Polymer fibers with graphene nanotubes make it possible to heat hard-to-reach, complex-shaped items

•  Polymer fibers with graphene nanotubes combine the flexibility of synthetic fiber with very high electrical conductivity. The nanotubes can be added into melted polypropylene or polyamide to provide electrical conductivity.
• An ultrafine conductive fiber is used for fabric or mesh that can then be integrated into a polymer system.
• Such electrically conductive heating fibers are required in the medical, agricultural, construction, oil and gas, textile, automotive, and aerospace industries.

  From the warming of seating to the heating of industrial and living areas, from the heating of cars’ interior parts to the de-icing of roofs—all these challenges require flexible heating elements that allow temperature control. AMPERETEX has developed an ultrafine polymer fiber with OCSiAl’s TUBALL graphene nanotubes, also known as single-wall carbon nanotubes. “A current equivalent to an ordinary incandescent lamp with a power of 75 W is enough to heat polymer material with a mesh made from such a fiber with nanotubes. The solution is safe for people—the voltage of clothing made of fabric with nanotubes is only 5 V,” said Pavel Pogrebnyakov, Founder and CEO of AMPERETEX.

  “Graphene nanotubes are one of the highest performing conductors on Earth. At the same time, unlike other carbon additives, they are very flexible. Their shape is similar to human hair, but 50,000 times thinner. Due to their unique properties, the dosage of graphene nanotubes required to modify polymer fibers can be so low that it doesn’t affect filament production or characteristics,” said Dr. Christian Maus, Development and Support Leader for Thermoplastics at OCSiAl Group. The graphene nanotubes are available as concentrates that can be added into melted polypropylene or polyamide, for example.

  Heating mesh made of innovative fibers is integrated into flexible material or complex-shaped composite elements. Laboratory tests showed fiber durability of 30,000 cycles, which is compatible with 30-year service life. Electrically conductive heating meshes have successfully passed testing in various projects, among which are an anti-icing roof and a bus stop: an anti-slip coating with integrated AMPERETEX heating elements and embedded automatic heating sensors.

  “The market for the application of such fibers is huge. This includes the medical, agricultural, construction, oil and gas, automotive, and aerospace industries. Currently, we have entered the production of synthetic heating fabrics at industrial-scale volumes. This year, we plan to release a line of products for heating in previously unavailable areas. We are trying to reduce energy consumption and create solutions for the B2B sector in response to a specific request. The next step is the usage of these elements for heating of hard-to-reach objects and products with complex geometric configurations,” noted Pavel Pogrebnyakov.

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Flexibility is key to stability

PET Technologies has recently brought to the market a new generation of flexible PET stretch blow molding
machines APF-Max. Its output varies between 3000 and 14 000 bph, while the bottle volume is between 0.1
and 6 L. The product range includes 6 basic models and 5 extra. First customers have already highlighted its
features.

User-friendly concept and innovative design. Streamline forms an alternative coloring, modular concept, and controller that is easy to operate. Worth highlighting that all the communications are connected via the top of the machine. The electric cabinet is on the backside. The machine is divided into 2 parts to transport it easily by land or by sea.

APF-Max blow molder is equipped with B&R PLC (since 2017, B& R is part of the ABB group). The program, as
well the manuals for the machine, are available in languages depending on the customer’s location.
A central lubrication system makes machine maintenance easier Flexibility. APF-Max series has 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-,6-, 8-cavities configurations. The notion of “flexibility” in terms of APF -Max series by PET Technologies stands for:

• Wide range of preform neck standards. With the same machine, you can produce both 100 ml bottles
  for sanitizers, for example, and 1 L wide neck jars for coffee.
• Increase of output of the blow molder you already have. You can buy a 4-cavity model with an output of 7000 bph and then reach 14000 bph! It is enough to install additional cavities make and make respective
  changes in the heater.
• Wide range of bottle formats, from 100 ml up to 6 L. Let’s see how it works with model APF-Max 5! To
  produce up to 2 L bottles, the machine has 5 cavities. When you decide to switch to a 1-gallon bottle, the
  machine is readjusted for 3 cavities
• Hot fill option: it is applicable to the whole APF-Max series and is an additional advantage to the features
  described above.

Molds quick change. APF-Max blow molder flexibility keeps pace with a quick-change system. The equipment
concept allows using many mold sets for a wide range of PET bottles with minimum change over time. Blow
mold is equipped with non-spill quick-change connections and is replaced in one piece.

Thus, 15 minutes are enough to change the blow mold and start to produce another bottle format. 108
mandrels in the heater of 8-cavity blow molder you can change in just 4 minutes. All-electric configuration. Servo drives provide more precise positioning together with high speed, stable heater conveyor speed, and blowing process. The stretching rod position is automatically controlled depending on the bottle height when you switch from one bottle format to another. Preblow is also controlled via PLC.

NIR heating and low total installed power. APF-Max blow molder is equipped with the special short-wave
near-infrared heating system (NIR). It is not a common method for the PET blow molding market, though
preform heating is more efficient whilst fewer kilowatts are consumed. The advantages of the NIR heating system
for PET bottles production:

• Uniform temperature distribution between the inner and outer parts of preform wall
• Reduced heating time
• Compact heater size
• Reduced energy consumption of blow molder.

Ceramic reflectors are used to better preform heating and to reduce energy consumption. Automatic
temperature regulation is on the top of the story. Universal and operator-friendly, economic, and flexible. These are only a few attributes to characterize the new generation of PET stretch blow molders APF-Max.

The machine has high output while its dimensions are more compact. It is equipped with a double air recovery system to cover the demand of low pressure and pressure for preblow. It explains why our customers like Avida (Russia) and Kazan milk plant have already installed 3 blow molders APF-Max, though it was launched to the market not long ago.

UBQ Materials partners with Resirene to create the first worldwide Polystyrene with UBQ

 UBQ Materials, a cleantech developer of advanced materials made from waste, today announced a partnership with Resirene, the largest Polystyrene resin producer in Mexico, to produce the first worldwide circular grade high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) compound with UBQ inside, which will make it the most sustainable in the world.

Resirene, a large polymers producer, serves numerous market segments, including polymer applications for food & beverage, healthcare, and medical products, electronics, construction, and advertising, among others. The company has made significant R&D and production investments as it foresees increased demand for sustainable products. UBQ will be used in higher-value items ranging from multi-use razor handles to signage.

“The plastic-free movement, including government regulations banning products such as single-use straws and plastic bags, has propelled the polystyrene market to adapt and evolve. There is now a continuum of sustainability within polystyrenes, ranging from starch-containing products to those made with recycled polystyrene,” said Sergio Paredes Castañeda, CEO of Resirene.

“We have reached a new level in terms of reducing our product’s environmental impact with UBQ inside, thereby allowing our customers to jointly achieve sustainable loans, enabling the polystyrene industry to strive as a whole towards circular economies,” the executive mentioned.

UBQ Materials converts unsorted household and municipal landfill-destined waste into UBQ, a climate-positive, cost-competitive replacement for plastic. UBQ  is a bio-based drop-in material that can be incorporated into standard manufacturing processes without additional machinery or materials. The production of UBQ decreases the landfilling of waste, preventing methane emissions and curtailing the leakage of toxic substances into the soil.

“The ‘lifecycle’ of products is a misnomer – until now, products were manufactured, used, and discarded – not a cycle at all, but rather a straight line. Our goal is to close the loop on the production-to-waste process and create a circular economy that takes the seemingly endless accumulation of waste and converts it into a resource,” said Albert Douer, Chairman and co-CEO of UBQ Materials. “This partnership with Resirene allows us to incorporate our climate-positive thermoplastic into various products, offsetting emissions and offering a viable end-of-life solution for waste.”

After extensive R&D trials and testing to develop the new material with UBQ, Resirene has already started to sample the new material with clients. Initial results suggest that customers find the added environmental value meaningful, even when one accounts for the variable of product costs.

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SONGWON announces departure of its Leader Group Commercial

Songwon Industrial Co., Ltd. today announced that Elena Scaltritti, Leader Group Commercial, will be leaving the organization to pursue another professional opportunity outside the SONGWON Group.

An Executive Committee member since April 2019, Ms. Scaltritti has held various key positions within the company since joining SONGWON in 2011, contributing to the overall success of SONGWON. She will continue to serve in her most recent positions as Leader Group Commercial and Chief Sustainability Officer at SONGWON; her successor will be announced at a later date.

The Board of Directors and the Executive Committee regret her decision to leave SONGWON and wish her the very best in all her future endeavors.

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Covestro receives ISCC Plus certification for its Leverkusen and Dormagen sites

Covestro has now received the internationally recognized ISCC Plus mass balance certification for its Leverkusen and Dormagen sites. Together with the Krefeld-Uerdingen site, which was already certified a year ago, the company can now supply its customers with large product volumes from renewable attributed raw materials from all three Lower Rhine sites in Germany.

These are selected polycarbonates, components for polyurethane (PU) rigid and flexible foams, PU coating and adhesive raw materials, thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs), and specialty films. They are characterized by equally good quality and properties as their fossil-based counterparts.

“I am very pleased that we can now offer our customers even more certified mass-balanced products and thus help them even better to achieve their sustainability goals and drive the transition to a circular economy,” says Sucheta Govil, Chief Commercial Officer of Covestro. “In doing so, we are also supporting the use of alternative raw materials and reducing CO2 emissions along the value chains.”

Dr. Klaus Schäfer, Chief Technology Officer at Covestro, adds, “The raw materials we use for these products meet the high sustainability requirements of the ISCC Plus standard all the way back through the supply chain. That’s why we want to make greater use of alternative raw materials such as these renewably attributed precursors in our production. In addition to the three German sites, also our plants in Antwerp and Shanghai are already ISCC Plus certified, with more sites to follow.”

In the mass balance approach, bio-based or recycled raw materials – in this case, reprocessed residual materials – are fed in at an early stage of raw material extraction and mathematically attributed to the finished products. This
saves fossil raw materials and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, while the quality of the mass-balanced products remains the same compared to purely fossil-based ones. Manufacturers can continue to use their proven formulations, equipment, and processes.

ISCC (“International Sustainability and Carbon Certification”) is an internationally recognized system for sustainability certification of biomass and bioenergy, among others. The standard covers all stages of the value chain and is widely used worldwide. ISCC Plus includes further certification options for technical chemical applications, among others, including plastics from biomass.

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BB Engineering GmbH delivers melt filter for PET recycling system to Indorama Polyester Industries

2021 saw BB Engineering GmbH (Germany) deliver a melt filter for recycling PET flakes to polyester manufacturer Indorama Polyester Industries (Thailand). Indorama will be using the type NSF38 filter in its recently assembled recycling system in order to produce rPET granulate from flake PET bottle waste.

The NSF38 filter enables continual filtering – in other words, the system switches from one filter to the other during the process without the need for conversion shut-downs. The filter allows the processing of consumer waste – for example, in the form of shredded PET bottles – into new, high-quality rPET granulate. This granulate is subsequently processed into manmade fibers in spinning systems.

The NSF38 is a switchable filter with a filter surface area of approx. 16 m2 on each side, with throughputs of between 1,000 and 1,900 kg/h. The filter inserts each contain 19 pleated filter candles (60 x 1,000mm Ø). The filter medium comprises a sintered metal fiber nonwoven with a filtration fineness of 25 μm. This ensures that the melt remains free of contaminants and gel particles, which in turn enables the production of high-quality end products.

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Arburg presents precise high-speed product and digitalization solution

By postponing the Industry Fair until 5-8 April 2022, the fair in Celje, Slovenia, says it expects a significant increase in interest from trade visitors from all over south-eastern Europe after a break of almost two years due to the pandemic. The Industry Fair has established itself as the largest and most important trade fair in the fields of mechanical engineering and mould construction, welding and cutting, materials and advanced technologies, robotics, and automation. Arburg will be represented with the hybrid high-performance Hidrive series in Hall K (Stand 31). An Allrounder 520 H produces 32 pipette tips in a cycle time of around six seconds.

Steffen Eppler, Divisional Manager Sales Europe, appreciates the importance of Celje as a gateway to south-eastern Europe: “The entire region benefits from pioneering European companies in the field of injection moulding, which continue to transfer technology to the respective countries. And for these markets, we offer a comprehensive product range.” More than 700 exhibitors from up to 30 countries will be attending, as well as visitors from around 15 countries.

“With our Allrounders and the short cycle times that can be achieved with them, we have our eye on the needs of producers in the medical technology field in particular, but also of component manufacturers, for example, in the automotive and household appliance sectors. Accordingly, we are also particularly well-positioned in applications where extremely precise injection moulding, excellent technical support, and aftersales expertise are required.”

High-speed product: 19,200 moulded parts per hour

At the Industry Fair 2022, a hybrid Allrounder 520 H with a clamping force of 1,500 kN will demonstrate the efficient, high-quality production of pipette tips from PP. The hybrid high-performance machines of the Hidrive series are already optimized for rapid series production as standard and are thus also excellently suited for bulk items such as those used in the medical technology sector. The Allrounders combine electric speed and precision on the clamping side with hydraulic power and dynamics during the injection.

The exhibit is equipped with a 32-cavity mould from Zahoransky, a long-standing Arburg customer, and is prepared for use in clean rooms. The cycle time is around six seconds, which corresponds to a throughput of approximately 19,200 moulded parts per hour.

The trade fair exhibit is thus perfectly geared to the needs of medical technology – speed, precision, and high performance. “Especially in the current times, personal care, and the medical and pharmaceutical industries are of particular interest, and not only to us,” Eppler says, summarising the significance of the high-performance application on display.

Digitalization: arburgXworld customer portal demonstration

At the Arburg stand, visitors to the Industry Fair will see for themselves how digitalization can succeed in modern injection moulding companies. A demo version of the “arburgXworld” customer portal will be on hand for live testing. Among other things, up-to-date online information on the machine fleet can be accessed from anywhere, whether at the workplace or on the move.

Faults can be remedied around the clock using various apps. And spare parts can also be conveniently ordered directly online 24/7. In addition, calculation tools and knowledge bases are available in various packages for individual compilation. This makes work as easy as possible in many areas of the company.

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