With innovations in metrology, processing and automation, the film industry is again pursuing the goal of process optimization and digitalization this year. But efficiency and sustainability are also the focus of the machine manufacturers, who will be serving up pioneering innovations at K 2019.

The Circular Economy – Sustainable yet Efficient?

Flachfolienanlagen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Extrusionsanlagen

Blasfolienextrusion

Flachfolien- und Plattenextrusion

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Extrusion

Verpackungstechnik

Logistik

Folienabzug- und -aufwickelmaschinen

Faserverarbeitung

Extrusionswerkzeuge

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Folien

Halbzeuge und Zwischenprodukte

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

Folienreckanlagen

Folienblasanlagen

Kreislaufwirtschaft

A Perfect Concept All Round

From the French Fry Bag to the Cement Bag to the Plastic Film.

View into the heart of a Varex II blown film system.

Extrusionsblasformen

Blasformen

Schröder, Susanne

On the Spot at Windmöller & Hölscher

Brückner Maschinenbau has developed mono-material packaging solutions to close the life cycle of plastic packaging as requested by brand owners and legislations.

Examples of monomaterial plastic packaging based on biaxially stretched films of PP, PET or, more recently, PE.

16:9

Messe Interpack

kunststoffe-international.com

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

kunststoffe.de

How Recycling Goals Can Be Achieved

For the Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany, 2020 is an anniversary year in three different ways. The RWTH Aachen University is celebrating its 150th anniversary, and is marking the occasion, by hosting the International Colloquium of Plastics Technology for the 30th time – with special feature on the previous day. A preview of the celebrations.

Institute Director Professor Christian Hopmann expects 800 participants to attend the 30th International Colloquium of Plastics Technology

A Varied Menu

Spritzgießen

Doriat, Clemens, Dr.

Temperiertechnik

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Additive Fertigung

Reason to Celebrate 30th International Colloquium of Plastics Technology and  70 Years of the IKV

New polymer composites for the production of multi-layer small tubes are being developed to give products specific functions. With suitable co-extrusion dies and a thermal barrier option, even complex layer composites with melt temperature differences of more than 50 °C can be processed reliably and in high quality.

CV-T 5-layer co-extrusion die in pilot plant operation: tubes with small cross-sections that fulfill a multitude of demands can be produced by  co-extrusion

Combining Polymers with Very Different Processing Temperatures

Temperiergeräte

Gießanlagen

Baugewerbe (Hoch- und Tiefbau)

Medizintechnik (KU)

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Bautechnik, Sanitär

Rohr- und Profilextrusion

Extruder-Folgeeinrichtungen

Extrusions-Zubehör

Automotive

Fahrzeugbau

Co-Extrusion with Thermal Control

In the area of pipe and profile extrusion, the focus remains on increasing efficiency. In addition to energy-saving systems, the focus on efficiency increasingly includes flexibilization of plants and processes, as well as reproducibility of quality in production.

Optimization of Components and Expansion of Plant Control Systems Offer Potential  for Improvement

Energieeffizienz

Efficiency Remains the Order of the Day

Brückner Maschinenbau focuses its trade show presence on higher plant efficiency and sustainable film production.

BOPP and BOPET are among the most popular packaging films. They are now produced on lines at speeds of over 600 m/min.

Messe K-Kunststoffmesse

Faster and Wider BO Lines

Coextrusion: How a new automation system speeds up start-up and product changes in flat film and sheet extrusion.

A clever solution: two motorized screwdrivers travel along the die, automatically adjusting all the set screws.

Automatisierungskomponenten

Automatisierungstechnik

Desired Film at the Push of a Button

The trend towards customised extrusion lines is continuing. Machine manufacturers regard comprehensive customer service as the most important benefit they have to provide. 

Platten

Sheet and Film Extrusion: Precision by the Metre 

Plastic films have become an important part of our daily lives – 50% of all plastic packaging is based on films. The fact that packaging represents one-third of plastics consumption in Germany underscores the exceptional importance of an everyday product. 

Film Extrusion: More and More Layers 

The trend towards reduced stockholding and the wish for immediate delivery of small quantities are increasing demand for flexible production solutions, and production batch sizes are therefore becoming smaller. This trend poses problems to raw materials and additives manufacturers, as well as plant manufacturers. 

Trend Report: Flexible Extrusion Technology 

A special rubber gasket is now available to seal the parting line between head and die. First pilot projects have shown several promising benefits. The technique is suited for pipe extrusion, film blow molding and extrusion blow molding. 

Ring-shaped Dies: Tilting Technique Improves Centering and Other Features 

In conventional extrusion blow molding, complex geometries result in severe fluctuations in wall thickness distribution. With the use of a novel die system, the wall thickness of the BIG Bobby Car trailer can be realized within narrow tolerances.  

Improving Quality and Reducing Weight with Uniform Wall Thicknesses 

Werkzeugköpfe

A Toy Challenges the Engineers  

Macchi presented at K the new Pod-Flex series for the production of seven-layer blown films with a net width of 2700 mm. The extrusion line can extrude laminate, barrier and biomaterials, since the new TES72 extrusion die, which is completely PVD-coated, can process both polyolefin and barrier-film formulations on the same line. 

Technical Advances in More Flexible Blow-Molding Lines  

Higher Speed for Material Exchange 

The highly diverse offering at K 2019 ranged from ingenious detailed applications to complete solutions that encompass the entire process. In the extrusion sector, the topic of the circular economy was very much in the shadow of developments relating to Industry 4.0.

Size is everything: the largest available pipe die with an adjustable melt gap

New and Further Developments Focus on Quality and Efficiency

Messtechnik

Simulation

Software

Spritzgießsimulation

Elektrische / Magnetische Messtechnik

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

New Dimensions in Extrusion

World premieres, technological advancements and joint projects: there was plenty of evidence at K of the impressive progress made in sustainable solutions in extrusion in many different directions over the past number of years.

In the field of film extrusion and processing, too, the number one topic at this year’s K was the circular economy and sustainability. Many of the halls were throbbing, not just on account of the hordes of visitors, but also because of the live demonstrations of various machines and lines. The live demonstrations of XXL lines in Hall 17 were a particular crowd puller and it was here that the manufacturers served up some world premieres.

If the approach in the past often focused on going “faster, higher, further”, it is now about devising more holistic solutions. Energy efficiency of the lines plays a major role, but so too does consideration of the entire value chain. Since the last K, developments in new machines and product concepts have occurred at breakneck speed.

What makes this all so exciting is that “sustainable thinking” has taken hold in every direction: be it in mono-material solutions, processing of recycled materials or the use of natural fibers or biomaterials. For visitors, there were plenty of opportunities to witness this for themselves in the form of live demonstrations and sample articles that they could touch and hold.

Sustainability also featured prominently in a considerable number of booth designs. There were exhibitors who supplied information about the modular concepts behind their booth designs or about direct recycling of the extruded flooring. And there were some machine makers who opted not to present live demonstrations, yet who still managed to provide very deep insights into the technical subtleties through live feeds to technology centers, the use of large video screens, and virtual reality headsets. This form of presentation also served to demonstrate what digitalized production or maintenance can look like today.

Of course, a world-leading trade fair such as K is also a great occasion for closing deals or announcing new projects or collaborations. At the closing press conference, Ulrich Reifenhäuser, Chairman of the Exhibitor Advisory Board for K 2022, showed that this year’s show was no different: “K 2022, the world’s leading trade fair, was eagerly awaited by the plastics and rubber industry and succeeded in providing new impetus across all areas of our industry. The many and, in some cases unexpected, concrete contract negotiations conducted at the fair speak for themselves.”

TotalEnergies, Windmöller & Hölscher and the Mitsubishi Chemical Group announced the successful proof of concept for a fully recyclable high-barrier stand-up pouch for food applications. Between them, the partners have developed fully recyclable high-barrier packaging as a replacement for multi-material structures, such as metallized BOPP/PE or metallized BOPET/PE, that is intended to help brand owners meet their commitments to produce 100 % recyclable packaging by 2025. The new solution is 98 % polyethylene and less than 2 % EVOH, the latter being needed for the barrier properties. It has exactly the same performance characteristics, without compromising recyclability, and so can enter existing recycling streams.

The material consists of an MDO film and a sealing film supplied by Dettmer Verpackungen. Machine manufacturer B&B Verpackungstechnik converted this structure into a stand-up pouch that can be used for demanding applications, such as coffee packaging. The MDO PE film formulation, consisting of TotalEnergies Supertough and Lumicene High Density PE together with Mitsubishi’s Soarnol, ran for four days on a Varex II line at Windmöller & Hölscher’s booth during K 2022.

SML, together with its partners Sukano and Kiefel Packaging, presented a transparent alternative for hot-fill applications. Their joint research and development yielded a cup made of C-PET light that combines transparency with recyclability and is suitable for thermoformed hot-fill or microwaveable products. Other advantages include short thermoforming cycle times and high rigidity. The newly developed C-PET light can thus be a viable option for manufacturers seeking an economical and easy-to-recycle alternative to PP and PS.

“Since ease of recycling is becoming increasingly important, we decided at an early stage of our joint research and development work to use a transparent C-PET solution,” said Max-Phillip Lutz, product manager at SML. Compared with other colored PET or PP and PS products, C-PET light is much easier to recycle. C-PET light film can be readily recycled with other post-consumer or post-industrial PET materials in existing lines.

All three project partners contributed their specific expertise in their respective fields to improve each step of the process. The key technical challenges were identifying the optimal dosage of additives, adapting the formulations and process technology during film production, and finding the right parameters for the thermoforming process.

New Slot Die for Precision Control  of Coextrusion

Reifenhäuser Extrusion Systems (RES), the Reifenhäuser Group’s business unit specializing in extrusion components, announced a strategic partnership with Maku at K 2022. The aim of the partnership is to jointly market and advance the automation system designed by Maku for coextrusion adapters and slot dies, which were on display at K for the first time.

The PAM system (precise, autonomous, mechatronic) is available immediately and exclusively as an automation option for new Reifenhäuser dies and adapters, as well as for aftermarket dies across all manufacturers. PAM enables producers in the flat film and sheet production and extrusion coating sectors to precisely control the entire hot part (coextrusion adapter and die) via the line’s control panel. This is said to work much faster and more accurately than conventional control by hand or expansion bolt automation. The technology enables faster start-up of good production, is said to provide higher output with lower energy consumption – and thus signifi antly improved overall line efficiency.

High-Speed BOPP Line with  Low Energy Consumption

A.J. Plast and Brückner Maschinenbau signed a contract in Düsseldorf, Germany, for another joint project: a high-speed BOPP production line, the 15th for A.J. Plast, one of South East Asia’s leading film producers. The new line can process five layers and more in a width of 10.4 m and output 7.5 t/h at a speed of 600 m/min.

The project represents high production efficiency and takes an important step toward zero emissions, energy saving and carbon reduction. The technology is expected to not only slash energy consumption, but also reduce water usage. The newly designed dual air heat exchanger in the oven process preheats fresh air, thereby taking energy recycling to a new level. Xaver Sedlmeier, Sales Director at Brückner Group Asia-Pacific, said: “We are very proud of this new project. We have cooperated closely to design a film-stretching line that is completely tailored to A.J. Plast’s needs and market requirements.”

In the field of BOPP, the most popular packaging film, Brückner presented a world first at K: a PP-film-stretching line with an output of up to 90,000 t/a. The current benchmark is 60,000 to 70,000 t/a. According to the manufacturer, this translates to around 12 % lower energy consumption, based on 1 kg of film.

Triple Bubble for More Sustainable Food Packaging

At K, Kuhne Anlagenbau exhibited for the first time as a manufacturer of large-scale lines for blow molding simultaneously biaxially oriented thermoforming films by the triple bubble process. Without compromising on service properties, at 80 to 120 µm these are only about half as thick as the conventional cast films used in this application, according to the manufacturer. The maximum attainable thermoforming ratio is 1:10. This means a reduction in material consumption and thus an approx. 50 % reduction in the associated greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to optimized cooling rates, the large-scale lines can achieve throughputs of up to 2000 t/h. Reportedly, their productivity and profitability can thus match or even exceed that of cast film lines. Furthermore, inventory in downstream processing is also reduced while the much lower energy consumption of thermoforming conduces to a further reduction in the carbon footprint whilst simultaneously ensuring very good machine processability. For manufacturers and distributors, the reduced thickness of the films means lower extended producer responsibility (EPR) charges and also supports compliance with the Ceflex (Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging) sustainability guidelines drawn up by the industry.

Triple-bubble technology involves three bubbles arranged in series. In the first, the film is rapidly cooled using cold water quench technology. This very effectively prevents crystallization processes, which is a precondition for uniform orienting in the second stage.

Thermal relaxation in the third bubble is used to set the thermoforming behavior to the desired level. The systems are suitable for processing PE, PP, PET, PA, EVOH, COC, EVA and EMA. In addition, mono-material solutions based on PET, PA, polyolefins and other polymers can also be processed.

The exhibition highlight at the Collin Lab & Pilot Solutions booth was the live operation of a Pilot Line BL 600 Professional blown film line. “With the new, five meter high blown film line, we have managed to improve on the performance of its predecessor. Customers are now able to produce 5-layer films and more in widths of up to 600 mm. The pilot line for multi-layer coextrusion is ideal for processing metallocene, but is also eminently suitable for processing recycled material. With the help of the multi-layer die with optimized distributor disk design, our customers can also use metallocene polyolefins, which are often difficult to process,” explained Collin CEO Dr. Friedrich Kastner and CSO Corné Verstraten.

A total of four extruders are used in the blown film line – one of them has an adjustable melt splitter that feeds the melt into two different distributor disks of the die, thus producing two layers. A high level of flexibility is also provided by a Collin Extruder E 30 PL, which was presented for the first time and features extended height adjustment from 350 mm up to 1500 mm extrusion height. Further modules of the blown film line include an extruder with BritAS screen changer and the new ZK 25 P Compounder fitted with online viscometer for continuous monitoring of material quality – this is advantageous, among other things, when grades of varying quality, such as recycled materials, are used.

Full-PE, Bio and PCR for  Flexible Packaging

Hosokawa Alpine is banking on the circular economy and alternative raw materials. The Augsburg/Germany-based machinery maker is convinced that flexible packaging of the future must take the circular economy route. A pioneer in MDO technology, it develops film solutions that can be recycled and reused at the same level.

“What our customers want most from flexible packaging is good mechanical properties. But it is these very properties that pose a problem during disposal. Which is why we have been working on forward-looking technologies for years: the focus of our development work is on sustainable packaging made of full-PE material and the efficient reuse of production scrap. In pursuing this approach, we work together with partners along the entire value chain,” explains Dr. Holger Niemeier, Executive Vice President at Hosokawa Alpine.

Mono-material solutions aside, Hosokawa also works with raw material partners in the field of bio-films. The latest bio-film solutions brought to market are very thin plastic wrap or barrier film for packaging meat and fish. In addition to new packaging solutions, the lines from Augsburg are also suitable for processing PCR material. Hosokawa Alpine’s line components cope superbly with the varying raw material quality of PCR pellets. Slovenian film producer Plasta knows this only too well: it produces blown film from recycled material on machinery shipped from Augsburg. The proportion of fossil raw materials is significantly reduced and CO2 emissions are slashed by as much as 85 %.

An All-Rounder for Thermoforming Processes Plastic and Paper

In addition to traditional, bio-based and recycled plastics, paper can also be processed on Kiefel machines. Live demonstrations by the company on the KMD 78.2 Speed steel rule machine showed how recycled films can be used to manufacture high-quality, sustainable packaging products – and thus make a contribution to tray-to-tray recycling. This is made possible with the aid of in-house, customized tool technology and smart automation concepts.

In addition, a laboratory machine at the booth demonstrated Kiefel’s latest packaging technology, namely fiber thermoforming of natural fibers, which is now in high demand. The associated Natureformer KFT 90 machine is already in operation worldwide.

Ausgabenartikel

This transparent alternative for hot-fill applications was presented by development partners SML, Sukano and Kiefel.

Featuring two motorized screws, the PAM slot die from Reifenhäuser combines energy efficiency with ease of use.

A.J. Plast Managing Director Kittiphat Suthisamphat (right) and Helmut Huber, CSO at Brückner Maschinenbau, seal the deal on their new project in South East Asia.

Wafer-thin thermoforming film produced on a triple-bubble line from Kuhne.

Collin’s CEO Dr. Friedrich Kastner (left) and CSO Corné Verstraten in front of the Pilot Line 600 Professional blown film tower.

All of Hosokawa’s components are designed to process recycled materials, among other things. And so is the newly introduced cooling system featuring VarDAR aftercooling.

Contributing to tray-to-tray recycling: packaging can be made from classic, bio-based or recycled plastics on machines from Kiefel.

During the daily machine show, Windmöller & Hölscher demonstrated a fast product changeover per autopilot. When K finished, the line was delivered to IsoFlex Packaging, in Nashville, TN/USA.

Folienherstellung - Hauptartikel

In the field of film extrusion and processing the number one topic at this year's K was the circular economy and sustainability.

Packaging Film: K 2022 Highlights

Read the German version of the article in our magazine Kunststoffe or at <a href="https://www.kunststoffe.de/a/fachartikel/gemeinsames-ziel-kreislaufwirtschaft-3168178" target="_blank">www.kunststoffe.de</a>