Strictly-Extrusion

BOPP films topped 3m tonnes for the first time in 2001, according to the latest research from Applied Market Information. In the past 25 years the market for BOPP films has mushroomed from a specialist replacement for cellulose film accounting for a volume usage of less than quarter of a million tonnes, to one of the leading flexible plastics packaging materials, the report says. Having rapidly replaced cellulose films in applications such as crisps, snacks, confectionery and tobacco packaging, BOPP films have gone on to develop new markets in areas such as pasta and noodle packaging.

Cincinnati Extrusion GmbH, Austria, has improved telediagnostics for its customers. While since 2000 all of CET´s extruders with “EXC PRO NT” controls have been equipped with modem as standard for communication to PC, phone and internet, a new video interface for digital cameras is now being offered.

The French company Corelco has devised a new concept in which a separable, pre-piped double wall for smooth PE-X pipes can be extruded on the production line. The concept is based on extruding two corrugated walls simultaneously around two smooth pipes of PE-X that are then bonded with a discontinuous, longitudinal segment of the moulding compound. This allows them to be separated as required and processed into a ready-to-use product.

Coperion Group, Germany, which includes compounding equipment makers Werner & Pfleiderer and Buss, along with materials handling firm Waeschle, has launched a review of its global production and sales operations designed to better match manufacturing capacity with customer demand. The company said the focus of the review is to improve its earnings by reducing its operating assets and making better use of inter-site synergies. The company said that could mean expansion of some sites, but job losses elsewhere are not ruled out.

Since many bonded fabrics may not be exposed to elevated temperatures after coating, hot-melt coating is often the preferred method for applying adhesives to the webs. Steatite AG, Switzerland, offers hot-melt equipment with flat film die and engraved roll technology. Besides low exposure of the substrate to high temperatures, the advantages of the process include the fact that it may be used with nonslip adhesives, long-lasting adhesives, self-adhesive coatings and crosslinkable polymers. Hot melts can be applied to almost all substrates, with less adhesive being required in comparison with conventional processes.

Belgium’s Tessenderlo group has agreed to buy Saplast, France’s largest independent PVC compounder for an undisclosed sum. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, will double Tessenderlo’s capacity for PVC compounds, with an additional 80,000tpa. Based in Strasbourg, Saplast and its subsidiary Europolymers turned over EURO57m last year. Tessenderlo will move up to fifth place in the European rankings as a result of the takeover. Tessenderlo’s current PVC compounds position is based on Thermoplastiques Cousin-Tessier and Technicompound in France and its TCT Polska operation in Warsaw.

Gillard, british producer of extrusion cutting systems, will exhibiting a new high performance rotary cutter at Interplas 2002 in Brimingham, 30.9.-4.10.02.The “Servo-Torq Ultra” uses the latest AC brushless servo motors with a fully digital control system. Gillard claim that this system can hold length accuracies to within ±0.06mm, even at very high linespeeds. A key feature, according to Gillard, is that both caterpillar infeeder belts have their own AC servo drive. These are sychronised to within one encoder pulse per motor revolution. This represents a speed holding accuracy of better than 0.0005%.