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In this issue
Volume 34, No 249
publlshed slnce 1985
A S l A’ S L E A D l N G m aga z l ne f o r the plastlcs and rubber lndustry
Features 焦 點 內 容 14 材料新聞: 泰國打破塑料廢物污染的惡性循環 18 Front Cover Feature – Materials handling company AZO GmbH + Co.
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Arthur Schavemaker Tel: +31 547 275005 Email: arthur@kenter.nl
21 Extrusion Technology at K2019 – Sekaran Murugaiah, Davis-
Associate Publisher/Executive Editor Tej Fernandez Tel: +60 3 4260 4575 Email: tej@plasticsandrubberasia.com
KG offers planning, design of the layout, implementation and installation of materials handling equipment for recycling plants
Standard Vice-President of Business Development Asia, gives a round-up of what is to be expected at the K2019 show from the US extrusion machinery firm
22 Extrusion Technology at K2019 – Machinery firm Reifenhäuser will
present extrusion technologies for taking plastic as a material into a sustainable future at the K2019
23 Extrusion/Compounding Technology at K2019 – Highlights of
machinery offerings at the K2019
26 Compounding Technology at K2019 – Coperion will demonstrate how recycling can be implemented using its newest ZSK Mc18 technology
27 Materials/Additives at K2019 – Round-up of the latest materials/ additives solutions on offer
31 Recycling at K2019 – Companies will showcase recycling equipment 32 Blow Moulding Technology at K2019 – A host of the latest solutions on display from a variety of companies
Supplements 副 刊
Permits ISSN 1360-1245
MCI (P) 035/08/2019
is published 8 times a year in Mandarin and English by Kenter & Co Publishers’ Representatives BV.
Machinery/Technology at K2019 The automotive sector is stepping up with viable solutions to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles Technology/Machinery at K2019 LSR solution providers are driving the billion-dollar medical devices and automotive markets; Wacker and Momentive will present new solutions at K2019
A S l A ’ S L E A D l N G M A G A Z l N E F O R THE PLASTlCS AND RUBBER lNDUSTRY
Circulation Stephanie Yuen Email: stephanie@taramedia.com.my
Printer United Mission Press Sdn Bhd (Co. No: 755329-X) 25 & 27, Jalan PBS 14/14, Taman Perindustrian Bukit Serdang, 43300 Selangor, Malaysia.
2 Industry News 6 Materials News 10 業界新聞
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Regulars 概 要
www.plasticsandrubberasia.com
Senior Editor Angelica Buan Email: gel@plasticsandrubberasia.com
On the Cover It is clear the plastics industry is under heat for its waste problems. With the theme of the K2019 show, to be held from 16-23 October, in Düsseldorf, Germany, being on the Circular Economy, AZO GmbH + Co. KG is focusing on tailored solutions in the field of materials handling for the recycling process
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Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this publication is correct, the publisher makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the nature or accuracy of such material to the extent permitted by applicable law. © 2019 Kenter & Co Publishers’ Representatives BV No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or used in any form, or by any means, without specific prior permission from the publisher. PRA is circulated free to trade readers in the plastics and rubber industry. Airmail subscriptions are available at US$160 within Asia and US$250 to all other countries outside Asia.
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OCTOBER 2019
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Industry News
M&As/Investments/Tie-ups • Japanese fine chemical company DIC is to acquire German chemicals firm BASF’s global pigments business for EUR1.15 billion by 2020. The divestiture is subject to the approval of the relevant competition authorities. • SK Capital, a private investment firm focused on the specialty materials, chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors, has acquired the Performance Products & Solutions business (PP&S) from US compounder PolyOne Corporation for US$775 million. PP&S makes formulated PVC and propylene-based products. • LiqTech International, a US-listed company, headquartered in Denmark, is to acquire BS Plastic, a specialised plastics manufacturer based in Denmark. • US-based private equity firm PMC Capital Group has completed the acquisition of EPS maker StyroChem Canada from WinCup, a manufacturer of disposable foodservice products. • US subsidiary of Belgium-based Aliaxis, Ipex, has acquired a family-
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owned business, Silver-Line Plastics, a US manufacturer of plastic pipe products with production facilities in North Carolina, Oklahoma and Florida. With this acquisition, Ipex, also a pipe systems manufacturer will increase its market position in the US. • Chemical firm Ashland Global Holdings has completed the sale of its composites business (excluding the maleic business) and butanediol manufacturing facility in Marl, Germany, to Ineos Enterprises for US$1 billion. • German technology company Continental has acquired a minority stake in Israeli Cartica AI, which develops algorithms for accelerating machine learning systems for object recognition. • Mexico-based Mexichem, a maker of PVC pipes, compounds and speciality products, has changed its name to Orbia. In terms of acquisitions, in 2017, Orbia acquired an 80% stake in irrigation products maker Netafim of Israel for US$1.9 billion.
• US-based medical products maker Tekni-Plex has purchased Canadian automation equipment solutions manufacturer MMC Packaging Equipment, which will become part of Tekni-Plex’s Tri-Seal business. MMC is the 14th acquisition Tekni-Plex has made in the past five years. • Japanese automotive parts supplier Toyoda Gosei has invested 50 million yen in a startup from Nagoya University Tryeting for the rapid development of materials using AI. • Swiss Bühler Group and Premier Tech from Canada have formed a strategic cooperation for industrial flexible packaging solutions, which includes building a design and manufacturing centre in China. • Chemical firm LyondellBasell is to expand in China through a 50:50 joint venture with the Liaoning Bora Enterprise Group (Bora) in Panjin. It will operate a 1.1 million tonne-ethylene cracker, which will manufacture 800,000 tonnes/ year of PE, 600,000 tonnes/year of PP and 350,000 tonnes/ year of styrene. The
joint venture could invest up to US$12 billion over ten years through additional phases. Bora began construction of the facility in 2019 and it is expected to be completed by 2020. • Chinese chemicals maker Wanhua Chemical Group has acquired Swedish manufacturer of MDI, TDI, hydrogen peroxide and bioethanol-derived chemicals Chematur Engineering for around EUR120 million. Wanhua acquired a 75% stake from Chinese chemical group Jilin Connell Investment and 25% equity from Hong Kong-registered Europe-America Energy Technology. • US chemical firm Dow has tied up with Dutch Fuenix Ecogy Group for the supply of pyrolysis oil feedstock, which is made from recycled plastic waste. The feedstock will be used to produce new polymers at Dow’s production facility in the Netherlands. • German chemical firm Evonik Industries has invested in a 3D-printing start-up in China, Meditool, that makes implants for neuro and spine surgery, in a high single-digit millioneuro round of fundraising.
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Industry News
• China-headquartered automotive parts supplier Yanfeng is combining its R&D activities in the areas of interiors, seating, electronics, safety, and exteriors in a newly set up unit known as Yanfeng
Technology (YFT), to realise its Smart Cabin vision for future automotive interiors. • The Recycling Li-ion batteries for electric Vehicle (ReLieVe) project, founded by
mining company Eramet, BASF and sustainable resource management firm Suez, will receive a funding of EUR4.7 million by EIT Raw Materials, a consortium initiated by the European
Plant Expansions/Opening/Set-ups • South Korea’s Hyosung is to invest US$829 million by 2028 to start ten production lines for carbon fibre manufacturing at its plant in Jeonju City, capable of producing 24,000 tonnes/year of the material, said to be the largest in the world for a single plant. Hyosung also signed an MOU with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy, Iljin Composite, a local supplier of hydrogen tanks, and Korea Aerospace Industries, the nation’s sole aircraft manufacturer, to forge an alliance for carbon fibre tests.
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plant and knowledge centre in Singapore by 2021. It will have the capability to manufacture its Hyperform family of nucleating agents for PP and PE, along with speciality colourants. • The Surface Treatment global business unit of the Coatings division of BASF, operating under the Chemetall brand, has started construction of its surface treatment site in the Dushan Port Economic Development Zone of Pinghu, Zhejiang province, China.
• Formosa Plastics Corporation Louisiana, a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Corp. USA, will invest US$332 million to expand its production of PVC resin and also add production equipment in two other units at its Baton Rouge facility by 2022.
• Germany’s Wacker Chemie has brought a new spray dryer for the production of dispersible polymer powders on stream in Ulsan, South Korea, to boost its production capacity for dispersions and dispersible polymer powders in Asia. The new plant will have a total capacity of 80,000 tonnes/year.
• US additives maker Milliken & Company is to construct a new
• US-based joint venture company Lotte Chemical USA
OCTOBER 2019
Corp has started up its two manufacturing facilities with the capacity to produce 1 million tonnes/ year of ethylene and 700,000 tonnes/year of MEG in Louisiana. Lotte says it is the first South Korean petrochemical company to build a petrochemical complex in the US that will contribute to its global ethylene capacity to reach 4.5 million tonnes/year, making it the largest domestic and seventh largest producer of ethylene in the world. • India’s automotive component maker Motherson Sumi Systems is to set up a 21,000 sq m factory in Rakez Al Hamra Industrial Zone, UAE, to produce wiring harnesses, rear view mirrors for passenger cars and injection moulded products. • Japan’s Teijin Limited has commenced operations of its ASEAN compounding plant and technical centre at Teijin Thailand in Ayutthaya, Thailand. This is
Union, and the three members. It aims to develop a closed-loop process to recycle lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles and to enable the production of new lithium-ion batteries in Europe. Teijin’s third resinrelated R&D hub in Asia, after Japan and China. • Kuraray GC Advanced Materials (KGC) has broken ground on a specialty chemicals plant in Map Ta Phut, Rayong, Thailand. Bangkokheadquartered KGC is a joint venture between Kuraray, PTT Global Chemical and Sumitomo Corp. Scheduled for completion in 2022, the plant will produce 13,000 tonnes/year of polyamide 9T (PA9T) and 16,000 tonnes/year of hydrogenated styrenic block co-polymer (HSBC). • Kuwaiti petrochemicals producer Equate Group, which is also the second largest producer of ethylene glycol (EG), has inaugurated its Texas site in the US. The world-scale, 750,000 tonnes/year EG facility is part of Equate’s whollyowned subsidiary, MEGlobal Americas Inc.
INDUSTRY NEWS • Austrian chemical firm Borealis has broken ground on its new, worldscale propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Kallo, Belgium. With a production capacity of 750,000 tonnes/ year of propylene, it will be one of the largest plants and the investment of EUR1 billion is the largest made by Borealis in Europe. • Japanese chemical maker Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. is increasing its polyester film production capacity in Indonesia to 25,000 tonnes/year by the
Machinery News • Italian auxiliary equipment firm Piovan Group has finalised the acquisition of ToBaPNC, a South Korean company involved in the automation of industrial processes for plastics. • Nu-Vu Conair, a manufacturer of plastic auxiliary equipment in India, has inaugurated its new fabrication facility in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. This facility houses fabrication machinery such as laser cutting machine, CNC press brake, CNC rolling machine and automatic welding machine.
end of 2021, through an investment of US$130 million in a new facility owned by its subsidiary PT MC Pet Film Indonesia. • Sinopec International has selected chemical firm LyondellBasell’s PP and HDPE technologies for a new facility in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. The complex will comprise a 300-kilotonne/year PP plant that will utilise LyondellBasell’s Spherizone PP process and a 300-kilotonne/year HDPE plant that will utilise LyondellBasell’s Hostalen ACP process.
• Sonatrach Total Entreprise Polymères (STEP) has selected Honeywell UOP’s C3 Oleflex technology to produce 565,000 tonnes/year of polymer-grade propylene for a proposed plant in Arzew, Algeria. STEP is a joint venture between Algeria’s state oil company Sonatrach and France’s Total (49%). • Australiaheadquartered packaging giant Amcor is to set up a new innovation centre in Ohio, US, for rapid prototyping, product sampling, and testing capabilities.
• US hot runner systems supplier Incoe is renovating what will become its new Asia headquarters facility in Shanghai, China. The 5,895 sq m building, located about 1 km from the current Incoe facilities, will have a 42% larger manufacturing area for more hot runner system manufacturing capacity.
returning to its company roots, as it was founded as Shibaura Machine Tool in 1938. In 1961, the company merged with a corporate spin-off to form Toshiba Machine. The change also reflects the formal separation of Toshiba Machine from its former parent company and top shareholder, Toshiba Corp., in 2017.
• Japanese injection moulding machine maker Toshiba Machine is to change its corporate name to Shibaura Machine, effective 1 April 2020. With this move, the Tokyoheadquartered company will be
• JGC Corporation, Ebara Environmental Plant Co, Ube Industries, and Showa Denko K.K. are studying the set up of a plastic waste gasification facility utilising the Ebara Ube Process (EUP). Gasification chemical
• US-based Huntsman Corporation has opened its new polyurethanes (PU) systems house in Dubai. • Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical is to licence its propylene oxide (PO) production technology to India’s Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). The latter is conducting frontend engineering design and detailed engineering for the new PO plant, which will have a production capacity of 300,000 tonnes/year upon its completion in 2022. recycling of plastic waste is capable of decomposing a mixture of various kinds of plastics and impurities, which presents difficulties for other recycling methods, into the molecular level and regenerating various chemical materials. • US recycling company MBA Polymers is to set up its fifth recycling facility in Germany using its patented process to recycle waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). From January 2020 onwards 17,500 tonnes/ year of WEEE will be processed in Mauna. OCTOBER 2019
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Materials News
Thailand breaking the cycle of plastic waste pollution From increasing its recycling efforts to producing more bioplastics, Thailand is pulling out all the stops to reduce its plastic waste, says Angelica Buan in this report.
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2016 marine litter report released by Ocean Conservancy implicated Thailand among one of the top environmental offenders that contributed more than half of the global plastic waste leakage. Industrial and household wastes continue to outpace the country’s capacity to recycle. The Ministry of Natural Resources has emphasised on the country’s efforts to increase its recycling rates recently. Thailand generates an estimated 2 million tonnes/year of plastic waste but recycled only a quarter to 500,000 tonnes of these wastes. Adding to the burden of piling up locally generated plastic waste is the imported waste, mostly from the UK, Japan and the US. In the first half of last year, Thailand´s plastic waste imports rose in light of China’s prior ban on importing waste. Given this, Thailand is now aiming to impose a total ban on imported plastic wastes by 2021.
Ultimately, Thailand wants to increase the use of recycled plastics and by 2027, it aims to utilise plastic waste for fuel. By 2030, the country would have achieved its target of 100% plastic recycling. Recycled plastics in the agenda The roadmap has received support from various sectors in the plastics industry as well as among recyclers. Suez, a French waste expert, is building a recycling plant that turns plastic waste into polymers, in Bang Phli district, near Bangkok.
Suez is building a recycling plant that turns plastic waste into polymers, in Bang Phli district, near Bangkok
Thailand generates an estimated 2 million tonnes/year of plastic waste but recycled only a quarter to 500,000 tonnes of these wastes
On top of that, Thailand also aims to lead in sustainability efforts in the Southeast Asian region w i t h i t s 2 0 - y e a r P l a s t i c Wa s t e M a n a g e m e n t r o a d map, which kick started in 2018. Targeting single-use plastics, Thailand seeks to ban three types of plastics: microbeads, cap seals and oxodegradable by end of this year. Four other single-use plastics, such as lightweight plastic bags less than 36 microns thick, styrofoam food containers, plastic cups, and plastic straws, are due to be banned by 2022.
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According to Suez, the plant will convert 30,000 tonnes/year of locally collected PE film waste into high quality post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic for the plastic industry. The plant will be equipped with an advanced water treatment system that minimises water usage and will meet the highest level of local environmental standards, the company said. And to further improve the site’s environmental footprint, the plant will be using energy powered by roof-top solar panels. Construction works are expected to be completed by mid-2020. Since 2017, the company has won the contracts in the region: to build an industrial waste-to-energy plant in Thailand, as well as extend the Medan drinking water production plant in Indonesia and enhance sanitation services in Hau Giang in Vietnam. New recycling solution to produce useful plastics To tackle plastic recyclability in Thailand, US chemicals company Dow and the chemicals business of Thailand’s SCG are collaborating to develop new recycling solutions to add value to plastic waste and prevent them from ending up in the environment.
Materials News
SCG and Dow have collaborated in recycled plastics projects including the “Recycled Plastic Road” which utilises waste plastics for asphalt mixture to pave roads
The products anticipated from this collaboration are outputs of mechanical recycling, feedstock recycling as well as renewable feedstock, which include but are not limited to recycled resin, recycled products made from plastic waste, petrochemical feedstock from plastic waste and renewable plastic resins. Jonathan Penrice, President of Dow in Asia Pacific, said that the project will be building on Dow’s materials science and application knowledge and experience in
Thailand to develop solutions that maximise the value of plastics in the country. In July, Dow Thailand and SCG also collaborated on turning recycled plastics into asphalt roads. Dow has conducted similar projects of recycled plastics to asphalt roads in India and Indonesia. In India, more than 100 tonnes of recycled plastics were converted to roads that stretched 40 km in Pune and Bangalore. In Depok, Indonesia, 3.5 tonnes of plastic waste were used in an asphalt mix for the construction of a 2 km road, which covered a total area of 9,781 sq m. Both companies agree that developing certain technologies to incorporate materials derived from transformed plastic waste in polymermodified asphalt roads can address a major environmental issue that is as serious as marine litter. The recycling solution the companies are developing is expected to add value to low or no value plastic waste such as multi-layer plastic packaging and contaminated plastic waste. “Most businesses today operate a linear system, whereby natural resources are extracted, transformed into products, and eventually disposed of. A circular economy, on the other hand, is aimed to reuse, renew and recycle valuable resources, thereby reducing environmental impact,” they said.
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Materials News Partnerships, investments to boost resource efficiency Bangkok-headquartered PTT Global Chemical (GC) Public Company Limited is reinforcing its concept of “Circular Living”, which promotes environmental responsibility and conservation, through a long-term partnership with Alpla, an Austrian recycler packaging solutions provider. The GC-Alpla partnership’s new joint venture company called Evicco has been formed to build a circular plastic resin plant in Asia Industrial Estate in Map Ta Phut, Rayong Province. Supattanapong Punmeechaow, CEO/President of GC, said that the company also supports initiatives such as the public-private sector collaborative waste management project PPP Rayong, and the Upcycling the Oceans, Thailand project, which teamed up GC, the Ecoalf Foundation, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to transform used PET bottles, collected from the sea in Koh Samet, Rayong, into clothing and bags.
PTT Global Chemical and Alpla have formed a joint venture, Evicco to establish a circular plastic resin plant in Thailand
Additionally, to extend the partnership to include communities and allow residents to earn a supplementary income, GC conducted a training programme to produce textiles and apparel from recycled plastics for the Charoen Pattana and Noen Samray 1 communities in Rayong. With both becoming pilot communities with plans for an expansion in the near future, the project expects to promote environmental conservation and also build a social enterprise model that empowers communities to become more self-reliant. Meanwhile, Evicco has been established to produce recycled PET (rPET) and recycled HDPE (rHDPE) resins. The project will rely on Alpla’s expertise in operating a recycling business across managed supply chains and its European technologies. The joint venture is also expected to create jobs and make raw materials supply agreements with communities in Rayong. Meanwhile, Thai chemicals company and PET resin producer Indorama Ventures (IVL) has also pledged to invest US$1.5 billion in recycling over the next five years, including mergers and acquisitions that will focus on bottle-to-bottle recycling, Aloke Lohia, its Chief Executive said in August.
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IVL, which owns 11 recycling sites worldwide, including plants in Thailand, Mexico and France, is also planning to invest US$500 million by 2025 to boost its customers’ recycling targets. In May, IVL introduced its new 100% Deja rPET fibre. The product comes in various forms such as recycled flake, pellet, fibre and filament for use in multiple applications. Deja is derived by recycling 140,000 tonnes/ year of PET bottles. Shift to plastic alternatives Clearly, the initial waste management steps are starting to pay off in the country. According to reports, Thailand has reduced the use of 1.5 billion plastic bags since August last year. Some retail establishments avowed to stop dispensing shopping bags to customers starting next year, while others are promoting the use of alternatives, such as paper or even banana leaves, to wrap their food products. Moreover, relevant sectors are decreasing their use of plastics. Already, the packaging and printing industries are moving away from non-degradable plastics. The Thai Packaging Association relayed that these industries are using bio-flexible materials, including PP and PET films, nylon, aluminium foil and laminated films as well as paper. Raising bioplastics footprint Meanwhile, biobased plastics are also commanding market growth. Thailand is promoting itself as a bioplastic hub and has every reason for doing so, being a top exporter of crops like cassava, sugar, rice and palm oil, and the agro wastes it produces, which are also feedstock for bioplastics. Bioplastics are used in different applications including packaging and medical equipment, and producing bioplastics is expected to help the country transition successfully to a zero waste, green economy.
Thailand opened its first-ever bioplastics laboratory for medical use in Chiang Mai as part of Chiang Mai University
Materials News It can be recalled that in 2017, Thailand opened its first ever bioplastics laboratory for medical use as part of Chiang Mai University. The technical laboratory was expected to hoist the competitive edge of Thailand’s petrochemical and medical industries. It will produce PLA (polylactic acid) and PBS (polybutylene succinate) copolymer to bring down the cost of medical equipment. Additionally, according to a 2017 industry report published by the Board of Investments, Thailand is a hotspot for biomonomer production. The number of plants engaged in biocemicals and bioplastics production in the country has grown in the past few years due to the support and incentives coming from the government. Therefore, it is not surprising that companies engaged in bioplastics raw materials are expanding. Recently, Total Corbion PLA, 50:50 joint venture between Total and Corbion, launched its 75,000-tonne/year PLA bioplastics plant in Rayong, Thailand. The plant, the world’s second largest PLA plant, enabled an increase in available production capacity for the versatile biopolymer by almost 50%. The new facility produces a broad range of Luminy PLA resins from renewable, non-GMO sugarcane sourced locally in Thailand. The plant has been operational since 宗久PRA_10月_FA.pdf 2019/9/3 the end1 of 2018.下午 04:29:01 Furthermore, Total Corbion PLA operates a 100,000 tonnes/year lactide plant, which produces the monomer required for the production of PLA, and a 1,000 tonnes/ year PLA pilot plant, used for product development.
Total Corbion PLA launched its 75,000-tonne/year PLA bioplastics plant in Rayong
Combined with Corbion’s lactic acid plant, located on the same site, this enables a fully integrated production chain from sugar to PLA. Thus, it can be seen that Thailand is in the running as the first Asian country to pump up bioplastics output in the region, as well as push for greater recycling, thereby creating an environmentally-friendly base for a circular economy to propagate.
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ADVERTORIAL
CHINAPLAS 2019 Biggest CHINAPLAS in Guangzhou
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successful CHINAPLAS 2019 concluded its four-day show in Guangzhou this May. The hot and rainy weather prior to the 33rd edition of show did not hamper the enthusiasm of visitors, who were inspired by smart manufacturing, innovative materials, and green & circular solutions. A total of 163,314 professional buyers from all over the world visited CHINAPLAS during the four days. CHINAPLAS 2019 recorded the highest visitor count in Guangzhou editions’ history!
A record number of visitors in Guangzhou CHINAPLAS 2019 attracted 163,314 professional buyers. The number of overseas visitors totalled 37,170, accounting for 22.8% of the total. They came from 150 countries and regions, including Brazil, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, and the US. Compared with the Guangzhou edition of show two years ago, the number of visitors increased 8,056. Grouped by job titles, 26.4% of visitors were Manager/Assistant Manager/ Supervisor. 23.0% of visitors were Managing Director/ General Manager/ Plant Manager. Percentage of Technician took 13.3% while percentage of research/ academic personnel took another 12.9%. According to a survey conducted onsite by the show organizer, 90% of visitors commented that the variety of the new products/technologies was good to excellent. 94% of visitors concluded the quality of exhibitors was good to excellent. And encouragingly, 93% of visitors expressed that the overall performance of the exhibition was good to excellent!
Visitors’ most interested products and technologies The top three “machinery & equipment” interested were “injection molding machines(31.4%)”, “extruders & extrusion lines (30.3%)” and “3D technologies (27.0%)”. The top three “raw materials, auxiliaries” interested were “colour pigments & masterbatches (26.6%)”, “Bioplastics materials (26.0%)” & “3D printing materials (25.7%)” . Strong praise from exhibitors 3,622 global exhibitors showcased their innovative products and technologies, including 180+ worldwide or Asia debut of new and hot technologies, 130+ energy-saving and emission-reducing solutions, 160+ recycling and recovery technologies, and 1,400+ automation solutions. The 3,622 exhibitors were from 46 countries and regions. 95% of them concluded the exhibition result from satisfactory to very fruitful, which has brought great benefits and opportunities for them. 87% of them intended to participate in next edition of CHINAPLAS. CHINAPLAS is currently Asia's No. 1 and the World’s leading plastics and rubber trade fair and certified by UFI (The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) since 2006. With the support of worldwide exhibitors, CHINPLAS is not only an effective business exchange platform but also a crucial hub for innovative and focal technologies for the industry. Through a full spectrum of product demonstration and collaborative activities, the show is casting the spotlight on “Smart Manufacturing, Innovative Materials, Green and Circular Solutions”. Visitors are happy to explore the turnkey solutions, covering chemical raw materials, machinery, and equipment needed by Asian manufacturing. They can also take a step forward to grasp the countless opportunities in rising markets of China and Asia. The next edition of CHINAPLAS will rotate to National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC), Shanghai, on April 21-24, 2020, with the exhibition area of 340,000sqm. It’s expected that the fair will create brilliant achievements and break new records in next year! OCTOBER 2019
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Front Cover Feature
Plastics recycling – an emerging market with potential
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urrently, everyone is talking about plastics: On the one hand, it is an extremely versatile material for very diverse applications and a component in countless products in everyday use. On the other hand, however, it is an increasingly problematic material from the aspect of plastic waste. The reason for this is doubtlessly the rise in production and use, in particular in the packaging industry, but also inappropriate collection and recycling of waste in certain countries. So the issue of recycling is only going to gain in importance in time to come. New statutory regulations lay down the initial framework to encourage materials recovery and thus increase the recycling rates for plastic. The future will see a sustainable circular economy, in which plastics will have to be regarded as recyclable materials and not as waste. The life cycle for PET bottles can be taken as a model here. Today, they have already reached a recycling rate of over 90%. There are opportunities arising in this field for companies to expand into new areas and to invest in recycling technology. This is where materials handling equipment supplier AZO GmbH + Co. KG can provide tailored solutions in the field of materials handling. A summary of different types of recycling One of the greatest challenges faced in recycling plastics is the wide variety of different types. Segregating plastics is complicated but absolutely essential, as the quality of the end product is impaired as soon as different plastics are processed together. This is why the sorting process is of prime importance when recycling plastics. We distinguish between two sorts of waste: on the one hand, that occurring in industry, and on the other hand, waste produced by private or business
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consumers. The latter are responsible for 85% of all plastic wastes in Germany; in contrast, industry is responsible for just 15%. Post-consumer recycling is principally concerned with polyolefin-based packaging, whereas industrial waste can be very varied: PVC-based plastic windows or car battery housing are only two of these. Waste from industrial recycling frequently contains the aforementioned undesired impurities, e.g., remains of glass or metal, which can cause wear and tear to plant machinery. What is more, it may still contain harmful substances that need to be removed and disposed of. In post-consumer recycling, it is primarily the different forms of feedstock and the diverse flow properties that pose a challenge. The demands in industrial recycling are principally the same as in post-consumer recycling; there are also certain differences however. AZO’s plants for materials handling are for use in the recycling sector
Front Cover Feature Know-how from AZO – individual solutions The task facing AZO in recycling processes of this kind is generally the planning and design of the layout for a fully automatic feeding system for an extruder and the implementation and installation of the plant. The plant concept not only needs to be cost-effective but also compact, without losing flexibility. The first stage involves testing the feedstock, for example shredded film, flakes, granulate, shedding, dust etc., for their product properties in AZO’s own in-house laboratory and test centre. The results provide detailed information that allow us to deduce characteristics such as bulk density, particle shape and size, moisture or flow properties. The findings can then be used in planning the plant and layout. Post-consumer raw materials, such as crushed packaging film from confectionery, crisps etc., at times demonstrate very low bulk density of less than 0.1 kg/l. This is why AZO relies on a purposedeveloped receiver with a large-diameter outlet and valve technology with no obstructive contours in the product flow at the outlet. If necessary, further agitator technology and discharge aids can be used. The feedstock is first discharged from the containers and fed into the production line. Flexible pneumatic conveying systems charge the production line and ensure that raw materials are available for production, even when the properties of the raw materials change.
In order to satisfy even the most stringent of customer quality standards, AZO has developed more advanced solutions: • A loss-in-weight feeder ensures the highest degree of accuracy in dosing. • Receivers, which have been purpose-designed for recycling processes, guarantee discharge behaviour even for extremely lightweight ground film. • Protection of plant components against wear and use of special pump technology for handling abrasive materials • Magnets and metal separators remove any last traces of metallic contaminants, thus improving product quality and protecting the technical plant from damage. • Low-impact vacuum conveying systems for the finished product help to prevent generation of dust or angel hair. • Efficient degasification via extruders or downstream thermal drier remove gaseous contaminants and unpleasant odours from the end product. If a number of other admixtures need to be used, it is advisable to integrate the AZO®MIXOMAT into the plant. The different components are sucked in here in accordance with the formulation, then weighed precisely and blended into a homogeneous mixture. This means many raw materials can be conveyed to a single gravimetric dosing unit and then into the extruder, thus saving costs. Only then is homogeneous blending guaranteed in the extrusion process and thus provides the basis for end products with consistent and high quality, ensuring stable running of processes. It is therefore essential, throughout the planning process, to be able to respond flexibly to individual customer requirements and take into account findings about the properties of the raw materials. Exacting standards are also set for high plant availability and AZO has developed and established appropriate technologies to satisfy them. Only a design that makes cleaning easy and carefully considered planning allow fast changeovers of products and shorter downtimes, OCTOBER 2019
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Front Cover Feature tailored to the customer’s existing (brownfield) or new (greenfield) plant engineering. The design process is carried out, in conjunction with the customer, giving special consideration to current technologies and information about the raw materials in question and the process parameters. Any resulting or required process equipment is organised and planned with potential subcontractors. In the general ® AZO MIXOMAT – conveying, weighing and mixing in a single system planning phase, issues such as logistics, which help considerably in driving down production media supply and staff rooms, in addition to costs. The competitiveness of the end products is systems and process engineering, increasingly increased significantly as a result. play an important part, when it comes to overall planning of the plant and calculating overall Reliable planning thanks to prerequirements. This separate planning service engineering – made possible by combines plant know-how with process-oriented AZO ® e&s layout design, thus ensuring a comprehensive For the last 70 years at AZO, engineering phase, which serves as the ideal customisation has been one of basis for further actions (architecture, budget the top priorities when it comes projection). to project implementation. Planning is carried out entirely in-house, AZO can provide tailored presimplifying communication and organisation. engineering for individual and AZO also has various tools available for complex projects in advance of planning and digitisation, which, on the project planning. one hand, support specific planning As a result of the growing processes such as pre-engineering complexity of projects, and, on the other hand, can be offered AZO provides, especially as an individual service. in the pre-planning phase, For more information, visit AZO at the necessary support the K2019 show at Hall 9 booth C42, in obtaining required Düsseldorf, Germany. information and drawing up key documents (as proof of concept). For further information, AZO has set up contact: Alois Billigen AZO ® e&s (Engineering Divisional Manager Marketing/ & Services), an in-house Documentation service division, in order +49 (0)6291/920 and to be able to address e-mail: azo-group@azo.com this complexity at this stage. Specific tasks are worked on as part of the This article by Alexander Ullrich of pre-engineering process, Marketing at AZO GmbH + Co. KG AZODOS® – loss-in-weight feeder for continuous gravimetric extruder filling
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was first published in German in the “Verfahrenstechnik” magazine: https://www.verfahrenstechnik.de/
Extrusion Technology at K2019
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S-based Davis-Standard, with its subsidiaries Gloucester Engineering, Maillefer, Brampton Engineering and Thermoforming Systems LLC (TLC) will be focusing on sustainable technology at K2019. Sekaran Murugaiah, Davis-Standard Vice President of Business Development Asia, gives a round-up of what is to be expected at the K2019 show. PRA: What technology/ products are being displayed by DavisStandard at K? Sekaran: At K2019 in Hall 16, booth #A43, we’ll showcase the ways Davis-Standard, Maillefer, Brampton Engineering, Thermoforming Systems LLC (TLC), and our other heritage brands provide value, technology and market expertise to customers. There will be an excellent cross-section of equipment as well as promotion of our proactive approach and capabilities throughout Europe and the MEA regions. This includes smart technology solutions, aftermarket services, selected new product introductions and more. We’ll also share strategies for supporting a circular economy with sustainable processing practices, waste reduction and the use of alternate polymers. PRA: With the acquisitions over the past few years, Davis-Standard will have all of its companies under one roof at K. How will the companies contribute to the exhibits and offerings from Davis-Standard? Sekaran: Visitors will see first-hand how these acquisitions have augmented Davis-Standard’s equipment offering to give customers more options and regional support from a single-source supplier. Maillefer has delivered a lot in terms of pipe and tube applications. At K, we will promote solutions and manufacturing configurations for automotive fuel and vapor tubes, micro-drip irrigation laterals, heating and plumbing pipe, blown fiber micro-duct, medical tubes, offshore flexible pipe, custom pipe and tubing, and wire and cable. For Gloucester Engineering and Brampton Engineering, we’ll show how customers with GEC Extrol control systems have an opportunity to upgrade their existing blown film control systems to ITALYCS 5. Additionally, we will show how the Vector air ring can improve the uncorrected film gauge (also called starting gauge) by as much as 60 to 80%.
With TSL, we’ll highlight thermoforming capabilities to support food packaging applications. PRA: What improvements/new technology is in store for visitors to the Davis-Standard booth? Sekaran: Across all product lines, we’ll demonstrate how we’re focused on greater energy efficiency, reduced waste and improved profitability. One of our most exciting new developments is the DS Activ-Check. This “smart” technology system enables processors to take advantage of real-time predictive maintenance by providing early notifications of potential extruder failures. Machine operators are alerted to issues before they happen, reducing unplanned downtime while also collecting valuable data. Users receive notifications via e-mail or text, and continuous monitoring of production machine status is available on smart devices and remote PCs. Key parameters monitored include extruder reducer, lubrication system, motor characteristics, drive power unit, barrel heating and cooling. The benefits will be demonstrated on a tubing line using Microsoft Windows 10 on an EPIC III control system. Another example is our new Series 510A extrusion die. This design features a short lip and edge bead (EBR) functionality. The die’s exchangeable lip is optimised for specific resin types. It also has a motorised internal and external deckling system for safe operation, an internal die channel for melt flow and deckling adjustment, and an internal rod for edge bead reduction and leakage-free operation. PRA: Since the theme of K is focused on the circular economy, in what ways does Davis-Standard equipment contribute toward the achievement of this goal? Sekaran: We believe the technologies described above are good examples of how we are focused on the benefits of a circular economy. I always go back to our commitment to R&D, which allows us to strengthen technology across the board. This includes feedscrew development for alternative resins, better control systems for reducing waste, reprocessing options and designs that take into consideration current and future requirements. PRA: How has Davis-Standard fared this year to date in terms of sales/growth in Asia and the rest of the world? Sekaran: Overall, 2019 has been a steady year for Davis-Standard. We have seen slower growth due to trade uncertainties as customers delay large investment decisions. However, we continue to see growth in aftermarket services as customers look to us for ways to improve productivity. OCTOBER 2019
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Extrusion Technology at K2019
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gainst the back of reduce, reuse, recycle and replace, German machinery maker Reifenhäuser will present extrusion technologies for taking plastic as a material into a sustainable future. "We are facing up to our responsibility as part of the turnaround in how we use and deal with plastics," commented the Group's CSO, Ulrich Reifenhäuser, recently. Plastic is an ideal material for a lot of applications. But it can't always be recycled, says the family-run company based in Troisdorf. Reifenhäuser adds, “This is why we have tackled the key parameters, and have further developed our extrusion technologies to improve and develop plastic products that are perfect solutions for circular economy.” Honing into biobased packaging film It will hone into bioplastics and says that due to its different material composition, a few challenges in manufacturing biodegradable packaging film have emerged, which have been inhibiting market growth, above all, the material costs. Bio-plastics are approximately four times as expensive as PE. In addition, concessions in terms of mechanical properties have to be made with conventional processing methods. The material's lack of stiffness means that the finishing process is longer, for example when manufacturing compostable bio-plastic bags. According to Marcel Perrevort, Sales Director at Reifenhäuser Blown Film Polyrema, “We believe in the future viability The Ultra Flat of bioLabel will be a new plastics quality label for blown films as a real alternative in the circular economy. This is why we have developed Ultra Flat Plus: a solution for our customers that increases economic efficiency and significantly improves processing properties.” Reifenhäuser is currently the only company offering this technology. Using the unique inline stretching unit on the haul-off, a 30% thinner film is achieved. Downgauging the still-warm bio-film increases its strength, meaning that the finishing speed also increases – to a level comparable with that of PE films. Stretching the film with Ultra Flat Plus haul-off is more energy efficient, saving users or customers additional resources. "This small upgrade enables high-quality bio-blown films and bio-winding films to be produced with a simple mono-layer line. The tool's control system is very quickly and intuitively integrated into existing processes," stated Perrevort.
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And since the flatness properties of blown film play a crucial part in its processing performance. Things become particularly difficult if a film – made from PE, for example – is meant to be fused with another substrate. In conventional manufacturing processes, typical sagging and flatness defects can be expected as a result of the necessary lamination. This is where the EVO Ultra Flat haul-off, available since 2016, provides a remedy. The haul-off system enables the manufacture of significantly flatter films, as the film is stretched and smoothed when its residual heat is still above 50°C. This produces energy-efficient flatness results that make secondary processing easier. Flatter films achieve higher finishing speeds, require less adhesive in the lamination process, and reduce the edge trimming through improved curvature. The resources saved not only increase economic efficiency, but also contribute to sustainability. EVO Ultra Flat improves the flatness of laminating and barrier films by up to 40% and reduces sagging by up to 90%. Reifenhäuser says it knows that because the film's performance is measured by a new laser measuring system, which records the topography of the fine film web in order to then set the optimum production parameters. "Until now, each film manufacturer had to rely on the experience and precision of its own production technicians. By developing Evo Ultra Flat Plus assures of thinner films, with better strength the laser measurement system, we can offer our customers more process reliability regardless of the operator. The optimisation to pre-set parameters happens automatically in a closed control loop," explained Eugen Friedel, Sales Director at Reifenhäuser Blown Film. "Manufacturers can gain a decisive competitive edge as a result," added Friedel. The film topography that is fine-tuned with laser accuracy, thus, represents a new quality level, adds the company. Reifenhäuser will be at Hall 17, Booth C22. Plus, it will also have an in-house fair at its technology centre in Troisdorf from 17-22 October
Extrusion/Compounding Machinery at K2019 Film/Sheet Extrusion • With the trend moving towards POD lines, India’s Rajoo Engineers will exhibit its Heptafoil sevenlayer blown film line that is able to switch between barrier film and POD processing, with an output of 450 kg/hour. It will also show a twin-screw sheet line for PET.
minimum of 10-15% increase in outputs, depending on materials processed, with up to 30% increase for stiffer materials. • Battenfeld-Cincinnati will display its STARextruder 120 high-speed extruder designed specifically for processing PET sheet. It consists of a single-screw extruder with a central planetary roller section where melted material is rolled out into very thin layers, producing an enormous melt surface for degassing and devolatilisation. The STARextruder can be used to process both non-predried new materials and any kind of recycled materials, as confirmed by the US FDA approval it has received.
Rajoo’s Heptafoil POD line
• Germany’s Kuhne Anlagenbau will showcase a 13-layer triple bubble line double bubble, blown film line, water quench and special tubing line for producing biaxially oriented films for high-barrier food packaging like stand-up pouches, and high-barrier shrink film for fresh meat or cheese packaging, among other applications. A feature of these films is that they can be 100% recycled. • Italy’s multi bubble orientation system specialist Gap will present a transparent high barrier oriented recyclable material. The simultaneous bubble orientation system is available up to 4,000 mm with a capacity of 1,000 kg/hour and offers a solution for high-barrier recycle oriented structure to convert laminate foil to homogenous oriented mono-barrier multifunction materials. Gap will Gap will present a also show a new annular simultaneous bubble microlayer die for performance orientation system multiplication. And to reduce thickness, improve film characteristics and extract the maximum performance from mono material, it will show its Mira Layers. • US-based Addex will launch Phase 2 of its Intensive Cooling technology for cooling the bubble. The patented design change from present-day blown film air rings allows for increases in stability and output. It is part of Addex’s Laminar Flow air ring, auto-profile and IBC systems. Addex boasts a
BattenfeldCincinnati’s STARextruder 120 for processing PET sheet
• Italy’s Amut will demonstrate a running ACS 2000 cast line for stretch film, with five extruders in a seven-layer configuration. It features the patented Q-Catcher control system, which permits previously saved process parameters to be repeated, allowing for film to be reproduced with exactly the same mechanical properties. The line includes the Essentia T-die with die splitter, moveable vacuum box for cleaning without dismantling, jumbo chill roll unit 1500+450 mm diameter and AD Scan thickness control system.
Amut will demonstrate the ACS 2000 cast line for stretch film
• US-based Graham Engineering will exhibit its Welex Evolution sheet extrusion system equipped with the XSL Navigator control system, which was developed for blow moulding and adapted for extrusion lines. An equipment for thin-gauge PP, which can be customised to accommodate widths will be displayed. OCTOBER 2019
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Extrusion/Compounding Machinery at K2019 Meanwhile, the Navigator system uses an industrial PC with a Windows platform to provide intuitive, integrated extrusion process control, with real-time graphical display being a main point. It is available in: XC100 for stand-alone extruders; XC200 for one or more extruders in simultaneous operation; and XC300 for integrated production lines with the extruder and components such as a puller, water bath or winder. • Germany’s Brückner Maschinebau will have two new lines for the production of BOPE films. Film processors can choose between a working width of 6.6 m and an output of 3 tonnes/hour, or a working width of 8.7 m and an output of 5 tonnes/hour. The new lines also have the flexibility to produce BOPP films, such as UHB and coated films. Brückner will also display a new high-temperature concept for BOPP capacitor film; lines for producing stone paper with over 60% CaCo3-filled BOPP/BOPE; patentpending Relax System for making BOPET film for optical applications; and a line for producing biaxially oriented polyimide for flexible optical displays.
Bruckner’s stretching line
• Vetaphone, the Danish manufacturer of Corona surface treatment, will be displaying four standard Corona units: the VE2-B for extrusion and converting applications, capable of double-sided treatment; VE1-D and VE1-E also for extrusion and converting applications, but capable of distributing a higher power charge or running at higher speeds than the B model. The last unit on display is the VE1-L, a compact model designed for lamination environments where space is a limit. All are equipped with Vetaphone’s iCC7 control panel. Pipe/Profile Extrusion • Graham subsidiary Subsidiary American Kuhne will focus on medical extrusion systems, including Ultra MD systems, compact modular extruders and a trilayer tubing line with the XC300 Navigator control and integrated TwinCAT high-speed data- acquisition system. • Battenfeld-Cincinnati will have three products on display: a fast-dimension-change (FDC) pipe head that enables automatic pipe dimension changes during production, plus two new spider NG PVC pipe heads. It says that having been in use at customers’
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Battenfeld-Cincinnati’s new DTA 160 pipe cutting unit
sites, the latter are said to be providing low material consumption and narrow tolerances. In the threelayer head, the middle layer of the pipe is guided by a mandrel-holder geometry, while the geometry of the outer layer has been revised. A benefit is the improved flushing behaviour, said to be a key feature in particular for manufacturing PVC pipes with a foamed middle layer, highly filled compact pipes, or pipes with a regrind middle layer. Another new innovation is the DTA 160 pipe cutting unit, which allows both polyolefin and PVC pipes to be cut to exact length quickly and cleanly. A highlight of the chip-less unit is that it does not use hydraulics, allowing for a 60% lower weight than a conventional system. Compounding • KraussMaffei (formerly KraussMaffei Berstorff) will debut four new and larger sizes of its ZE Blue Power Series (98, 122, 142 and 166 mm), which are identical to the smaller models. This ensures consistent scale-up for development and processing of new formulations. The larger extruders also offer the same screw and barrel modularity. A wide range of 4D and 6D barrel sections and various side feeders and degassing units are available. Exchangeable oval liners provide a cost-effective alternative for extremely wear-intensive processes. KraussMaffei has also made some minor design modifications to allow for the large size of the new extruders: the housing elements are connected by means of screw unions instead of clamping flanges, cartridge heaters are replaced by ceramic heaters, and their shape slightly changed.
KraussMaffei’s latest ZE Blue Power compounder
The combination of large free volume and high specific torque is said to enable universal applications for compounding engineering plastics and highly filled formulations. Thanks to the 1.65 OD/ID diameter ratio, the free volume is increased by 27% over its previous ZE UT extruder series. In addition, the new series features a 36% higher torque density of 16 Nm/cm3. The company says results obtained in first trials using a high-filled PP formulation with 50% of a 1 micron fine talc were “in line with its expectations”.
Extrusion/Compounding Machinery at K2019 • Farrel Pomini will feature a Compounding Tower at its booth, with a live demonstration of its Synergy Control System. Features include control of feed system from the operator touchscreen; integrated control of upstream and downstream support equipment; automatic start-up of downstream processes; automatic shutdown under normal and fault conditions; and remote monitoring and support capability. Farrel Pomini’s parent company, HF Mixing Group, will show its new Advise 4.0 Mixing Room automation solution, which is a modular and scalable system that covers every process within a mixing room, from raw-materials storage to manual and fully automated weighing of small components, the mixing process, downstream equipment, and storage of mixtures. Separate applications for particular areas and machines can be selected according to requirements and merged together into a single automation system. Standard interfaces enable easy connection to ERP systems and laboratory equipment. • Swiss firm Buss will introduce its new Compeo 88 and Compeo 110 kneaders, adding on to the smaller Compeo 55 launched a year ago. All three models are available with process lengths from 13-25 L/D, with typical throughputs for processing thermoplastics of 150-300 kg/hour (Compeo 55), 600-1,200 kg/hour (Compeo 88) and 1,200-2,400 kg/hour (Compeo 110). This gives operators the opportunity to use a system size optimally adapted to their requirements and thus work with maximum efficiency. The 110, with a processing length of 18 L/D, including a downstream side feeder alongside the new conical twin screw discharge unit, is suitable for compounding filled and reinforced thermoplastics, including natural fibrereinforced and biobased plastics as well as HFFR cable compounds. The 88 is optimised for compounding black or coloured masterbatches. Specific advantages of the modular compounders include high-intensity mixing, high filler contents and temperature control for materials ranging from thermally sensitive thermosets to demanding engineering polymers with processing temperatures of up to 400°C. They also offer the ability to combine conventional three or four-flight kneading elements with new elements comprising two or six flights and to put them to use in any desired position within the process section. Combined with an increase in specific torque, this permits longer mixing zones without any additional increase in energy input. Buss will introduce two new models to the Compeo range of compounding systems
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Compounding/Auxiliary Technology at K2019
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t Booth B19 in Hall 14, against the backdrop of the show’s focus on circular economy, Germany’s Coperion is demonstrating how recycling can be implemented using its newest ZSK Mc18 technology. These machines can be implemented for various applications in recycling: for regrinding HDPE, PP, ABS, PS and PVC, for manufacturing films, for PET recycling, and for upcycling of various materials. The two redesigned ZSK Mc18 extruders, with 45 and 70-mm screw diameter and a specific torque of 18 Nm/cm3, have optimised mechanical and electrical features that provide better operating comfort and greater efficiency. Both twin-screw extruders will be equipped with ZS-B easy type side feeders as well as ZS-EG easy type side devolatilisation.
The 70-mm twin-screw extruder improves handling and increases efficiency in compounding and recycling
Both the ZS-B and ZS-EG significantly reduce the time needed for maintenance tasks, thanks to the easy design that enables quick removal from and re-installation to the process section for cleaning or screw changes. Instead of three-part covers, these extruders are now equipped with single-part heat insulation covers, which are said to be easy to handle and can be detached without removing the cartridge heaters. The ZSK 70 Mc18 will be on display with a Coperion K-Tron K3-ML-D5-V200 type vibratory feeder and an accompanying ZS-B easy with a K-ML-SFS-BSP-100 Bulk Solids Pump (BSP) feeder. The smaller ZSK 45 Mc18 will be equipped with a gravimetric K2-ML-D5-T35 twin-screw feeder and an accompanying ZS-B easy with a K-ML-SFS-KT20 twinscrew feeder for high-accuracy feeding at low feeding rates. Meanwhile, with the dual bearing SP 240 strand pelletiser, Coperion Pelletizing Technology will exhibit one model from its SP series, completely reworked for simplified handling. Its new cutting gap adjustment technology makes fine adjustments simpler, faster and more precise; adjustments can be done by hand, with no tools. Furthermore, it reduces maintenance downtimes. Auxiliary Equipment The redesigned K3 vibratory feeder line from Coperion K-Tron will be presented. Featuring a patent-pending drive system combined with an advanced control package, it is able to achieve accuracies averaging 35% better over traditional vibratory technologies.
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This new generation of lossin-weight vibratory feeders offers gentle handling of bulk material, resulting in less product waste, downtime and better end product quality as well as improved sustainability. The K3 It is able to do this thanks to a vibratory completely new shock absorber feeder design. with a Conventional vibratory patentfeeders use rubber or spring pending shock absorbers, which allow drive movement of the drive in system all directions, resulting in rotational motion. In contrast, the new K3 line uses a flexible pendulum technology that provides shock absorption only parallel to the desired direction of motion, eliminating rotational movement. This ensures an even material flow of the product along the entire length of the tray. Rounding this are advanced control system and feeder electronics that include internal sensors that measure acceleration, displacement, load, current and temperature at rates of up to 25,000 times/second. Vibratory drive signals are adjusted to maintain clean sinusoidal displacement for optimal mass flow. The combination of this drive with the Coperion K-Tron SmartConnex control system also results in low energy consumption, compared to other feeding technologies. Power consumption can be as low as 20W for feed rates as high as 6,000 kg/hour. The typical feeder package consists of a feed hopper, vibratory tray and vibratory drive mounted on a weighing system featuring patented, Smart Force Transducer weighing technology and combined with SmartConnex controls. Vibratory feeders are ideal for the gentle handling of a wide variety of materials, including abrasive products, with non-uniform shapes, and glass fibres. They are ideally suited to difficult feeding of pellets or regrind to extrusion lines, for example in recycling applications. The feeders can often be a viable alternative to screw feeders for difficult materials, where gentle vibratory feeding may allow feeding without build-up that can occur on screws and screw tubes. Also on display is Coperion K-Tron’s SWB300 weigh belt feeder as a comparatively simply constructed gravimetric feeder. Weigh belt feeders of this type can reliably feed large volumes of bulk materials with various flow properties and as such are well suited, among other things, for processing of recyclates.
Materials/Additives at K2019 Automotive Sector • The world’s largest fully-integrated producer of nylon Ascend Performance Materials will launch new Vydyne XHT long-chain and high-temperature PA; Vydyne XHT heat-stabilised PA66 and copolymers. XHT is said to push the temperature resistance range, without sacrificing the processability, durability and mechanical properties PA66 is known for, says Ascend. Also included are four glass-filled grades for applications like charge air coolers, integrated air intake manifolds, exhaust gas recirculators and resonators. Ascend’s grades are targeted at parts like this integrated air intake manifold
• German firm Covestro will display a new interior concept for a future car, in a multifunctional, mobile living and working space. Covestro will also showcase Makrolon PC films for printed 3D, large-scale cover plates for integrated displays. The films also serve as carriers for printed electronics in touchscreens for cars. • Austria’s Borealis will feature new Fibremod Carbon compounds for automotive, such as the CG210SY 20% carbon fibre-PP with improved surface and dimensional stability; and CD211SY high-flow PP hybrid with 10% carbon fibre and 10% talc. It is also developing additional new grades for use in painted and unpainted parts. • With growing demand for electric mobility, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and thermal management are increasingly important. In particular, metal enclosures house electronic control units, or power and battery management modules, protecting these from both heat and mechanical damage. Dutch firm DSM’s conductive plastics enable replacement of full-metal enclosures, with shielding efficiencies of around 40-60dB of plastic thickness, which protect from EMI, and weight reductions of up to 50%. • German firm Evonik, together with thermoset expert Lorenz Kunststofftechnik, has developed a prototype epoxy sheet moulding composite (SMC), which can be used instead of steel or aluminum in
applications like battery housings. The glass-fibre reinforced SMC does not display conventional material’s weaknesses, thanks to the addition of Evonik’s newly developed Vestalite S, a diaminebased epoxy hardener that in conjunction with epoxy resins creates an SMC that is simple and quick to work with. It also has no styrene emissions and low VOC emissions, making it suitable for automotive interior components as well. The SMC has a density between 1.5 and 1.7 g/cm³; bending strength of > 350 MPa, flexural modulus of elasticity > 18,500 MPa and impact resistance of > 150 kJ/m2. The companies are open to suggestions for uses in various applications. Evonik and Lorenz will introduce a new EP-SMC for volume production, for vehicle, electrical, building and infrastructure applications
• Germany’s Kraiburg TPE will unveil new compounds with optimised odour and emission behaviour; and TPEs with enhanced UV resistance and adhesion to plastics like ASA and PMMA for automotive exteriors. Also new are custom-engineered thermoplastic hybrids (TEHs) that provide superior chemical and thermal resistance. • Lanxess will be showcasing new PA6 and PBT compounds for high-voltage applications, coloured in the vivid RAL 2003 orange colour, which meet UL 94V-0 classification at thickness of 0.4 mm. Also new from Lanxess are nylon and PBT compounds for blow moulding of components for air management in turbocharged combustion engines and/or liners for vehicles powered by hydrogen and Among Lanxess new orangecoloured PA compounds, Durethan BKV45FN04 exhibits high stiffness, strength and is flame retardant
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Materials/Additives at K2019 natural gas. For lightweighting, Lanxess is working on its Tepex composites prepregs, with the display of a seat shell and front-end carrier. • Japan’s Polyplastics, the world’s largest manufacturer of polyoxymethylene (POM), will showcase Duracon POM grades for the production of injection moulded fuel systems. A new highflow/high-rigidity POM grade has an mfr of around 14, making it suitable for a range of moulding conditions. Also new for electric vehicles are Durafide PPS and Duranex PBT targeted for peripheral engine parts such as power-control units. • UK maker of PEEK and PAEK, Victrex has attained the IATF 16949 certification for its gear design and manufacturing facility in Wisconsin, US, in line with Tier1/OEM needs. The quality management certificate covers improvement; defect prevention and reduction of variation and waste in the supply chain. Victrex supports the development and testing of HPG-based gears and their integration into larger systems such as the engine, transmission, pump, actuator and chassis. • US firm Teknor Apex’s latest Creamid P series PA6 compounds absorb nearly one-third less water at saturation than standard grades, provide 15-25% improved tensile properties in the conditioned state, and exhibit higher flow and surface characteristics, even in highly glassfilled formulations. It will introduce the first two compounds with 30% and 50% glass fibre content.
Krallmann’s K-Fix fastening system is based on the particlefoam composite moulding process
plastic components. In addition, K-Fix has good insulating properties and is able to withstand heavy shocks. Electronics/Sports • AGC Chemicals Europe, a manufacturer of fluoroplastics and the world's largest producer of ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer) and ion exchange membranes, will be showcasing new applications for functionalised fluoropolymers. New fluoropolymer-modified PEEK compounds have improved flexibility, impact/wear resistance and better electrical properties than standard grades. They are suitable for the production of semi-finished products such as plates, rods and tubes, for gears, housings, wire and cable sheathing and foils. • Covestro is honing into the 5G (fifth generation of mobile broadband) sector, with its PCs and blends. In collaboration with Deutsche Telekom and students from the Umeå Institute of Design, Covestro is developing materials for base stations, active antenna units and other equipment, with Düsseldorf city serving as a reference for the project. • Covestro will unveil material concepts for running and basketball shoes, which it created together with Chinese designer Axis Liu. Various materials are utilised: Insqin water-based PU textile coatings and adhesives, PU foams, textile fibres and films made of TPU and Maezio continuous fibre-reinforced
Teknor Apex will introduce new PA6 compounds for automotive applications
• Germany’s Krallmann GmbH, a subsidiary of Heinze Gruppe, has developed a standard assembly and fastening system for particle-foam components. The K-Fix parts are encased in expanded polypropylene foam (EPP), and form an inseparable bond with the component. This saves up to 20% in weight, compared with conventional
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Together with Chinese designer Axis Liu, Covestro has created a running shoe, with the midsole produced by a 3D printer and a special coating to ensure that the upper material is water resistant and breathable
Materials/Additives at K2019 thermoplastic composites (CFRTP). For the design of the running shoe, Axis Liu was inspired by a traditional figure from Chinese arts and craft: the “Multilayer Carved Ball” that has a dynamic structure handmade up of several layers. Covestro will also present a concept shoe made from recyclable TPU, which was in part derived from biomass. Another part is made from components, which were produced from CO2 and are marketed under the trade name of cardyon. • Germany’s BASF will launch Ultramid Advanced T2000, the latest addition to its PPA portfolio. Based on nylon 6T/66, it is said to combine mechanical and dielectric strengths at high temperatures, a combination crucial for E&E connectors.
Kraiburg will launch TPE compounds with significantly improved migration control as compared to common TPEs
• Kraiburg TPE will launch two custom-engineered compounds with significantly better migration control than common TPEs. They are particularly suited for closure systems, valves and seals for packaging with direct contact to foods that contain fat.
BASF’s Ultramid Advanced T2000 is the latest PPA compound portfolio for the E&E sector
• US PU firm Huntsman will be focusing on 3D printing, with its new Iroprint grade. It contains three different kinds of PU-based materials (resins, powders and filaments), which can be 3D printed using stereolithography (SLA), high speed sintering (HSS) and fused filament fabrication (FFF). It will be targeted at the footwear and sports industry. Packaging • US firm ExxonMobil will address sustainability with its Exceed XP, Exceed and Enable performance PE polymers that help overcome recycling issues associated with conventional laminated structures. The new full PE laminated solutions can be recycled where collection and recycling of plastic films exists. Others are new technological advancements using recycled PE in combination with PE polymers to produce a range of flexible film applications as well as Vistamaxx metallocene ethylene-propylene performance polymers that allow low-cost recycled content utilisation while targeting high-value applications. • BASF will be highlighting its newly extended Ultradur PBT portfolio with a first extrusion grade for pipes/profiles, B6551 LNI, and thermoformed packaging, B6560 M2 FC TF.
• Styrenics maker Ineos Styrolution will disclose the first results of the ResolVe project for chemical recycling of PS. The ResolVe project team now has proof of concept of closed loop recycling, to convert waste PS back to pure styrene via a depolymerisation process, followed by a polymerisation process resulting in a quality identical to virgin PS. • Oman Oil and Orpic Group will share strategies into new areas of the plastics industry, with an expansion of their PP capabilities and their entry into the PE space. The Liwa Plastics Industries Complex investment will see the companies’ production of PE and PP increase to 1.4 million tonnes by 2020. It will include linear LLDPE and HDPE. Additives • German additive manufacturer Baerlocher GmbH will introduce the Baeropol T-Blend products designed to improve recycling efficiency. Based on the existing RST (resin stabilisation technology) products, these are dust-free, easy-to-implement and work in synergy with traditional antioxidants. The company has also teamed up with recycling machine manufacturer Erema to show how the additives enable the recycling of low-value, difficultto-process consumer film waste into products for use in the construction sector. • Swiss firm Clariant’s Cesa-IR additive masterbatches are now available to make dark-coloured plastics visible to near-infrared (NIR) sensors used in automated polymer sorting systems. Clariant will also launch pigments for colouring biodegradable OCTOBER 2019
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Materials/Additives at K2019 • US firm Milliken will be launching a new Hyperform HPN 715 nucleating agent, said to offer new opportunities for PP to replace more expensive engineering resins in demanding applications. It boasts an optimised balance of key factors, while also providing higher HDT. This allows PP to be used in microwaveable containers, under-the-hood components for cars and household appliances.
Clariant’s latest additive supports packaging film producers to recycle their manufacturing waste
plastics, and new halogen-free flame retardants that retain performance after the material is recycled. Another new product is a patented oxygen-scavenger masterbatch for PET in food and beverage packaging. Another new Hydrocerol chemical foaming agent makes it possible to cut resin use and reduce part weight. Furthermore, the newly-developed AddWorks PKG 906 Circle stabiliser for PP/PE films allows producers to increase the reuse of waste materials of up to 30% in their films, recycling their own reground scrap, without any loss of performance or processing efficiency. It is well-suited for BOPP manufacturing but also applicable to cast and blown film processes.
• Chemical firm Solvay is launching Alve-One chemical blowing agents based on what it says are 100%-safe ingredients for a range of resins, including PVC, EVA and polyolefins. The formulations are said to have no negative impact on human health and are safe for workers to handle without compromising efficiency and performance in plastic foaming. • BASF will introduce its next-generation Tinuvin NOR HALS light and heat stabiliser as well as new pigments, including two new Lumina Royal effect pigments (Royal Russet and Amber); Microlen Piano Black, and a black and red addition to the Sicopal product line, which are recommended for recycling materials and demanding applications. • Lanxess's Inorganic Pigments business will present a black pigment that reflects the infrared portion of sunlight 20% more effectively than conventional black pigments. Plastic roofs and facades offer a wealth of potential for use in reducing temperatures inside buildings. • South Korea’s Songwon is making its entry into the flame-retardant arena with synergists that are able to reduce flame-retardant loadings in both halogen and non-halogen formulations.
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• Sweden’s Perstorp will showcase its secondgeneration Pevalen Pro, a renewable polyol ester, non-phthalate plasticiser for producing flexible PVC with a lower carbon footprint. It allows for up to 40% renewable content in flexible PVC and is a direct replacement for standard Pevalen with no compromise on quality and performance, making it easy to switch, according to Perstorp. • Spanish firm Tolsa will showcase new Adins flame-retardant additives for PP, PVC, rubber polymer systems, and silicones. With sepiolite clay, the synergists are supported with char creation, enhancing mechanical properties in halogen-free systems and thanks to their structure, have effective anti-dripping effect. Tolsa also has a new grade that uses TiO2. This Adins Clay grade demonstrates further stabilisation of the char in intumescent systems (dosages of around 1-2%), improving the flame retardant efficiency. Key applications include transportation, pipe, coatings, and wire and cable. Another new grade, Adins Clay Sil1, for silicones and PVC formulations, is said to deliver reduced heat release and smoke suppression. It serves as an alternative to antimony trioxide. Tolsa has expanded its of Adins flameretardant synergist Line
• US firm Vertellus will showcase advanced performance additive solutions for PVC, nylon, polyester and polyolefin industries; nextgeneration adhesives and sealants, and gel products. It also has a new developmental product designed to upgrade the fibre reinforcements used to produce plastic compounds and composites.
Recycling at K2019 • Austrian recycling machine maker Erema says that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved the food contact compliance of post consumer recycled HDPE (PCR-HDPE) produced with its patented Intarema TVEplus RegrindPro extrusion system in combination with the ReFresher module. This opens up new opportunities to close the loop in food packaging made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). With this, new food packaging can contain up to 100% of PCR-HDPE produced using this recycling process. The starting material for the PCR-HDPE consists of 99% food containers, i.e. milk and juice bottles. PCR-HDPE produced from this can be processed into bottles, food dishes and similar products. Erema says it achieves the necessary purity of the PCR-HDPE by combining its extrusion system with the ReFresher module, an anti-odour technology. Because the ReFresher uses the latent energy of the pellets preheated by the extrusion process, this system is also energy-saving.
Direct production of rPET sheets will be shown on an integrated plant by NGR-Kuhne
Werner & Mertz’s Frosch Senses shower gel bottles are said to be the first packaging with 100% PCR HDPE content from the yellow bag, which is used in the cosmetics sector
of PET waste can be processed on such plants. After melting in the extruder and filtration, the PET melt enters the LSP reactor (LSP = Liquid State Polycondensation) - the technological heart of the line. Here, harmful chemicals are removed far below EFSA and FDA limits and at the same time the IV value (intrinsic viscosity) is boosted to the desired level. The IV that reflects the PET molecular chain length is automatically controlled within a narrow tolerance range by the line and thus ensures uniform, high-strength flat films. Thermoformers can, thus, produce thermoformed packaging with uniform and high strength, optical properties and approved for 100% food contact. Due to the physical properties, automatic filling and sealing lines can be operated safely and efficiently, explain the companies. From the consumer’s perspective, the rPET cups have a sturdy feel, high gloss and transparency.
• Germany’s Kiefel Packaging has re-engineered the rigid plastic egg carton using 100% rPET. Kiefel claims the tray is of similar or even better quality, compared to those made of virgin PS or PET. Furthermore, it adds that there are no compromises on the functionality and mechanical strength. To process it, Kiefel has combined its new premium flatbed tooling with its latest KMD thermoforming machine in what it says is a
Utilising Erema’s technology, German packaging firm Werner & Mertz worked with the Green Dot to launch the world's first approved shower gel bottle for the cosmetics sector, manufactured with 100% PCR-HDPE collected in yellow household recycling bags.
• Recycling machine specialist Next Generation Recycling Machines (NGR) and extrusion machinery supplier Kuhne Group are to demonstrate a line for direct rPET to sheet at Kuhne’s R&D area in nearby St. Augustin. In-depth tests on pilot plants paired with experience from production plants have shown that a wide variety
Kiefel Packaging’s rPET egg tray OCTOBER 2019
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Recycling at K2019 “significantly streamlined” process. The company says it will also offer support for “more drastic material changes," such as a switch to paper, pulp or plant-based materials like PHA or PEF. • Sesotec GmbH will showcase metal detectors from its GF, Protector and Rapid Pro Sense 6 series. The detectors can be used in a variety of material infeed applications and ensure high plant availability for processing machinery and equipment by preventing unscheduled machine downtime due to metal particles and avoid the
repair costs associated with breaks in production and potential recalls. Also new is the ASM Quasar optical sorting system, which can be used in granulate quality assurance in plastics manufacturing to ensure that granulate with black spots, for example, are removed. Additional parameters, such as surface, shape and size, can also be analysed, making the system accurate in deciding what to keep or reject. It will also premiere the Flake Scan flake anaylsis system for laboratory use to inspect incoming goods.
Blow Moulding Technology at K2019 • US-based Jomar Corp, a manufacturer of injection blow moulding (IBM) machinery, will launch the TechnoDrive 65 PET machine, based on the high-speed TechnoDrive 65 launched last year. It is specifically designed to process PET but that can revert to more common polyolefins, by changing the screw. Features tailored for PET include a more robust screw motor, highpressure valves and built-in nozzle heaters. While some IBM machines require a fourth station to process PET, the new three-station IBM does this in the ejection station. It, thus, has a dry cycle time of 1.7 seconds, making it one of the fastest IBMs in the industry. Since injection-blown PET bottles average about 1 mm wall thickness, it is targeted at jars, vials, and bottles for the pharmaceutical or cosmetic industries rather than the beverage industry. At K2019, the new machine will run 50 ml perfume bottles in clear PET on a six-cavity mould.
sugarcane-HDPE. The middle layer will be PCR consisting of foamed Braskem green PE. These bottles produced at the show will be reclaimed by recycling machine maker Erema at its “Circonomic Centre” in the area outside the exhibit halls. • French machine maker 1Blow will show its two-cavity 2LO with three new options. First is a Preferential & Offset Heating Technology kit, allowing for flexibility for producing oval containers, even in opaque colours, and offsetneck bottles, previously thought impossible through reheat stretch-blow. Secondly, a tieredaccess system that limits operator access to some control functions, while allowing technicians full access. Thirdly, a compact in-machine leak tester from Delta Engineering that uses high voltage to detect and reject containers with micro-cracks. • Germany’s Krones will exhibit its high-speed Contiform 3 stretch blow moulding machine that is able to handle preforms with a 100% recyclate content. It has an output of up to 2,750 containers per blowing station, producing up to 82,500 containers, for still water, carbonated soft drinks and sensitive products.
Jomar will debut an entry-level machine
• Germany’s Kautex Maschinenbau will stay true to the Circular Economy theme with an allelectric KBB60 machine shown moulding a threelayer bottle from Brazilian supplier Braskem’s
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Krones will exhibit its latest high-speed stretch blow moulding machine
Blow Moulding Technology at K2019 • Italy’s ST Blow Moulding will highlight its new ASPI 200 accumulator-head suction blow moulder, tailored for processing both polyolefins and engineering resins for either complex 3D shapes or conventional 2D parts. Its hydraulic pumps have energy-saving VFD motors. • Japanese firm Nissei ASB will demonstrate its new Zero Cooling technology, having modified its four-station, one-step injection stretch blow moulding technology and using the second of four stations for both cooling and preform conditioning to increase productivity by 50% and improve container strength by 15%. • Germany’s KHS will present a new PET concept based on a juice bottle as an example. The company did not reveal much adding that “it combines individual environmentally friendly packaging solutions in one container and thereby supports the theory of circular economy”. The new PET bottle, to be presented for the first time at the K show, was designed to have “the smallest possible ecological footprint.” KHS also says the new approach ensures a high level of product protection and a longer shelf life, in particular for sensitive beverages. Further, KHS says it has formed a partnership with an “environmental service provider” to pursue its “strategy of reduction, recycling and reuse.” KHS will present a new concept of a PET bottle
• Another company that is keeping with the Circular Economy theme, control solutions provider Agr International, will show its latest Pilot Vision+ in-the-blow moulder vision system, said to be well suited to quality management of PET bottles with high rPET content. It can manage up to six cameras for defect detection while colour preform cameras can detect colour variations, and the large screen displays defects categorised by mould/spindle and defect type. Agr will also feature the Process Pilot system with advanced thin-wall capability, introduced
earlier this year for the production of ultralight PET bottles to measure and adjust material distribution on each bottle. • Germany-based Rikutec Group, which is a processor and machinery supplier, will highlight the industrial packaging industry’s first allplastic 200-l twin drum, said to meet the stringent demands of regulations for safe storage and transport of highly aggressive chemicals. The blow moulded “tank-in-a-tank” is said to offer advantages over all-metal and plastic-metal drums such as corrosion resistance, highpressure resistance, and 100% recyclability. The drum consists of a two-layer inner drum of HDPE, the inner layer of a special resin without additives for ultra-clean packaging, and an outer container of three HDPE layers, the outer layer UV-stabilised, and the centre layer foamed for rigidity and weight reduction. The drum is co-extrusion blow moulded on Rikutec will a patented Rikutec machine in a showcase its allplastic drum clean-room environment. • US-based Graham Engineering will display its rotary wheel blow moulder. The Revolution MVP system provides the benefit of high output moulding with flexbility to produce a range of package sizes. A key innovation is that each clamp station is independent of the others, with all forces self-contained within the clamp. Water manifolds through the platens facilitate quick mould change, and individual clamps can be removed for offline maintenance to reduce downtime. This modularity enables the user to vary the number of clamp stations from 12 to 24 on the same platform and configure the wheel based on the application and bottle height. Graham Engineering’s rotary wheel extrusion blow moulder
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Injection Moulding Asia Machinery/Technology at K2019 Latest moulding machinery • Germany’s Arburg will premiere an additional size in its hybrid series with a 600-tonne Allrounder 1020H. It features a tiebar spacing of 1,020 mm and a new size 7,000 injection unit, adding on to Arburg’s largest machine, Allrounder 1120H, which is also available with a maximum shot weight of 4,200 g PS. Arburg will also show a new Freeformer for glass fibre 3D printing. Arburg will launch its latest hybrid model at the show
FCS’s latest all-electric machine for the 3C sector
accuracy. The mould opening, ejecting, and plasticising processes can operate simultaneously, reducing the cycle time. Adopting Japanese NSK injection screws and linear ball sliders in the injection base moving unit allows for smoother operations and energy savings. At the K, it will be shown with an IML automation system producing in an eight-cavity 100 ml IML ice cream cups. Production output is doubled through the use of 4+4 cavity stack mould technology, and mould cavity flow balance module for monitoring and automated compensation and screening of defective products to achieve unmanned production monitoring. It is targeted at the 3C, medical and optical product sectors.
• Taiwan’s Chuan Lih Fa (CLF) will demonstrate what it says is an “intelligent-automated production system for multi-cavity high-production food packaging”. The newly launched CLF-230AE is an electric machine equipped with a Siemens control system and servo drive offering multi-axis control, high speed injection, high efficiency and energy saving for 16-cavity flip top cap moulding. Flip-top caps, unlike traditional screw-top toothpaste containers, offer practicality, convenience, and wide application in PET water/sports drink bottles. CLF has also launched a newly-designed servo energy-saving and hybrid high speed machine, equipped with outward toggle and wide mouldclamping mechanism, for energy-savings, high-speed, great precision and high-capacity production.
• Germany’s Sumitomo (SHI) Demag will display five new machines, including the new all-electric multicomponent machine, IntElectMulti, available in 100, 130 and 180 tonnes. It features a dynamic motor design, the IntElect range, with up to a 20% increase in output, up to 60% reduction in energy consumption and faster machine ROI of around 18 months. When co-injecting multiple materials, the number of cavities mostly double. In addition, rotating the mould 180° by turntable requires more mould space. The IntElect Multi has been adapted to fit a mould measuring up to 800 mm in height and support a Sumitomo Demag turning diameter of up to has launched an 825 mm, with a tie bar energy-efficient multiclearance of 570 mm. component machine
CLF’s newly launched CLF-230AE, an electric machine equipped with a Siemens control system and servo drive
Taiwan’s Fu Chun Shin (FCS) Group will be co-exhibiting with its European distributor, Windsor, to launch brand new FA-160 servo hydraulic machine and the CT-300 all-electric model. The FA series is a newly released model of advanced servo hydraulic machinery by FCS. The specifications and designs are upgraded and optimised with 30% increase in platen strength, high-performance servo energy-saving oil pump that achieves GB first-class verification for precision, stability and improved mould lifetime. The modular specifications meet the requirements of food packaging and thinwall containers. The all-electric CT-300 features an Austrian controller and Italian servo motor (Phase) for an increase in injection velocity, holding time and shot volume
• Wittmann Battenfeld will premiere its VPower vertical machine series. In the standard VPower, the second hydraulic system is used for ejection during the moulding cycle. In multi-component applications, it powers the second injection unit, so that both 1
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Injection Moulding Asia Machinery/Technology at K2019 injection units can undertake injection and metering simultaneously. It features a two-tie-bar rotary table, which provides optimal accessibility thanks to dispensing with the middle tie-bar. The tie-barless rotation centre leaves ample space for cooling water, hydraulic oil, compressed air and power supply connections. The rotary tables are available with servo-electric drives and are laid out for both oscillating and rotary two, three or four-station operations.
KraussMaffei will premiere a larger size in its GX two-platen machine, GX-1100
Wittmann Battenfeld’s VPower will be showcased in an automotive part process
• Italy’s Negri Bossi will showcase a 600-tonne Nova sT servohydraulic, with a new X-design toggle system said to be close to the size of a two-platen clamp.
• Having introduced its Jupiter III at the Chinaplas show, China’s Haitian International will present the third generation of its all-electric Zhafir Venus III, demonstrating a medical application. It features the patented Zhafir electric injection unit with increased injection-pressure capability, with one, two and four spindles. The optimised toggle boasts up to 70% energy savings.
Negri Bossi will introduce the Nova model
• Japan’s Toshiba Machine will show a 50-tonne model from its ECSXIII all-electric series for LSR processing using a cold-runner control and enhanced V70 controller. • With 11 exhibits, Germany’s Boy will also have an additional six machines at the booths of partner companies. It will present an optional servo-electric drive for the injection unit (eSP) on its 60E to 125E machines; a new Servo-Plast plastification technology and a new alternative positioning for its LR 5 linear robot, allowing for space savings.
Haitian’s Zhafir will show a new concept for large electric injection units, with four spindles and four motors
• US-based machinery firm Milacron will display its Q-Series of servohydraulic toggle machines, available in sizes from 55-610 tonnes. Milacron will also display the new Cincinnati large servohydraulic two-platen machine. • Germany’s KraussMaffei will launch the GX 1100 servohydraulic, two-platen series equipped with the Smart Operation control from subsidiary Netstal. This option creates separate control environments for set-up, allowing for flexibility with intuitive and safe machine operation. It will be shown moulding two 20 l PP buckets with IML; shot weight of 1.5 kg and cycle time of 14 seconds. Another feature is the HPS barrier screw for polyolefins (26:1 L/D), said to provide 40% higher output than a standard screw.
Boy will introduce an optional, servoelectric drive for the injection unit (eSP)
• Japan’s Sodick will exhibit the GL30 electrichydraulic hybrid machine, targeted at the micro medical, E&E and telecoms sectors. 2
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Injection Moulding Asia Machinery/Technology at K2019 Whereas conventional machines melt, meter and inject the polymer using a reciprocating screw and check valve, Sodick says it uses the V-Line injection method to prepare the polymer shot by weight, allowing for more accurate filling and pressurisation of the component. In addition, the machine is capable of linear injection speeds in excess of 1,300 mm/s and can maintain this speed within a 5 mm shot size whilst accelerating and decelerating within 1 mm of plunger movement.
• Italy’s Sacmi will showcase the PVS10L, equipped with its new, patented control system. With the PVS10L, the preform line is transformed into a system that can “self-learn” all the required checks. This simplifies QC procedures and improves working conditions for operators, who can work directly on the line without having to manually set inspection recipes, the complexity of which reflects the growing sophistication of the products and customers’ changing needs.
Auxiliaries/Controls • Arburg will showcase the filling assistant, developed together with partner Simcon, on its newest Gestica controller on an all-electric Allrounder 570A model. The simulation model created offline and part geometry are read directly into the control system, where the degree of part filling, relative to the current screw position, is animated in real time as a 3D graphic. The machine operator can compare the results of the simulation created offline with the actual filling performance in the last cycle on the screen monitor. This helps to optimise the filling profile. Also new is the plasticising assistant for material processing and maintenance of the screw, and the control system simulator. Meanwhile, the new Arburg Turnkey Control Module (ACTM), a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system for complex turnkey cells, visualises the complete process, captures relevant data, and transmits job-specific data sets to an evaluation system for archiving or analysis. Arburg will also exhibit the arburgXworld customer portal, featuring free functions such as the main Machine Center, Service Center, Shop and Calendar apps, with additional fee-based functions to be introduced. These include the Self Service dashboard for machine status, control system simulator, collection of process data, and details of machine design.
• Trexel’s latest developments for MuCell include an expanded TecoCell line of chemical foaming products, the P-Series gas-metering unit, suitable for fast cycle packaging applications, and the new Tip Dosing Module (TDM). The latter eliminates the need for a special screw/barrel, can be retrofitted on standard screws, is gentle on fibre-filled resins, and boosts outputs. • Wittmann Battenfeld will demonstrate its HiQMetering for positive closing of the check valve prior to injection. Another new element of the Wittmann 4.0 is the electronic mould data sheet, which stores settings for both the injection machine and parent company Wittmann’s auxiliaries to permit setup of an entire cell in a single stroke. Having bought a stake in Italian MES software supplier Ice-Flex, it will also exhibit the TEMI+, said to be an entry-level datacollection system integrated with the machine’s Unilog B8 controls. • Having set up the Digital & Service Solutions (DSS) business unit, KraussMaffei offers a retrofit programme to equip all its machines with webenabled networking and data-exchange capabilities for Industry 4.0. Offered will be condition monitoring for predictive maintenance and data analysis as a service under its Social Production app. This patent-pending function identifies process disturbances autonomously, based on underlying data, without any user configuration, and provides tips on possible solutions.
• In screws, Engel will present the PFS (Physical Foaming Screw) developed for structural-foam moulding with direct gas injection, with better homogenisation of the gas-loaded melt and longer life with glass-fibre resins. It will be demonstrated with US firm Trexel’s MuCell microcellular foam process. The LFS (Long Glass Fibre Screw) is for increased use of long-glass fibre PP and nylon in automotive applications. It allows for uniform distribution of the fibre, maximising plasticising consistency when processing rod granules, and reduces fibre breakage, with optimised screw geometry. Engel will also show its iQ melt control that automatically adjusts plasticising time to minimise screw/barrel wear, and the iQ process observer with artificial intelligence. The observer analyses several hundred process parameters in plasticising, injection, cooling and demoulding, making it easy to spot changes at an early stage.
• Japan’s Nissei will present its new TACT5 controller equipped as standard with both the OPC UA communication protocol and the Euromap 77 (basic) MES communication protocol. This allows the machine controller to be the core of a network of auxiliary equipment like a robot and material feeder. Wireless networks minimise wires and cables and permit remote maintenance. Nissei says it is also developing its N-Constellation concept for an IoT-based automatic quality inspection system. Processing Exhibits • Cooperating with Austrian recycling firm Erema, Arburg will showcase a circular economy concept on 3
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Injection Moulding Asia Machinery/Technology at K2019 • In cooperation with Leonhard Kurz, Engel will demonstrate decorative processes for automotive parts. In a roll-to-roll in-mould foil decoration process, it will vacuum form, backmould and diecut foils in a one-step process. The process is suited to multilayer foils with paint-film surfaces, as well as structured, backlightable and functionalised foils with capacitive electronics. Kurz’s new IMD Varioform foils are said to overcome previous limitations on backmoulding compex 3D shapes. Engel will showcase backmoulding the foil with scrap material, foamed with Trexel’s MuCell process.
its 1020H, producing eight PP cups in a cycle time of 4 seconds using 30% recycled material. On an electric two-component Allrounder 630, Arburg will show how PCR material derived from household waste can be used to produce handles for the safety door of the Allrounder machine. Using a 1+1+1 mould, PCR will be processed in the ProFoam foaming process with the two foamed door halves mounted in the mould, and overmoulded with a soft TPE component, in a 62-second cycle. Arburg will also demonstrate a functional IMD for Injection Moulded Structured Electronics (IMSE), where films with integrated electronic functions will be overmoulded to produce a night light. Another Arburg exhibit will be LSR micromoulding using an 8-mm screw, eight-cavity mould and LSR material cartridge to mould microswitches weighing 0.009 g in around 20 seconds.
• Wittmann Battenfeld will also use Kurz’s IMD Varioform foils to mould an automotive headline with a functional surface. It has a partially translucent decorative sheet on the outside and a functional sheet with a printed touch-sensor structure on the inside of the part. A linear robot with a servo C axis has an IR heater on the Y-axis to preheat the continuous sheet. After the functional sheet is inserted in the mould, the decorative sheet is pulled from a roll, heated and vacuum formed. Then both sheets are overmoulded.
• Wittmann Battenfeld will demonstrate a 120-tonne VPower moulding an automotive plug made of PA/ TPE on a 2+2-cavity mould. The automation system features a Scara robot and a WX142 linear robot to insert the wrap pins, transfer the preforms, and remove and deposit the finished parts. It will also demonstrate LSR medical valves in a 16-cavity mould from Austria’s Nexus Elastomer Systems and new Nexus Servomix metering system with OPC-UA integration for Industry 4.0 networking. In another exhibit, it will mould cosmetic jars with lids from a recyclable material based on 100% natural ingredients. A two-component machine with 4+4-cavity mould will produce the jars with IML.
• Wittmann will use its Cellmould microcellular foam process to mould a seat-bench support for a German sports car utilising a PP compound from Borealis, containing 25% PCR and 25% talc. The cell will utilise Wittmann’s new Sede gas unit, which extracts nitrogen from the air and pressurises it up to 330 bar. • Negri Bossi will on a Nova e130T, fitted with a 40 mm barrier screw, run on a mould made by Molmasa of Spain a new, patented method for converting a horizontal injection machine into an injectionblow moulder for small roll-on deodorant bottles. It will also showcase its FMC (Foam Microcellular Moulding) process producing a broom brush from foamed WPC (wood-plastic compound) on a 330tonne machine.
• Austria’s Engel will show the victory 120 AMM (amorphous metal moulding) teaming up with Heraeus to mould its Amloy zirconium and copperbased alloys. The machine features 70% shorter cycle times than previous machines for amorphous metals. And with the tie-up with Heraeus, licenses are not required by moulders for the technology. Engel will also show a process for overmoulding amorphous metal with LSR. After metal moulding, the electrical part will be demoulded by a viper robot, and an easix six-axis robot will place it in a vertical Engel insert machine, with a twostation rotary table to overmould the LSR seal.
Tooling • Canada’s Husky Injection Molding Systems will show its NexPET Mold, a flexible mid-volume PET preform tool for shorter production runs and frequent changeovers. For hot runners, Husky will display Ultra Helix 250 T2 valve gates, designed to improve part quality by maintaining gate quality for millions of cycles for small parts with difficultto-access gate locations. Husky will also display the latest family of its Altanium Mold Controllers, for accurate temperature management with integrated servo-motion and valve-gate controls. Husky will also introduce its new online spare-parts ordering portal, which will be available for a demonstration at the show.
Engel will premiere a twocomponent AMM process, where a silicone seal is directly moulded onto the parts, which are made of amorphous metal
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Injection Moulding Asia Machinery/Technology at K2019 • Austria’s Meusburger Georg will launch cavity pressure sensors, offering flexibility through direct or indirect cavity pressure measurement and compatiblity with all common piezoelectric pressure sensors. It will also feature a new configurator for hot-runner moulds, offered exclusively in cooperation with PSG. The complete mould base including hot-runner manifold can be customised with just a few clicks and shipped quickly after any order.
• Electric heating element supplier Türk+Hillinger will showcase what it says is the world’s smallest heating cartridge for standard voltages. This component is designed for medical, automotive, laboratory and semiconductor industries. The heating elements are available in lengths from 10 to 150 mm with a maximum surface load up to 70 W/cm² and a maximum sheath temperature of up to 750°C. The miniature cartridge heaters are made with insulated PTFE strands and are available for both low and standard-voltage applications up to 250 V.
• Germany’s Hasco is upgrading its CimatronE CAD system allowing the access of technical data for more than 100,000 products in its portfolio from its website, including the corresponding 3D data records for different CAD programmes. Hasco’s data library has been updated for CimatronE Version 13.0, and new Hasco native database, Cimatron V1 2019/05, is available for free download at the company’s website.
Automation/Robots • Engel will introduce its viper linear servo robots with longer take-off strokes but the same payload capacities as before, with the viper 20 increasing from 900-1,100 mm, for instance. This is made possible by smart inject 4.0 functions of iQ vibration control, which compensates for vibrations, and multidynamic, which determines the load condition with precision. Also new is a pneumatic sprue picker, Engel pic A, said to be both the longest-lasting and the most compact sprue picker on the market. Instead of the usual rigid X axis, the pic A has a swivel arm that moves within a tight area. The take-off stroke is continuously variable up to 400 mm. Also new is the ability to adjust the Y axis in a few steps; and the A axis rotation angle automatically adjusts between 0° and 90°.
• Milacron’s Mold-Masters unit will exhibit the electric SeVG+ valve-gate control that provides control and precision over individual valve pin opening and closing actuation profiles. Users can fully adjust pin position, acceleration, velocity, stroke, timing and sequence of each pin independently from the next. In hot runners, it will introduce the ThinPAK series for thinwall packaging. Another subsidiary DME will also showcase its new CoolingCare device for cleaning, diagnostics and maintenance of mould cooling channels, while simultaneously testing for leaks, measuring flow rate and applying rust inhibitor. Mold-Masters will • Germany’s Heitec Hot Runner exhibit the SeVG+ Systems will display its Flex-In advanced vale-gate system that allows hot runner control system installation in minutes without wire and nozzle assembly. This, thus, eliminates any possibility of incorrect wiring or installation, while also reducing the system’s stack height, since a nozzle retainer plate is no longer required.
Engel’s viper robots will present an even larger range
• French firm Sepro will be exhibiting eight robots on its booth, including three, five and six-axis models as well as collaborative units (cobots), developed in a recent partnership with Universal Robots. The company’s robots will also be operating on 11 booths of injection moulding machinery partners exhibiting at the show. On a Sumitomo Demag machine producing a technical part, an SDR Speed 7 robot will be displayed, a special high-speed version of the S5-25 3-axis Cartesian robot capable of getting in and out of the mould space in under 1 second.
• Canada’s StackTeck Systems will showcase its moulds at booths of machinery manufacturers. These moulds include low and high-cavity tools for round and rectangular containers featuring ultralightweight TRIM (Thin Recess Injection Molding) panels, as well as an in-mould labelling technology for a round thinwall lid. 5 OCTOBER 2019
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Injection Moulding Asia Automotive
Lowering carbon footprint with recycling In the current situation when climate change
Audi’s focus on EVs is represented by its Audi e-tron and its succeeding derivatives. The company also plans to offer 30 electrified models by 2025; 20 of which will be purely electric. The proportion of EVs will then amount to 40% of its total unit sales. The brand is also continuing to develop conventional engines with a focus on universal mild hybridisation and the 48-volt electrical system. This year, four PHEV models will be offered. In the course of these initiatives, environmental experts are still seeking out more drastic moves. To this end, automotive players are betting on increasing the use of recycled plastics in vehicle parts.
has become a hot issue, and the automotive
sector has been targeted as a culprit too, the sector is stepping up with viable solutions to reduce the environmental impact, says Angelica Buan in this article.
Committing to Paris climate agreement Recently, millions of people from various countries took to the streets to denounce the accelerating change in the climate. This came against the back of thousands of protesters attempting to disrupt a motor show in Frankfurt, Germany, urging a ban specifically on SUVs, and stressing a growing sentiment against the automotive industry’s role in rising global temperatures. The fact is that the transport sector accounts for 24% of carbon emissions globally and thus must employ radical ways to decarbonise.
More recycled plastics content in cars Lightweight plastics promote fuel efficiency in cars. But using more virgin plastics is not aligned with the decarbonisation agenda of the industry. Thus, employing more recycled plastics in car parts has long been adopted by global car makers. General Motors (GM), for example, used plastic caps, bottles and other recycled materials to make radiator shrouds for some of its pickup models. Japanese car maker Nissan used fibres from PET bottles for its sound insulation layers in dashboards, and bottle caps for parts. Similarly, Swedish car maker Volvo has already pledged to use 25% recycled plastics in its cars from 2025. Representing this goal is its demo version of the XC60 T8 plug-in hybrid, which has over 60 kg of its plastic parts replaced with parts made of recycled materials. Some of the 170 recycled plastic parts include the tunnel console that runs down the centre of the front seats, made from renewable fibres and plastics from discarded fishing nets and maritime ropes.
At the heels of the global climate change protests, the transport sector is employing radical ways to decarbonise
The industry has responded by campaigning for the use of green diesel and adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Car brands such as German automobile manufacturer Porsche has committed to electrifying more than half its cars by 2025. Another German Volkswagen (VW) and its subsidiary Audi aim to reduce the average emissions of new vehicles by 30% by 2025, and to be carbon neutral by 2050. Audi and the VW are among the first automobile manufacturers to commit to the Paris Climate Agreement.
Volvo’s demo version of the XC60 T8 plug-in hybrid has over 60 kg of its plastic parts replaced with parts made of recycled materials
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Injection Moulding Asia Automotive The seats are sewn from two different kinds of textiles, both of which are made from rPET. The vacuum reservoir under the bonnet is made of recycled fabrics from airbags. The plastic coating is from the fabric left over when airbags are cut out. The hood absorber is made from used Volvo car seats. The plastic foam inside the seats is taken, processed and formed into a sound absorber layer. Meanwhile, Volvo announced its removal of diesel engines in the S60 model, while its engine factory in SkÜvde, Sweden, has attained carbon-neutral status, the company’s first facility worldwide to do so. Second life for PET bottles as exterior parts Michigan-based Ford Motor Company uses about 1.2 billion recycled plastic bottles/year or approximately 250 bottles/vehicle on average. Recycled plastics are especially used for underbody shields on all cars and SUVs, and wheel liners on F-Series trucks.
Eramet specialises in extractive metallurgy for the valorisation of nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium from spent Li-ion batteries
Launching a European Union-funded battery recycling project called Recycling Li-ion batteries for electric Vehicle (ReLieVe), French multinational mining and metallurgy company Eramet, German chemical company BASF and French utility company Suez are jointly developing a closed-loop process for the recycling of lithium-ion batteries from EVs and to enable the production of new lithium-ion batteries in Europe. From January 2020, and over a two-year period, the EUR4.7 million ReLieVe project will carry out a series of activities for the large-scale development of this process and the structuring of an integrated industrial sector: from the collection and dismantling of end-of-life batteries going into recycling all the way to the manufacturing of new electrode materials.
Ford utilises materials from recycled PET bottles for the underbody shields on all cars and SUVs, and wheel liners on F-Series trucks
The discarded bottles are collected and shredded into small pieces. The shreds are turned into a fibre, by melting the bottle and extruding it. Those fibres are mixed together with other various types of fibre in a textile process and used to make a sheet of material, which is formed into the automotive parts. Due to its light weight, recycled plastic is ideal for the manufacture of underbody shields, engine under shield and front and rear wheel arch liners that can help improve vehicle aerodynamics, according to Ford. These shields also help create a significantly quieter environment on the all-new 2020 Ford Escape.
BASF, a ReLieVe project partner, is a leading cathode active material supplier
Reviving old batteries to make new ones Some reports say that EVs are not completely environmentally friendly. Blame it on their batteries. It is because production of batteries (such as the lithium ion ones) consumes large amounts of energy, from extraction of raw materials to manufacturing. Thus, recycling of lithium-ion batteries may be able to avert the excess carbon emissions.
Suez will oversee the collection and dismantling of batteries; Eramet the development of the recycling process; and BASF the manufacturing of cathode active materials. Researchers from Chimie ParisTech and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) will also back the project to accelerate the search for innovative solutions. The recycling process is anticipated to bring savings on raw materials. 7
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Injection Moulding Asia Automotive VW is, thus, working on two approaches: portable rechargers, and energy-efficient recycling. The portable quick-charging stations can hold up to 360 kW-hours of energy and can charge up to four vehicles at a time, with a maximum quick-charge output of 100 kW. The charger has been designed to use the same battery packs as VW’s MEB EV chassis, so that when those packs reach the end of their useful life, they can be diverted into a recharge station. The first of these VW portable quick chargers is anticipated to be installed in Germany next year. Also next year, at its first EV battery recycling centre in Salzgitter, VW plans to have an initial capacity to recycle 1,200 tonnes of EV batteries/year, equal to batteries from about 3,000 vehicles. Using a special shredder, the individual battery parts can be ground up, the liquid electrolyte can be cleaned off, and the components separated into a “black powder.” This contains the valuable raw materials of cobalt, lithium, manganese, and nickel, which are ready for reuse in new batteries, after separation. In the long term, VW plans to recycle about 97% of all raw materials in the battery packs, up from the current 53%, and further raise it to 72% with the Salzgitter plant.
Suez brings its expertise in the value chain for collection and dismantling of end-of-life batteries
Around 50,000 tonnes of batteries are expected to be recycled by 2027 in Europe and it could multiply almost tenfold by 2035, according to the project movers. EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology) Raw Materials, which is the largest consortium in the raw materials sector worldwide, is co-funding the ReLieVe project. Resolving the sustainability gap By the same token, VW is already laying down its plans of battery recycling as it gears up to build 1 million EVs/ year by 2025, including at its Chattanooga plant, and is already working on how to develop a robust second life for the batteries that will power them. The Wolfsburg-headquartered company said that new generation of EVs will bring a massive increase in the number of batteries on the road, and already there are some concerns about how these batteries will be recycled after their 10 or 15 years of use. Recycling is practicable as it can cut costs, VW said. Accordingly, EV batteries are one of the most expensive parts on such cars, due to their complexity and the rare metals they require, like cobalt and manganese. As EVs become more commonplace, reusing the metals from discarded batteries can be cheaper than mining them. More importantly, recycling can help reduce the carbon impact.
Reclaiming valuable materials from batteries Meanwhile, Finland-based clean energy company Fortum offers a solution to recycling EV battery via a technology developed by Finnish growth company Crisolteq. Through this industrial-scale, low-CO2 process, Fortum says that it is able to reclaim over 80% of battery materials and recover the chemical and mineral components such as the cobalt, manganese and nickel, for reuse in producing new batteries. The lithium-ion batteries are first made safe for mechanical treatment, with plastics, aluminium and copper separated and directed to their own recycling processes. The recovery process, which takes place at Crisolteq’s hydrometallurgical recycling facility in Harjavalta, involves a chemical precipitation methodology that allows recovery of the minerals and delivered to battery manufacturers for reuse in the production of new batteries. Fortum, using Crisolteq’s technology is able to reclaim over 80% of battery materials and recover the chemical and mineral components for reuse in producing new batteries
VW shredded an EV battery into its components: copper and aluminum, steel, insulation/packaging and “black powder”
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Rubber Journal Asia Industry News • In a bid to reduce its rubber business, Russia’s oil/gas firm Sibur is to sell to Russian oil company Tatneft its Togliattibased petrochemical facilities. The assets include production facilities for various types of synthetic rubber used by Russian and global leading tyre manufacturers, for MTBE (high-octane fuel component), butadiene, isoprene, and other intermediates, as well as infrastructure of the industrial park accommodating a number of chemical and other technological companies. The amount of the deal is not disclosed. • Hanover-based technology firm Continental is considering the possibility of a spin-off of the Powertrain division (future name: Vitesco Technologies) and subsequent stock exchange listing. This review will be conducted in parallel with the company’s ongoing preparations for a potential partial IPO of the division. This creates further maneuvering room for Continental, given an accelerating trend toward powertrain electrification and the hard-to-predict conditions surrounding a potential partial IPO in 2020. • US custom moulded rubber, plastic and sealing components maker Vanseal Corporation, along with sister companies Ritus Corporation and Classic Molding, has been acquired by Blue Point Capital Partners (BPCP). The latter says it understands the elastomeric market well given its prior experience with the BPCP II platform company, Quality Synthetic Rubber. • Norwegian silicones firm Elkem has acquired Basel Chemie, a South Korean
producer of speciality silicone gels for cosmetics and water repellents for the construction industry, for US$26.9 million. • Scandinavian tyre recycling company Enviro Systems has set up a holding company in the US to facilitate its establishment of co-owned recycling plants in the US market. Enviro recently signed a term sheet with US TreadCraft Carbon regarding the establishment of a jointly owned plant for recycling of end-of-life tyres based on Enviro’s technology. • German carbon black company Pyrolyx will delist in Germany by end-March 2020 and consolidate all share trading to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), since a majority of Pyrolyx’s shareholders are Australian. However, the corporate structure of the company will not be affected by delisting from the German exchanges. • Chinese tyre maker Qingdao Doublestar is to start up a car/ truck tyre plant in Algeria, in a joint venture project with local investor El Hadj Larbi Pneumatiques. Doublestar will invest about US$5 million into the project, while the remaining US$250 million will come from the joint venture partners. The new plant will produce up to 5 million passenger and 2 million truck/bus tyres/year. • Sri Lanka-based specialty tyre manufacturer Global Rubber Industries (GRI) has acquired Estonia-headquartered materials distributor Nortire Group to facilitate its expansion into the northern European tyre market and expand GRI’s global tyre service network as well.
• French components manufacturer Hutchinson SA has finalised the acquisition of a 60% stake in Thermal Control Systems Automotive (TCSA) from German automotive supplier Mann+Hummel. TCSA is now a joint venture between the two companies, dedicated to thermal management and cooling systems for vehicles, particularly EV and HEV and integrated in Hutchinson’s FMS (Fluid Management Systems) activity. • Swiss speciality chemicals firm Sika is to acquire Crevo-Hengxin, a Chinese manufacturer of silicone sealants and adhesives used in both industry and construction applications. With this takeover, Sika says it is expanding its target markets industry and sealing and bonding presence in China and the Asia Pacific region, and is gaining additional silicone technology plus a production footprint. Crevo-Hengxin generates sales of CHF50 million, with a workforce of 140 employees. • China’s Shandong Linglong Tire and Geely Automobile have entered into a long-term partnership to promote product design and development of new technology applications, quality assurance, cost optimisation, and manufacturing globalisation • Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone Corporation has won a favourable ruling in a Chinese court in a design patent infringement suit against two local tyre makers. The company had sued Chinese tyre manufacturers Shengtai Group and Shandong Shengshi Tailai Rubber Technology (SSTRT) in March 2018.
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Rubber Journal Asia Industry News • Germany-based Wegmann Automotive has acquired the tyre valve division of Alligator Ventilfabrik and will take over the OEM’s European/ North American sales and distributions operations for passenger car and heavyduty truck tyre valves and components, as well as its car tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) sensors and tools. • Indian tyre manufacturer Balkrishna Industries Ltd (BKT) is to reach full production – at a capacity of nearly 130,000 tonnes – at its Bhuj carbon black (CB) plant by 2021. The plant had a CB production output of 80,000 tonnes as of the second quarter of financial year 2019. BKT is the only company in the
Indian tyre industry that has its own CB production plant, with around 50% of the CB produced being used in BKT’s tyre manufacturing process, while the remaining 50% is sold on the market. • India’s Apollo Tyres has opened its first truck tyre centre in the Songkhla Province in Thailand. The Apollo Truck Tyre Zone (ATTZ), launched in partnership with Ten Ten Auto Tyres and equipped with modern tools and one-stop solution services, is intended to supply the commercial tyre market in the country. • German Huebner Group, which specialises in gangways and door sealing systems for buses and railway vehicles, is to
supply silicone-based panelling elements for the interiors of the new A350 family of airplanes being built by European manufacturer Airbus. • Indian tyre-maker JK Tyre & Industries has opened its 500th outlet Bihar, India. The Xpress Wheels outlet serves to provide JK Tyre’s customer service and consolidates the company’s presence in India’s tyre industry. JK Tyre has also inaugurated its first retread centre in Pokhara, Nepal. According to the company, the centre will offer repair and retread procedures to bring down the cost-per-km for customers. JK Tyre’s ambition is to increase its network of retreading centres around the world to 100 by 2020.
Technology/Machinery at K2019 Materials/Additives • German speciality chemicals firm Lanxess’s Rhein Chemie business unit will be showcasing new masterbatches from the Rhenogran product series. Aramid fibre masterbatches have previously been available in natural rubber, EPDM, NBR and CR matrices. These can also be used in IR, BR, SBR and HNBR, making them virtual all-rounders. New additives pre-dispersed in silicone rubber (Q) and fluorinated rubber (FKM) fill in the remaining gaps. Rhenogran P91-40/Q is particularly suited to the manufacture of high temperature resistant silicone items such as washers and seals. The silicone matrix and the aromatic polyamides in the fibres form Aramid fibre pulp under the microscope a matched pair, (background) and highly durable belts made from fibre-reinforced rubber from Lanxess especially when
exposed to high thermal stress. Rhenogran P91-40/FKM can be used to manufacture rubber items for aviation with the ability to withstand high operating temperatures. Each of the new additives has 40% highly fibrillated pulp content, consisting of Twaron 1091 aramid fibres from Dutch firm Teijin Aramid. • German chemical company Evonik will present its Vestenamer polyoctenamer additive, which allows waste rubber from discarded tyres to be processed for reuse in road construction, sports tracks or playgrounds. The reactivity and polymer structure of the Vestenamer
Evonik will present a process additive for efficient recycling of waste rubber
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Rubber Journal Asia Technology/Machinery at K2019 additive leads to good network density between rubber particles, enhancing the compound’s mechanical properties, improving the cost effectiveness of processing and quality of the rubber parts, when rubber is recycled, says Evonik.
exhibit good thermal separation from the hot cavity plate, reducing heat transfer and preventing premature crosslinking -- all nozzle heads are equipped with an insulation disc to ensure optimal thermal separation. Additionally, the nozzle shaft includes a sealing ring to protect against material leaks. Its portfolio includes the 5NEW80 single cold runner valve gate nozzle, the 5DEW80 single cold runner nozzle, the NTKW and NMW cold runner nozzles and the SMA 10 stepper motor for applications with up to four different needle positions per cycle.
• Materials company Arlanxeo, which will be hosting the rubber street, will highlight new developments in the tyre and electric drive segments, such as new polymer architectures that improve tyre compounds to achieve reduced rolling and abrasion resistance while maintaining grip. These developments can support the driving range and decrease energy consumption of electric vehicles. It will also highlight research on innovative rubber grades for lithium-ion batteries, for shorter charging times, more power and greater range. Arlanxeo will also showcase new thermal management solutions to secure batteries from overheating, including heat and flame-resistant cables for charging, lightweight profiles, dampening and anti-vibration systems, brake systems or new performance wiper blades for camera-based autonomous driving.
• Ewikon will exhibit its new cold runner system for processing of LSR. According to the company, its micro-manifold technology is particularly suited for the production of parts with small-shot weights in moulds with a very high number of cavities. These systems are available as standardised hot halves for moulds with up to 192 cavities. Each micro-manifold features four screwed-in nozzle inserts and requires only one control zone. As such, the space required for wiring is considerably reduced to allow for an extremely compact mould design. Furthermore, part where the space has now been saved can be utilised to integrate additional support sleeves or domes that can be Ewikon will exhibit its new cold runner placed in the plate system for processing of LSR mould designs, making micro-manifold technology not only rather compact but also very stable.
Arlanxeo will address future mobility, highlighting new developments in the tyre and electric drive segments
Tooling/Machinery • Germany-based tooling maker Günther will present its cold runners for silicone and LSR processing. Since LSR is a difficult material to work with as it is made from two components, giving it a low viscosity as it is injected into the hot mould, the tooling has to be accurate and built tight to avoid burrs. This is especially for the medical and automotive sectors that have low error tolerance thresholds. The company says its cold runner nozzles
• French machine maker REP will present rubber injection machines with associated 4.0 software. In the G10 Extended range, it will highlight the 160-tonne CMX1 with the 4.0 process-control system and the V410, with clamping forces from 160-1,000 tonnes. It will exhibit waste-free and flash-less moulding and the potential of operating within a 100% automated robotised cell. REP will also focus on its Pack 4.0 and how it allows networking of new machines and models of previous generations. It features real-time workshop supervision (REP Net 4.0); centralised mould parameters (REP Net 4.0); statistical Process Analysis (REP Net 4.0); remote assistance (REP Viewer 4G); predictive maintenance and the detection of wear and changes to performance (REP Predict); and communication with MES or ERP systems via OPC/UA.
Graphic of a cold runner nozzle system from Günther
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Rubber Journal Asia Technology/Machinery at K2019 • Germany’s Uth will showcase its roll-ex gear pump technology and roll-ex fine mesh straining solutions, including its TRP (two-roll plasticiser) for rework processing, polymer dosing system and roll-ex MDSE technology for silicone compounding. Uth says its its rollex extrusion system is a global benchmark for fine mesh straining of rubber compounds with the pump technology permitting particularly gentle extrusion of rubber and silicone and an easy compound-change.
Automatically centring double crosshead from Troester
Uth will show its roll-ex 1000 TRF
production of compounds. The Swiss company specialises in machinery for conveying, melting, dispersing, mixing and degassing. • Japanese/German machine maker Sumitomo (SHI) Demag will showcase the latest developments in LSR moulding of a component for a matrix light on a specially configured IntElect 130. It features 20% less energy and a new shorter motor design, with new types of spindles and enhanced ejector control technology. Other features are a specially designed screw, ranging from 14-45 mm, a modified plasticising unit, a shut off system specifically designed for LSR and a spring loaded non-return valve. Its low viscosity means there are advantages and challenges when processing LSR, with a tendency for flashes caused by excess material to occur at parting lines of the mould (where the two mould halves meet), or other shut off areas. Demag says these flash issues can be mitigated and controlled by addressing the mould clearance and with an integrated and controlled vacuum system within the machine can help to prevent air bubbles or burn marks. Additional features, such as a stiff platen ensures high rigidity and uniform distribution of the clamp force to ensure more balanced pressure distribution. A robust linear guidance system for the platen or controlling the mould opening and closing sequence with a built-in staged clamp force can also reduce the risk of flash when moulding LSR components. To safeguard the mould, a sensor safety system, known as activeProtect, offers a fast response mould protection system on the IntElect range. Demag will also reveal a new and innovative preferred partnership in the LSR market at the exhibition.
• German machine maker Desma will demonstrate on four machines its Industry 4.0 highlighting automation, traceability and energy efficiency for simplifying the production of elastomer parts. It will show a production cell with data-integration of mixed batches, tracking the mould and cold runner systems via an integrated QR scanner and documenting the entire mixing data by mould history. Desma will also debut Smartrace, an advanced laser marking technology that enables reliable marking, even of black rubber articles, allowing for traceability of articles back to the respective cavity. Also on show will be a FlexCell system equipped with a six-axis robot for quick mould-alignment; an integrated air cushion system; and a collaborating robot system with 3D scanner protection that avoids the need for mechanical safety guards. Desma will also highlight a consulting and simulation programme for determining the optimal machine and tool design at the very early stages of a project. Another offering defines maintenance operations preventively to develop a spareparts strategy and prevent machine breakdowns.
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag will demonstrate the moulding of an LSR matrix light on an IntElect 130
• Germany’s Troester GmbH will present a 90 mm compact extruder for hose manufacture with an automatically centring double-crosshead, for enhanced material efficiency, better product tolerances and quicker set-up times. The unit can produce two layers simultaneously, each centred by servo-hydraulic systems that operate independently. Combined with a Sikora X-ray machine, the system automatically regulates the centricity of the extrudate. Meanwhile, Troester’s subsidiary X-Compound will present its kneading technology for uninterrupted 4 OCTOBER 2019
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Rubber Journal Asia Silicones
Injecting innovations to advance opportunities in LSR Leading global LSR solution providers are
The Freedonia group, on the other hand, forecasts growth of as much as 8.3% annually for the next four years, with processors adopting LSR manufacturing capabilities and more complex moulding techniques, such as micromoulding and two-component moulding. It also expects sales of high-transparency grades to grow. These are increasingly specified for new high-power LED lighting technologies in automotive headlights, and street and stadium lighting. Other speciality grades include self-lubricating, self-adhesive, and non-post-cure types that can improve processing efficiency by eliminating additional fabrication steps (such as post-curing or the application of coatings or binders).
driving the billion-dollar medical devices and automotive markets with new innovations
and technologies, with companies like Wacker and Momentive presenting new solutions
at the German K2019 show, says Angelica Buan.
E
Meeting standards of more sophisticated devices Debilitating diseases including those that target the vital organs, bones, and muscles are crippling scores of the world populations. Further, they impact the advancement of medical devices for treatment of the patients or to aid their rehabilitation and mobility. From the first implantable heart pacemaker invented more than half a century ago to electronically enabled medical devices, innovations have broadened the scope of what implantable can do. Today, LSR heeds the requirement for miniaturisation and biocompatibility in medical applications. LSR has high purity and tensile strength, highly stable, resistant to heat and disinfecting chemicals. Freedonia, in its latest report, listed a few of LSR’s emerging medical applications, including implantable devices, wearables that can track blood pressure or heart rate, as well as new, smaller medical devices that favour more intricate designs and micro parts, as LSR is particularly suitable for forming high-precision moulds. For medical device fabricators, LSR also offers benefits like shorter cure times, higher durometers, lower flash, lower curing temperatures, and improved consistency and predictability between lots, Furthermore, it is a material that is well suited to automation, which can help limit contamination in cleanroom manufacturing applications, Freedonia stated. European silicone supplier Elkem Silicones has developed LSR Select, a patented, advanced system of LSR materials that offers multiple capabilities all in one solution for the medical and implant applications. According to Elkem, this proven system gives the user control to optimise cure kinetics resulting in improved productivity and flexibility to achieve precise results. In addition to controlling the part cure profile, LSR Select enables users to create custom durometer blends from 20-70 ShA. Elkem Silicones said that the Silbione
xpansions in the medical devices and automotive markets are providing windfall for the liquid silicone rubber (LSR) market, which is poised to reach US$3.8 billion by 2026, with a 7.3% CAGR from US$2.1 billion in 2018, according to Reports and Data in its latest market audit. The growth is propelled by the demand for medical implants as well as by the automotive industry for its lightweight and durability. Other growth applications are consumer electronics, construction, and home appliances.
The LSR market is forecast to reach US$3.8 billion by 2026
Similarly, LSR is also scoring up in the food and beverage sector due to its bacteria-resistant, hydrophobic and odourless properties. As LSRs are soft and flexible, the material is also gaining popularity as food moulds, the report said. With regards to curing system, the report identifies the injection moulding segment to be dominating the market, generating the highest revenue of US$1 billion in 2018.
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Rubber Journal Asia Silicones Its Silpuran 6760/50 is biocompatible and, unlike standard silicones, has a significantly smoother surface. That makes the product ideal for manufacturing medical equipment such as syringes or metering pumps. Wacker’s Silpuran 6760/50 is biocompatible and has a significantly smoother surface
Elkem’s LSR Select gives the user control to optimise cure kinetics resulting in improved productivity and flexibility to achieve precise results
grade LSR Select is available for healthcare and medical applications less than 30 days in the body, backed by the Silbione brand including clean manufacturing and biocompatibility support. Another key player in the medical devices space is US company Dow Corning, which offers its QP1 LSR materials, a series of two-part platinum, catalysed silicone elastomers specifically designed for medical devices and device components. Dow Corning vouches its LSRs to contain no peroxides, peroxide by-products, chlorophenyls or PCBs; no organic plasticisers, phthalates or latex additives; and are FDA food grade compliant, meeting selected biocompatibility standards and in accordance with ISO 9001 standards and certified U.S. Pharmacopeia Class VI. Furthermore, the LSR materials, which are pumpable thermoset silicone elastomers, are ideal for liquid injection moulding to design intricate and closetolerance parts. Each QP1 series elastomer is supplied in a two part kit (Part A and Part B) and the series offers a range of Shore A hardness from 20-75. Displaying its latest wares at the K2019 show in Germany will be Munichbased chemical group Wacker.
It will also be presenting its Elastosil LR 5040 product series, which even without post-cure, shows mechanical properties and meets strict regulatory requirements for sensitive applications in the babycare, food and medical technology sectors. Therefore, post-curing is obsolete for articles made from this LSR.
Parts made from Elastosil LR5040 possess very good mechanical properties and do not require thermal post-treatment
Accelerating automotive sector fuels LSR demand The automotive industry is forecast to chalk up nearly US$1.5 billion by 2026, Reports and Data said, owing to LSR’s features like light weight, temperature resistance, water repellent, and high tear strength. In the areas of applications, the sealing, coatings, and gaskets segments show signs of cornering 21% of the market by 2026, driven by continued expansion in the automotive industry, which demands properties like durability and corrosion resistance.
The new Wacker flameretardant solid silicone rubber for the rail industry
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Rubber Journal Asia Silicones step from their processes. Areas of application include connector housings with radial seals applied by injection moulding and single-wire seals. For other applications In a world first, Wacker will present its Nexipal silicone laminate that comprises several ultrathin precision silicone films coated with electrically conductive material prior to lamination. The actuator creates movement, as soon as electrical voltage is applied. The laminates can also be used as a sensor to measure mechanical deformation electrically. Tablets equipped with Nexipal create vibrations and haptics simulating the shape of keys on touch control panels, for example, in automotive applications. Wacker will also be presenting a new flame-retardant solid silicone rubber for the rail industry at K2019. Wacker’s existing Elastosil R 771 meets the fire-safety codes applicable for all rolling stock in the European Union since 2018. The new solid silicone enables manufacturers to produce rolling-stock components compliant with the R1 requirement set of the European fire-safety standard EN 45545-2. Because silicones are inherently fire-resistant and generate no toxic soot when there is a fire, they are also suitable for applications in public buildings. This property called “smoke toxicity” is increasingly gaining in importance, and silicones can deliver maximum safety in this respect. In terms of sustainability, Wacker says its low volatile-LSR initiative is setting standards around the world. It has managed to slash the content of volatile Dx siloxanes in its LSR by at least 90%. By upgrading the LSR portfolio in this way, the company says it is enabling manufacturers of silicone parts to meet regulatory requirements as well as industry and customer needs more readily and reliably than ever before. In many applications, manufacturers will have the option to shorten the post-curing times and thus to reduce emissions and to free up scope for energy and cost savings. And, in some cases, they can actually dispense with post-curing altogether.
Momentive’s Silopren LSR 2759 used in producing an in-car smartphone-holder
New products are being rolled out by key market players like New York-headquartered Momentive Performance Materials at the Germany-held K2019 in October. Among the new silicone solutions that will be presented is a complete portfolio of Silopren LSR and other silicone elastomer solutions. The new self-bonding Silopren LSR 27x9 family, according to Momentive, addresses the rising demands for hardsoft designs, helps to achieve the bonding between silicone and thermoplastics, reduces assembly steps and meets various complex design requirements. Additionally, it is showcasing its other specialty silanes including the Tospearl 120 FL spherical beads that can provide thermal stability and low surface energy properties, making them candidates to consider for use in BOPP films where slip and antiblock properties are required. Used primarily with PC and acrylic resins, Momentive´s TSR 9000 spherical silicone beads are a versatile additive that can help improve optical diffusion of light. Additional benefits include heat stability and a low refractive index. Momentive is also debuting a two-component moulding cell to manufacture an innovative ‘butterfly’ smartphone-holder prototype. This cell will overmould a PC from Covestro in a second shot with the new Silopren LSR 2759 to produce an in-car smartphone-holder, having primer-less adhesion between the PC and silicone, and ready for attachment to a car´s ventilation flap. The design, set up and implementation will be provided by Elmet, which also built the two-shot mould, automation and LSR dosing system TOP 5000 P. It will be implemented on a two-component injection moulding SmartPower 120 machine and robot from Germany’s Wittmann-Battenfeld. Meanwhile, Wacker’s Elastosil LR 3675 product line was developed for use in automotive technology. Its special formulation forms a strong bond with a hard component. After curing, it exhibits elastic extension recovery and good mechanical properties even without post-curing. This allows manufacturers to eliminate the time-consuming, energy-intensive
The Nexipal silicone laminate from Wacker is wear-free, compact and energy-saving and ideal for use in innovative applications
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Events 2019
10 - 12 OCTOBER Pack Print Plas Philippines Venue: SMX Convention Centre, Pasay City, Philippines Tel: +63 2 893 7973 Fax: +63 2 550 1148 Email: info@globallinkmp.com Internet: www.globallinkmp.com 16 - 18 OCTOBER MTA Hanoi Venue: I.C.E., Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: +65 6233 6688 Email: machine-isoa@ubm.com Internet: www.mtahanoi.com 16 - 23 OCTOBER K 2019 Venue: Düsseldorf, Germany Tel: +49 211 17 202 839 Email: messe@duesseldorf-tourismus.de Internet: www.k-online.com 30 OCT - 2 NOV 2019 AllPack Indonesia Venue: JIExpo, Jakarta, Indonesia Tel: +62 21 6345861 Fax: +62 21 634 0140 Email: info@kristamedia.com Internet: www.allpack-indonesia.com 1 - 4 NOVEMBER Myanmar Plas Print Pack Venue: YCC, Yangon, Myanmar Tel: +886 2 2659 6000 Fax: +886 2 2659 7000 Email: exfdp@chanchao.com.tw Internet: www.myanmar-expo.com/plasprintpack 13 - 15 NOVEMBER Jec Asia Venue: Seoul, South Korea Tel: +33 (1) 58 36 15 00 Email: visitors@jeccomposites.com Internet: www.jeccomposites.com 20 - 23 NOVEMBER Plastics & Rubber Indonesia Venue: JIExpo, Jakarta, Indonesia Tel: +62 21 2525 320 Email: wiwiek@pamerindo.com Internet: www.plasticsandrubberindonesia.com 25 - 28 NOVEMBER Swop Venue: SNIEC, Shanghai, China Tel: +852-2516 3371 Fax: +852-2516 5024 Email: swop@adsale.com.hk Internet: www.swop-online.com 27 - 29 NOVEMBER Plastics & Rubber Hanoi Venue: Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: +84 28 3622 2588 Fax: +84 28 3622 2527 Email: plasticsvietnam@ubm.com Internet: www.plasticsvietnam.com
4 - 7 DECEMBER Plast Eurasia Istanbul Venue: Tüyap Fair Convention and Congress Centre, Turkey Tel: +90 (212) 867 11 00 Fax: +90 (212) 886 94 04 Email: info@plasteurasia.com Internet: www.plasteurasia.com
2020
16 - 20 JANUARY 2020 Plastivision India Venue: Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre, India Tel: 022 6777 8846 / 48 Email: sanjeevani@plastivision.org Internet: www.plastivision.org 28 - 31 JANUARY 2020 Interplastica Venue: Moscow, Russia Tel: +49 211 4560 436 Fax: +49 211 4560 7740 Email: ErbenC@messe-duesseldorf.de Internet: www.interplastica.de 5 - 7 FEBRUARY ProPak Philippines Venue: World Trade Centre Metro Manila, Pasay City Philippines Tel: +63 2 551 7718 Email: yn.aquino@informa.com Internet: www.propakphilippines.com 6 - 8 FEBRUARY Samuplast Venue: Pordenone, Italy Tel: +39 0434 232209 Email: prosdocimo@fierapordenone.it Internet: www.samuexpo.com 12 - 15 FEBRUARY IPF Bangladesh Venue: ICCB, Dhaka, Bangladesh Tel: +886 2 2659 6000 Fax: +886 2 2659 7000 Email: exfdp@chanchao.com.tw Internet: www.chanchao.com.tw/IPF 6 - 8 MARCH 3P Pakistan Venue: Karachi Expo Center, Pakistan Tel: +92 21 35810637-39 Email: enquiry@plasprintpack.com Internet: www.plasprintpack.com 24 - 26 MARCH ProPak Vietnam Venue: SECC, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Tel: +84 28 3622 2588 Fax: +84 28 3622 2527 Email: propakvietnam@vietallworld.com Internet: www.propakvietnam.com 24 - 27 MARCH Plastivision Arabia Venue: Expo Centre Sharjah, UAE Tel: +971 6 5770000 Fax:+971 6 5770111 Email: info@expo-centre.ae Internet: www.plastivisionarabia.org
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