Extrusion International 3-2021

45 Extrusion International 3/2021 “Physical foaming offers a signi fi cant material saving po- tentials for extrusion processes,” says Roald de Bruijne, Sales Manager at MEAF. “PROMIX are setting new stan- dards in the production of microcellular foam products with a very homogeneous cell structure and unprece- dented process stability, while using eco-friendly CO 2 and N 2 blowing agents. Depending on the application, den- sity reductions of 5 to more than 30 % can be achieved. The resulting material saving will not only bene fi t the plastic processors, but also their customers and the envi- ronment.” “When opting for a new type of raw material, material mixture or a new machine supplier, it is always helpful to be able run a test before deciding the best way for- ward,” adds Roald. “It is like taking a test drive when you are looking to buy a new car. With MEAF’s new in-house test & demonstration line, we provide this capability to our customers. Our extrusion line has been designed and build to accommodate the latest technologies, such as physical foaming, and a wide variety of materials for our customers’ packaging needs, be it PET, PE, GPPS, PS, PP, PLA or biodegradable grades.” For any sheet or fi lm extrusion, the largest contribution to the production costs are by far raw materials, often surpassing 70 % of the total production expenses, usually followed by energy consumption. Therefor every manu- facturer is looking to reduce its overall production costs by reducing the raw material expenses. One approach is to increase the amount of recycled material, regrind skeletal waste or bottle- fl akes in the case of PET fi lm extrusion, or the utilisation of fi ller components such as CaCO 3 . “To reduce the overall raw material costs further, even more needs to be done,” explains Roald. “This is where MEAF’s sheet extrusion line in combination with PROMIX physical foaming comes in. Not only will it typically reduce the cost of plastic raw material by 20% compared to con- ventional packaging, the overall weight reduction of 10 to 30% has further bene fi ts, as some countries use this a basis for packaging taxes. In addition packaging can be made 100% recyclable, while also allowing the utilization of recycled raw material, also foamed.” Themicro foamprocess offers excellent rigidity, insulation and insensitivity to scratch marks, and results in the low- est energy consumption per kg in the industry. With the set up processors can work with multiple types of materi- als in one extruder, such as PP, PS, PET, PE, GPPS and PLA. Both foamed and non-foamed sheets can be produced on the same line, even allowing for multilayer A/B/A sheet, where the A-layer is a solid non-foamed layer, and the B- layer is of a foamed material. MEAF Machines B.V. Industrieweg 10, 4401 LB Yerseke, The Netherlands www.meaf.com Physical Foaming to In-House Extruder Test Line Added MEAF Machines has added a PROMIX physical foaming installation to its in-house extruder test and demonstration line. Sincemid-May this allows customers to get hands-on experience with this material saving equipment while using their own polymer grades in the process. The potential savings from the PROMIX equipment come in addition to the bene fi ts of theMEAF extruders, that are already among the best for energy ef fi ciency and economy EXTRUSION TECHNOLOGIES MEAF Machines has added a PROMIX physical foaming installation to its in-house extruder test and demonstration line. As of mid-May this will allow customers to get hands-on experience with this material saving equipment while using their own polymer grades in the process (Source: MEAF) The micro foamprocess offers excellent rigidity, insulation and insensitivity to scratchmarks, and results in the lowest energy consumption per kg in the industry (Source: MEAF)