Compounding with 50% glass microspheres.Coperion Werner & Pfleiderer in Germany (U.S. office in Ramsey, N.J.) has applied for a patent on a process for compounding and direct extrusion of plastic filled with hollow microspheres. The compound is a heat-insulating syntactic foam Syntactic foams are composite materials synthesized by filling a metal, polymer or ceramic matrix with hollow particles called microballoons. The presence of hollow particles results in lower density, higher strength, a lower thermal expansion coefficient, and, in some cases, radar containing 50% by volume (30% by weight) Scotchlite glass microspheres from 3M Co. It forms one of eight layers in steel/PP composite pipe for undersea oil transport. The trick is not to crush the spheres during mixing. Coperion says its ZSK ZSK Zoological Society of Korea MegaVolume kneader knead tr.v. knead·ed, knead·ing, kneads 1. To mix and work into a uniform mass, as by folding, pressing, and stretching with the hands: kneading dough. 2. , which has extra-high free volume in the screw, can blend the spheres into melted PP with minimal breakage. Microspheres are added halfway down the barrel with a twin-screw side feeder. The high-volume screw folds more air into the melt, so the machine has a special degassing degassing (dēgas´ing), adj related to degasification, the process by which dissolved gas is removed from water or other liquid solutions. vent to keep melt from escaping. The pipe was developed for Bredero Shaw Norway AS in Orkanger, Norway. It includes both conventional and syntactic foams Syntactic foams are composite materials synthesized by filling hollow particles (called microballoons) in metals, polymers or ceramics. Presence of hollow particles provides low density to these materials. separated by a solid PP layer, as well as a solid PP outer skin and adhesively modified PP next to the steel inner core. The entire processing line fits inside two air-conditioned, 40-ft shipping containers for mobile production of pipe on the Alabama Gulf Coast. The two containers can be installed side by side or on top of each other and need only a foundation pad and utility hook-ups. The project will be presented at the SPE SPE - Software Practice and Experience ANTEC meeting in Charlotte, N.C., this month. Tel: (201) 327-6300 * PTDirect: 789LZ [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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