There won't be many blown-film lines running, but there is still much in the way of innovation going on in extrusion and compounding.

In blown film, equipment and material suppliers have come together to push five-layer technology into non-barrier applications previously held by three-layer films.

In most segments of extrusion technology, the word at K 2010 is more.

Extrusion machinery at the June NPE show in Chicago showed inventive ways to get more out of your floorspace and materials.

This NPE show won’t have a lot of extruders on the floor, either running or static. Instead, look for videos and announcements of new technology. You will also find lots of ingenious peripheral devices to improve output and quality and save resin. Some will do all three, and cost less into the bargain.

Injection MoldingHybrid Press Has Electric ClampNew injection presses that combine servo-electric and hydraulic movements to achieve high performance with energy efficiency will be discussed by Arburg Inc., Newington, Conn.

Dramatic production demonstrations of cast and blown film set throughput records on the show floor in Dusseldorf.

Twenty-fi ve permanent-magnet synchronous torque motors from Siemens power a nine-layer blown film line being built by Macchi in Italy for a customer in Eastern Europe. (Macchi North America recently moved from Guelph, Ont., to Gainesville, Ga.) The new "syntorque" motors are said to offer high torque plus energy savings.

NPE was full of new equipment and systems for recapturing valuable in-plant scrap and post-consumer/post-industrial plastic waste. Recovery of PET packaging and film or fiber waste were particular areas of emphasis, as were lots of new granulators, from the world’s biggest to micro-size and even ‘clean-room’ models.

The new factor in extrusion machinery at this NPE is the influx of Asian suppliers.

At the Milan Plast show in February, Macchi SpA of Italy ran a coex blown film line driven entirely by energy-efficient gearless motors-probably a world first.

Eight years after nine-layer blown films were first introduced, only a handful of processors have mastered the challenges of making them. Machine suppliers are now setting up lab lines that could make entry easier.

The show was packed with new equipment for pipe and profile, including extruders re­designed for higher outputs and/or lower cost, plus new ways to adjust die and calibrator diameters or switch dies and calibrators more quickly.