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ARLANXEO, a global leader in performance elastomers, participates in its second K fair under the theme ‘future mobility’, as electrification and autonomous driving will fundamentally change transportation in the near future

New means of transportation are emerging and responding to the demand for sustainable mobility.

These trends are met with new demands for e-mobility solutions from the synthetic elastomer industry, requiring new materials with lighter weight, better thermal characteristics, reduced noise, optimal vibration performance and lower energy consumption.

ARLANXEO is putting its full focus on addressing these requirements, designing, testing and providing solutions in collaboration with customers and partners.

CEO Donald Chen said: "Our high-end rubber solutions are a key enabler of new technologies needed to make future mobility a reality. With innovation an essential part of ARLANXEO’s success and strategy, we are working closely with our customers in meeting their needs in electrification and automation. This year’s K fair presents a great opportunity to showcase our offerings and further explore co-operation opportunities with our clients and partners in the automotive and transportation industry."

Visitors to ARLANXEO’s booth (Hall 6, Booth C52) will see the company’s solutions in three core areas – new tire solutions, new energy storage solutions, and new performance applications – which will be showcased at the booth and demonstrated by ARLANXEO experts.

ARLANXEO will again be hosting the ‘rubber street’ feature to improve the visibility of rubber and TPE at K. ARLANXEO continues to support this initiative, which was founded in 1983, in collaboration with the German Rubber Manufacturers Association wdk (Wirtschaftsverband der Deutschen Kautschukindustrie) and Dr Gupta Verlags GmbH.

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Atlas, the global leader in materials testing, will demonstrate its suite of advanced weathering test instruments for polymer and plastic materials and products at K 2019.

Hosted in Düsseldorf, Germany, between 16 and 23 October, the K Show is held every three years and is the leading international trade fair for the plastics and rubber industries.

Some of the most widely used man-made materials, polymers and plastics span an exceptionally diverse range of material chemistries and properties. As such, the products in which they are used range from relatively short lifespans, such as packaging materials, to long-lived service applications such as automobiles and building materials.

Adding complexity, plastic products are formulated with various colorants and functional or performance enhancing additives. Because of these, polymer degradation chemistry and product weathering results can be highly specific to the service environment, base resin chemistry, compound formulation and processing.

In short, accelerated laboratory durability testing of plastics and polymers is exceptionally challenging and requires high-performance testing instruments to reliably predict service lifetimes or pass exacting specifications.

Atlas’ lightfastness and weathering instruments lead the plastics and polymer industries in testing performance, with many test methods having been specifically designed around the capabilities of Atlas instruments.

polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

New Clariant CESA-IR additive masterbatches are now available to make dark plastics visible to the NIR sensors used in automated polymer sorting systems.

While many companies use black packaging to brand products, the problems it poses in recycling systems has led to calls for black to be phased out. The new masterbatches help to resolve that issue and allows increased recycling rates in Europe and elsewhere.

The new product range is part of a ‘Design for Recycling’ programme at Clariant. Recognising that recycling is the foundation of a Circular Economy, Clariant Masterbatches and its Packaging Market group, is mobilising resources across the value chain to ensure that an ever-higher percentage of plastic packaging is recycled.

NIR sensors can discriminate between HDPE, LDPE, PP, PE and various other commonly used polymers in today’s packaging. Unfortunately, the carbon black pigments typically used to make black plastics absorb all or most of the NIR light. As a result, the sorting sensors cannot ‘see’ the black packaging, much less sort one polymer from another.

Alessandro Dulli, Clariant Masterbatches Global Head of Packaging, said: “As a result of this phenomenon, much of the dark-coloured materials entering the recycling stream have not been recovered. For that reason, many brand owners have been pressured to move away from black for environmental reasons. In close collaboration with these brand companies, and as a leader in sortation technology, Clariant has developed a way to achieve a persuasive black colour in plastics without compromising the essential detectability during recycling process."

Specific CESA-IR formulations have been developed to enable IR-detectability of black HDPE and LDPE in injection and extrusion blow moulded products; black polypropylene in films and injection moulded products; and black PET and C-PET in sheets and film.

In testing conducted by Tomra Systems ASA, PP containing carbon black was essentially indistinguishable under NIR radiation from background surfaces such as a conveyor belt.

However, the same material made using another system including CESA-IR additive masterbatches was readily detectable, with reflectivity levels approaching those of uncoloured PP.

Clariant’s leaders and partners will attend the ‘Symphony of Collaboration’ K 2019 media event on 17 October at Booth 8A J11.

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Clariant has teamed up with pigment supplier Merck and resin producer SABIC to develop laser-marking technology and materials to ease the recycling process for LDPE, LLDPE packaging film.

The results of the collaboration will be presented at K 2019.

Chun-Yip Pang, Clariant’s Global Product Manager Additive Masterbatches – Laser, said: “This collaboration is focused on eliminating the printing ink used for tracking, shelf-life, bar codes and other variable information that must be placed on almost any package on the market. Less ink means less contamination when it comes to recycling.”

The collaboration demonstrates a complete supply-chain solution for laser-marking of films. As the resin supplier, SABIC contributes the polymer technology that delivers the properties required in the film packaging. SABIC can also supply a wide variety of polymers in its portfolio as a certified circular polymer, contributing even more to sustainable packaging.

Laser-sensitive Iriotec pigments and marking expertise are provided by Merck, while Clariant developed the additive masterbatch formulations for use in film extrusion.

Because most plastics are transparent to the radiation used in laser-marking, the additives are necessary for a visible reaction in the film. The marks are permanent and resistant to water, oil, grease or fatty foods. They can be applied to the surface of a mono-layer film, or a laser-sensitive layer can be placed behind a laser-transparent surface layer.

The additives provide excellent contrast and allow high-speed marking.

At K 2019, the collaborators will show several examples of laser-marked packaging films and pouches.

  polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

Elmet is presenting itself at K2019 as an international one-stop shop supplier for the entire field of injection moulding two-component liquid silicone rubbers (LSR).

One focus of Elmet’s exhibition will be its enhanced TOP 5000 P pneumatically driven dosing system, which has a smaller footprint than its predecessor. Elmet will also provide an initial glimpse of the status of development of a servo-electrically driven dosing pump and premiere its new remote maintenance system for the TOP 5000 series.

Elmet is preparing for the commercial introduction of a TOP dosing system with a fully electric dosing pump driven by a torque- and current-controlled servomotor. Here the focus is on minimising dosing fluctuations and maximising efficiency and simplicity of operation.

Despite occupying still less space in the production zone, the upcoming designs of the TOP-5000 dosing systems do not entail any compromises in terms of efficiency.

Sales Manager Mark Ostermann said: "Our electrically driven dosing system will be the result of very extensive development work, the first step of which focused on designing the pump group. Initial testing of the newly developed components of the pump group has demonstrated the uniform quality of delivery which is achievable using this new principle … Once the system is ready for mass production, we will be able to offer a suitable solution for all market segments and applications up to and including LSR 3D printing. Elmet will thus be in a position to meet any possible future customer wishes."

In terms of Industry 4.0 capability, all TOP 5000 series dosing systems have a VNC and an OPC-UA interface for data exchange with the injection moulding machine. The newly created remote access interface means that Elmet will be able to offer a Premium Connectivity Package with email functionality and remote support. The software can automatically send email messages to predefined groups of recipients in the event of a breakdown or maintenance and drum change messages.

A VNC link means that Elmet and operators can remotely access the relevant dosing system from anywhere in the world without requiring access to the customer's own IT network.

polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

Coperion K-Tron has announced a completely new K3 line of vibratory feeders for dry bulk solids which will be exhibited at K 2019. 

The new feeder design features a unique, patent-pending drive system combined with an advanced control package, and the ability to achieve accuracies averaging 35 per cent better over traditional vibratory technologies. This new generation of Coperion K-Tron loss-in-weight vibratory feeders offers gentle handeling, higher accuracy and faster product changeover, resulting in less product waste, less downtime and better end product quality, as well as improved sustainability.

Significant advantages

These advantages are possible due to groundbreaking new technology. The key to achieving high accuracy is the ability to deliver a continuous, even product discharge with minimal pulsations, which the K3 vibratory drive does with a completely new shock absorber design. Conventional vibratory feeders use rubber or spring shock absorbers, which allow movement of the drive in all directions, resulting in rotational motion. In contrast, the K3 line uses a unique flexible pendulum technology which provides shock absorption only parallel to the desired direction of motion, eliminating rotational movement. This parallel motion ensures an even material flow of the product along the entire length of the tray.

The advanced control system and feeder electronics include internal sensors which measure acceleration, displacement, load, current and temperature at rates of up to 25,000 times per second. The fast-acting controller then adjusts the vibratory drive signal to maintain clean sinusoidal displacement for optimal mass flow. The combination of this unique drive with the Coperion K-Tron SmartConnex control system also results in extremely low energy consumption as compared to other feeding technologies.

  polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

Jomar Corp., a leading global manufacturer of injection blow moulding (IBM) machinery for the pharmaceutical, healthcare and household products industries, will launch the TechnoDrive 65 PET machine at the 2019 K Show in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Specifically designed to run PET resins but can easily switch back to PP and PE, the TechnoDrive 65 PET machine evolved from Jomar’s TechnoDrive 65, a high-speed production machine unveiled in 2018. It has a dry cycle time of just 1.7 seconds, making it one of the fastest injection blow moulding machines in the industry.

Jomar’s engineers have expanded the TechnoDrive 65’s capabilities by adding a more robust plastifier motor, high-pressure valves and built-in nozzle heaters to aid PET processing.

Jomar President Carlos Castro said: “The TechnoDrive 65 PET further demonstrates the versatility of the Jomar machines. Jomar machines can handle engineering resins and a wide range of PET grades such as PETE or PETG. We’re giving our customers the opportunity to bid for a variety of projects from cosmetic jars in PET to packers in HDPE, with the same machine.”

The TechnoDrive 65 PET can mould a variety of shapes and sizes in PET. One limitation, however, is rooted in the nature of injection blow moulding. Unlike injection stretch blow machines, an IBM machine does not mechanically extend its core rods, which provides biaxial orientation and allows for extremely thin walls such as those found in water or soda bottles.

The average wall thickness for a TechnoDrive 65 PET bottle in PET is 1mm, so it is more inclined to mould jars, vials and bottles for the pharmaceutical or cosmetic industries.

All PET projects for the TechnoDrive 65 PET would be accepted as a turnkey project where Jomar is building both the machine and mould. This allows Jomar to tailor the equipment to provide the largest processing window and ensure the project’s overall success.

  polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

KHS will present a new PET concept at k2019 based on the juice bottle as an example. It combines individual environmentally friendly packaging solutions in one container and thereby supports the theory of circular economy.

The system provider shows how efficiency and sustainability go hand in hand by offering further line-compatible container solutions in addition to its Bottles & Shapes service offering. With these technologies, KHS provides support in the conversion to an environmentally friendly and resource-conserving packaging portfolio.

Kai Acker, CEO of KHS, said: "We already offer forward-looking concepts today. Our extensive PET portfolio covers the entire value chain, ranging from innovative bottle design to energy and resource-efficient production processes. We provide support for conversion to environmentally friendly and resource-conserving types of packaging. Our portfolio offers concrete solutions for further promoting the concept of sustainability. Against the backdrop of the company group's overall positive business development for KHS during the first half of this year, we are focusing on consistently developing our products, processes and solutions."

A new PET bottle will be presented for the first time at K 2019. The company combines various disciplines of its extensive knowhow to create a unique container. With this concept, KHS is consistently pursuing its strategy of reduction, recycling and reuse, and has thereby agreed a partnership with an environmental service provider.

Compared to conventional PET containers, the system provider's new approach ensures a high level of product protection and a longer shelf life. Completely recyclable and conserve on additional resources.

With the Bottles & Shapes programme, KHS is also furthering its developments along the entire production chain.

  polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

KraussMaffei will continue its technological pioneering in the preparation and reuse of recycled plastics at this year's k trade fair .

Packaging products fulfil their purposes quickly, so KraussMaffei has asked why can they not be used as raw materials for new high-tech articles in the automotive industry? At K 2019, the company will be demonstrating how a bucket can become a premium panel of an A-pillar with an overmoulded fabric surface. A ZE 28 BluePower twin-screw extruder makes this possible by upcycling the material.

Under the keyword of the circular economy, KraussMaffei is linking its extrusion, injection moulding machinery and digital and service solutions business units at the trade fair.

KraussMaffei as an enabler

Edelweiss Compounding is intended to make on-site compounding more attractive to recycling companies and plastics manufacturers. Matthias Sieverding, President of the Extrusion Technology Segment at KraussMaffei, said: "We view ourselves as enablers of the circular economy for our customers so that they can be successful as part of this economy. KraussMaffei is aware of its responsibility and, as one of the world market leaders, wants to occupy a leading role in the areas of recycling, upcycling and recompounding of plastics."

Both in extrusion and injection moulding, the third participating KraussMaffei business unit at the K trade show, Digital Service & Solutions, will be showcasing products such as APC Plus (Adaptive Process Control) and DataXplorer.

APC Plus monitors the injection moulding process and adapts it to balance interference factors such as fluctuations between batches and in climate. In injection moulding, this is done via the internal material database and the online analysis of the melt viscosity, as well as by adjusting the holding pressure changeover point and level, even within the same cycle. In extrusion, the melt temperature, pressure and screw speed are recorded. 

The DataXplorer makes a detailed view of the depth of the process possible because it is capable of storing up to 500 signals every five milliseconds. 

All data resulting from this is routed to the new data system, which is being introduced at K 2019.

Digital services help ensure the quality of production and products, prevent rejects, and thus also contribute to resource-conserving production. 

 KraussMaffei is enhancing its joint effort with partners and customers to develop new business units regarding the reuse of plastics.

polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

 FKuR will be showcasing its expanded portfolio of bio-based thermoplastics for a growing range of applications including packaging, consumer products, sporting goods and technical parts at K 2019.

Current additions to the portfolio include two glass-reinforced grades within the Bio-Flex and Terralene product family, both with high rigidity, and three Terraprene TPE grades, one of which is characterised by its high bio-content, while the other two are oil-free. 

Carmen Michels, Member of the Executive Board of FKuR, said: "At K 2019 we present ourselves as one of the suppliers with the world's broadest portfolios of biodegradable and bio-based plastics, for all processing methods from injection moulding, profile and film extrusion, blow moulding and thermoforming, right through to 3D printing.

“The addition of glass fibre-reinforced bioplastics and oil-free and bio-based TPE grades to our portfolio now opens up additional market segments for these sustainable materials, especially in the broad range of technical applications.”

Visitors to the FKuR booth are promised a wealth of information about biopolymers and their applications, and a 350ml reusable cup filled with freshly brewed coffee, for which dom Polymer-Technik uses plastics from the FKuR portfolio.

The cup and its lid are made from bio-based PE compound Terralene HD 4527, and the cover flap is made fropm bio-based Green HDPE SHA 7260 from ‘I'm green’ PE grades from Braskem. The cuff is made from Terraprene SI 601, a grade of partially bio-based TPE compounds from FKuR.

This practical giveaway demonstrates how disposables can be replaced with reusable products, and how their advantages can be further enhanced by the choice of sustainable materials.

polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

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 excellent surface characteristics, even in highly glass-filled formulations, according to Teknor Apex, who will introduce the compounds at K 2019.

The Creamid P series is the newest product family of higher performance specialty polyamide compounds designed by Teknor Apex for structural components in metal replacement applications. The compounds are based on advanced formulation technology that Teknor Apex can be applied to lower the moisture uptake of a broad range of polyamide 6- and 6/66-based compounds. These include grades with various types and loadings of reinforcements or fillers, as well as impact-modified toughened grades and other specialty compounds. Creamid P Series compounds can further employ an advanced heat stabilisation system that extends continuous use temperature.

At K 2019 the company will introduce the first two Creamid P compounds with 30 per cent and 50 per cent glass fibre content. Dry as moulded, these compounds exhibit about 80 per cent reduction in water uptake after 24 hours as compared to standard PA 6, and about 30% per cent lower upon saturation.

In the conditioned state these new grades, Creamid P2H7G6 and Creamid P3H2G10, exhibit higher tensile elastic modulus and strength at break.   

Markus Krippner, Director of New Business Development ETP, said: “The improved tensile properties of Creamid P compounds enable them to meet the demands of certain structural applications where, traditionally, PA 6 compounds did not perform due to high moisture uptake. In some cases, they may provide a practical alternative to polyamide 66 compounds as well.”

In spiral flow tests, the new compounds exhibit higher flow than comparable grades of standard PA 6 yet similar levels of mould shrinkage, enabling them to be processed with existing equipment and tooling. 

Creamid P compounds are available globally. Several standard grades are available, but as a custom compounder, Teknor Apex works closely with each client to develop a material that meets their specific end-use requirements.

Hall 6, Booth C58-01

polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

International chemicals distributor Nordmann will be exhibiting at the upcoming K fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, alongside partners: Francesco Franceschetti Elastomeri (FFE), Honeywell, Kraton, Nyacol and PMC.

For Nordmann, this year’s fair will mean focusing on raw materials that meet the market’s high demand for sustainability in plastics.

Jost E. Laumeyer, Global Sales Director Plastics, said: “At Nordmann, we believe in the sensible and sustainable use of plastic products. For us, it’s important to remember that plastics are more than just raw materials; they are recyclable materials.”

Appearing at the Düsseldorf trade fair with some of its key partners underscores Nordmann’s aim to continue making technical and commercial expertise internationally visible. Nordmann sees potential for growth in continuing to develop as a solutions provider, taking an active role in supporting the complex projects of its business partners and getting their products established on the market. “This calls for trust and close partnerships, and at Nordmann we are continuously investing in both,” added Laumeyer.

As a leading international distributor, Nordmann lives out its brand values of ‘Visible’, ‘International’ and ‘Partnership’ through close co-operation with suppliers and customers. As a result, the company has an extensive international network and a wide-ranging product portfolio, which has recently been expanded and speaks for the Nordmann strategy of growing with its partners and remaining open to further diversification.

For Nordmann, K provides an ideal platform upon which to introduce its team and its partners as solutions providers in chemical distribution to a large and international audience.

  polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

At k 2019 Solvay will reveal developments in thermoplastic composites, a lightweighting material that enhances the group’s sustainable mobility objectives and enables resource-efficient solutions for customers in aerospace, automotive, and oil and gas.

 

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At K 2019, Starlinger & Co. Gmbh is presenting a closed loop system for big bags made from woven polypropylene . The sustainable concept ‘circular packaging’ will be Starlinger’s main theme at K 2019 as well as at the Starlinger Open House in Weissenbach, Austria.

Worldwide, more than 380 million four-loop big bags are sold every year, which equates to an annual recycling potential of around 800,000 tonnes of material.

Starlinger will be introducing K show visitors to an elaborate concept for a closed loop for big bags. A closed loop has the advantage that production occurs within a quality assurance system, and the materials used are documented in a ‘material passport’. In co-operation with Louis Blockx and LC Packaging, Starlinger has simulated this loop and produced new big bags from fabric with high rPP content.

Samples are available at K show and prove that Starlinger rPP big bags show the same quality as big bags made from virgin material in terms of tensile strength, weight, and safety.

polymer & packaging news agency - www.ppna.ir

At the upcoming K 2019 show Victrex, a world-leader in high-performance polymer solutions, will be showcasing its recent solutions under the theme ‘The Element of Invention’.

Complementing the many pioneering innovations that followed the invention of PEEK thermoplastic over 40 years ago, the VICTREX PEEK and PAEK polymer-based portfolio on display will include innovative food grade, additive manufacturing, composite, film and gear solutions.

Ranging across leading industrial sectors, these products and the knowhow of Victrex contribute to solving material limitations in advanced applications, often replacing metals.

Victrex CEO Jakob Sigurdsson said: “The invention of PEEK polymer has clearly had a very positive impact across industries and, in fact, across the globe. We could never have imagined the continuous stream of innovation this high-performing versatile polymer would make possible. Visitors to the Victrex K 2019 show stand can look forward to pioneering new grades as well as exciting progress on forms and parts in critical applications where high-performance polymers deliver a strong advantage in the development of new markets.”

Victrex will also showcase new PAEK materials, including products developed for use in 3D printing: filament for filament fusion  (FF) or fine powder for laser sintering (LS). These new solutions deliver better results with improved mechanical properties in printed parts and easier printing than past attempts.

To speed the availability of 3D-printed PAEK parts, Victrex is investing in these new materials optimised for AM and pairing them with new machine technology in order to create integrated solutions.

The company is working directly with key industry partners and customers to build an AM PAEK eco-system.