Extrusion

Film Extrusion

Tooling: More Is Better…Layers, That Is

I can’t count the number of times I have been asked why I recommend a blown film line with 5+ layers to make 2- or 3-layer products.

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Extrusion

Extrusion: Reducing Energy, Part II: ‘Adiabatic’ Extrusion

The term adiabatic extrusion was very popular in the ’60s and ’70s, but has seemingly disappeared from the processing terminology of today.

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Blow Molding

Energy Miser: Plug Costly Compressed-Air Leaks

Last month we introduced the idea that compressed-air usage is one of the first places any manufacturer should look to reduce energy cost.

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best practices

Tips and Techniques: Boosting Extrusion Productivity - Part III of III: Trim Your Material & Energy Costs

Material cost is the largest cost factor in most extruded commodity products, so processors should be motivated to reduce these expenses.

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Extrusion

Extrusion: Run Your Chevy Volt with Extruder Energy Savings—Part I

The electricity saved on a large extrusion line could power a number of Chevrolet Volts.

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Blow Molding

Compressed Air Isn’t Free!

Compressed air is a convenient and often essential utility, but it is very expensive to produce, and most of the energy used to compress air is turned into heat and then lost to the system and environment.

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Extrusion: Multi-Pass Tubing Tank Offers Higher Quality, Resin Savings

A new cooling and sizing tank for extruded tubing reportedly allows processors to reduce wall-thickness tolerances and cut material use dramatically while increasing productivity and reducing floorspace requirements.

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processing tips

Extrusion: Start Up and Shut Down Properly

A key goal during startup and shutdown of the extruder is to prevent degradation of the polymer left in the extruder and downstream components such as screen changers, adapters, and dies.

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Postconsumer

EXTRUSION & COMPOUNDING: Five-Layer Film Structures Set to Supplant Three Layers?

In blown film, equipment and material suppliers have come together to push five-layer technology into non-barrier applications previously held by three-layer films.

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Film Extrusion

K 2010 Preview, Extrusion More…Layers, Output & Quality

In most segments of extrusion technology, the word at K 2010 is more.

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Plastics Size Reduction