Vibatan PE Silver G3327 was developed...

BASF adds new materials to meet GMP for food contact ...(engineering materials)
October 1, 2008... The European Union's Good Manufacturing Practice regulations for materials that come into contact with food products came into effect at the beginning of August, and BASF marked the occasion with the introduction of several new grades for food...

... And goes into the biocide business.(engineering materials)
October 1, 2008... BASF has entered the biocide business with a grade of its Luran ASA. Luran S BX 13042 is said to be the only ASA with an antimicrobial effect, and uses silver as the antimicrobial agent. Application are foreseen in hand dryers, soap...

Nano-scale silicon improves nylon flow.(additives)
October 1, 2008... US-based Hybrid Plastics has introduced a number of plastics additives based on nano-scale silicon which improve the flow of engineering plastics. In July we reported one such flow enhancer for use with PEEK. Now the company has introduced one...

More foam for your money.(additives)
October 1, 2008... A cell stabiliser for PVC foams that is claimed to cut material usage by 10 - 15 per cent by lowering density without reducing mechanical properties has been introduced by Rohm and Haas. Paraloid SureCel also cuts decomposition and yellowing by...

Additive masterbatches for polyolefins.(additives)
October 1, 2008... Three new additive masterbatches for use in polyolefins have been developed by Gabriel-Chemie. Maxithen HP 7A4000 AM is an anti-microbial masterbatch suitable for use in all polyolefins. It is based on inorganic silver zeolite and enables...

Canon to use PLA 'with world's highest level of flame retardance'.(biopolymers)
October 1, 2008... Office electronics company Canon and materials producer Toray Industries are claiming the world's highest level of flame retardance for a bio sourced plastic with a grade of Toray's Ecodear PLA which will be used in exterior parts for Canon...

Bio-TPU series is completed.(biopolymers)
October 1, 2008... New bio sourced grades of thermoplastic polyurethane are being added to Merquinsa's Pearlthane ECO range to complete the series introduced a year ago at K2007. The new grades are in hardnesses of 85, 90, 95, and 98 Shore A, and 60 Shore D and...

PolyOne and ADM to develop bio-based plasticisers.(biopolymers)
October 1, 2008... PolyOne Corporation is joining with agricultural processing giant Archer Daniels Midland Company to develop plasticisers sourced from corn and oil seeds. According to PolyOne the world market for plasticsers is $11 billion, and there is...

98 per cent transparency claimed for LSR.(engineering materials)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Typically 98 per cent transparency is claimed for a new series of liquid silicone rubbers from Momentive Performance Materials. The new LSR7000 series materials are addition-cured, platinum-catalysed LSRs and include...

TPUs are soft but unplasticised.(engineering materials)
October 1, 2008... Innately soft thermoplastic polyurethanes have been patented and commercialised by Huntsman Corporation. They are a 55 Shore A polyester (Irogran A60E4902) and a 65 Shore A polyether (Irogran A65P4910) which achieve their softness through the...

Single source of TPU data.(engineering materials)(Website overview)
October 1, 2008... All you need to know about thermoplastic polyurethanes--except, perhaps, who other than Bayer makes them--is on a new web site put together by Bayer MaterialScience. This is intended to be a single source of information with detailed...

White EPDM could cut peroxide loading for cure.(engineering materials)
October 1, 2008... The first of a series of white EPDMs has been introduced by DSM Elastomers. Keltan 4551A is made with a colourless paraffinic oil instead of yellow paraffinic oil and tests at DSM's customers suggest that the product offers improved efficiency...

Aerospace materials used in underground cars to meet tight new standards.(design)
October 1, 2008... The use of Solvay Advanced Polymers' Radel R polysulphone sheet for interior panels in aircraft has been extended for the first time into wider mass transport. It has been adopted for the interior cladding of the Bombardier Flexity Swift U5-25...

SABIC adds electrical/electronic toolbox of ready-certified flame retardant materials.(design)
October 1, 2008... A rangeofengineering plastics ready-certified for flame retardancy has been put together for electrical and electronics applications by SABIC Innovative Plastics. These 10 materials have achieved certification from VDE (Verband der...

Vacuum bag process replaced roto moulding for sports canoe.(design)
October 1, 2008... Rotational moulding was replaced by vacuum bag moulding of a thermoplastic composite in the manufacture of a sports canoe in Germany, saving cost in the processing and creating a lighter weight sports canoe with the woven fibre technical look...

Closed loop to build second British bottle reclaim plant in Wales.(reclamation & recycling)
October 1, 2008... Asecond plant is to be opened in Britain by Closed Loop Recycling, this time in North Wales. The Australia-based company opened its first British plant in June in Dagenham, East London, to recycle both PET and HDPE bottles. The new plant, on...

Mixed plastics recycling expanded at AWS.(reclamation & recycling)
October 1, 2008... The Alternative Waste Solutions Eco Plastics site at Hemswell in Lincolnshire, which recently received a 6.1 million [pounds sterling] cash injection from the Sustainable Technology Fund and asset manager Robeco's Clean Tech private equity fund...

Screenless granulators added by rapid.(reclamation & recycling)
October 1, 2008... A series of slow speed, screenless granulators has been introduced by Rapid Granulator. The 100 series has the integrated metal detection technology which Rapid bought with its purchase last year of Moditec of France. The new machines are...

Automatic distribution system serves 40 machines.(materials handling)
October 1, 2008... A distribution system for up to 40 materials and 40 processing machines has been introduced by Koch-Technik. The Navigator links machine lines with the appropriate material lines fully automatically before the conveyor feeds the material. ...

Networked vacuum loading system has localised receiver control.(materials handling)
October 1, 2008... A vacuum loading control system based on a controller area network bus using a single cable to connect a vacuum pump with one or many individually controlled receivers has been introduced by Maguire Europe. The basic components of the new...

Mixer prevents separation of differing densities.(materials handling)
October 1, 2008... When mixing and dosing materials of different densities there is a risk that they will separate and arrive at the processing machine in separate layers. To avoid this separation, Koch-Technik has developed a double mixer using technology it...

Kreyenborg sets up separate company to build the IRD.(materials handling)
October 1, 2008... German screen changer and filter manufacturer Kreyenborg, which is one of the companies building the infra red drum dryer mainly used to greatly reduce the pre-processing time of PET, has set up a separate company for the purpose. The new...

Piovan buys Universal Dynamics.(materials handling)
October 1, 2008... The Piovan Group of Italy has bought US-based Universal Dynamics from Germany's Mann+Hummel. The American company builds feeding, drying and dosing systems. With this acquisition the Piovan Group now has four production sites, in Italy,...

Supervisory system puts all ancillaries under remote control.(materials handling)
October 1, 2008... The latest edition of Conair's ControlWorks central system control allows users to perform remotely virtually any of the basic operational functions that would normally take place on the plant floor. Using a virtual private network, processors...

Good vibrations give good material flow.(materials handling)
October 1, 2008... A device that prevents bridging and rat-holing in silos without directly contacting the silo contents has been introduced by K-Tron Process Group. The ActiFlow Smart Bulk Solids Activator consists of a patent-pending vibratory drive and control...

Bring your chillers up to date before it's too late.(temperature control)
October 1, 2008... Companies with cooling systems running on the soon-to-be-phased-out refrigerant R22 need to act now to avoid pressure on capacity in the refrigeration industry preventing them from complying with the law, and to avoid substantial increases in...

Contractor enters industrial cooling business.(temperature control)
October 1, 2008... A new name in industrial cooling is WR Refrigeration, a member of the Huurre Group, the largest refrigeration contracting and service provider in Scandinavia, central and eastern Europe and Russia. The company is expanding from its major...

Simulation software takes ejection factors into account.(software)
October 1, 2008... Extra functionality has been added to Sigma Engineering's Sigmasoft moulding simulation programme with an ejection simulation. This enables the process engineer to determine when the part has sufficient stiffness to withstand ejection and...

Find green plastic here.(software)
October 1, 2008... A cartoon by the sadly departed John Mulroy many years ago in Plastics & Rubber Weekly showed two polymer technologists talking in a lab. One, clearly exasperated, is describing a product specification meeting: "What's it to be made of? says I....

Manufacturing management.(SOFTWARE DIRECTORY)(Directory)
October 1, 2008... REAL TIME PRODUCTION MONITORING, SCHEDULING AND PROCESS MONITORING ProHelp EPM (for Microsoft Windows[TM] PC Servers) Mattec Ltd Tel: 01909 561544 Fax 01909 560675 E-mail: a.jewell@mattec.com Real-time Modules:...

BASF bids to add Ciba to its additives business.(materials marketplace)
October 1, 2008... BASF is making a friendly bid to buy Ciba. The offer, recommended by Ciba's directors, is for CHF 50/share, valuing Ciba at CHF 6.1 billion (around 3.8 billion [euro]). It comes at a time when Ciba has been struggling to resist the pressures...

Ineos considers closing ageing Grangemouth ethylene plant.(materials marketplace)
October 1, 2008... The future of an ageing ethylene plant at the Ineos Grangemouth site is in question as the company starts a review of its operations there. Staff have been warned that among options being considered is the closure of the 40 year old G4 plant in...

More Ticona investment in China.(materials marketplace)
October 1, 2008... Ticona is to expand resources at its Nanjing complex in China with an LCP plant. Earlier this year the company announced it was to build a 15,000 tonnes engineering compounds plant alongside the UHMWPE and long fibre-reinforced thermoplastics...

Caribbean PP project comes closer.(materials marketplace)
October 1, 2008... The project started by Basell and Lurgi to link with the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and the National Energy Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago to build a 450,000 tonnes polypropylene plant to capitalise on the islands' methanol...

More polystyrene production cuts.(materials marketplace)
October 1, 2008... Ineos Nova has cut European polystyrene production by 30 per cent, following similar moves announced by BASF in mid September and Dow in July. BASF has turned off 25 per cent. The Dow cuts included a 15 per cent cut in polystyrene...