Comparative Studies on Water versus Air-Quench Blown Film Systems Karen Xiao Brampton Engineering Inc. FlexPackCon Feb 27 – March 2, 2011 Houston, Texas

Outline  Introduction to water-quench technology (AquaFrost™)  Advantages of water-quench technology  Process parameters  Experimental  Two high-barrier structures studied  Properties investigated – haze, gloss, OTR and WVTR  Conclusions  Acknowledgement

Water-Quench System (AquaFrost™) Commercial scale water-quench proprietary technology first introduced by BE in the marketplace Film is extruded downward and quenched by using water to introduce different morphology into the film structure

Water-Quench System (Cont’d) Extruders/Die Winders

Passes through collapsing frame and then to vertical oscillating haul-off Freezes as it passes down through the AquaRing Minimizes time melt spends in crystal-growth temperature range Molten polymer inflates to the desired bubble size as it exits the die

Water-Quenched Technology (Cont’d)

Courtesy of Dr. Walter Goetz, BASF AG, Ludwigshafen, Germany Polyamide Films

Advantages of Water-Quenched Blown Film Improved clarity Improved thermoformability Balanced orientation Reduced curl Reduced Cost – Less expensive materials Process flexibility compared to cast film

Commonly Asked Question How different are the properties such as haze, OTR and WVTR when compared to films made on the conventional blown film systems?

Previous Work 5-layer water-quench film was compared to blown and cast film –PA/tie/PA/tie/PE Properties investigated included: –Haze, gloss, tensile strength, tensile elongation and dart Bicak, P. and Wybenga, W, Comparative Studies of Films, Specialty Plastics Films Conference Proceedings, Zurich, Switzerland (2005)

In

Process Parameters (Current Study) Water Ring Position Water Temperature Annealing Temperature

Structures Investigated Two structures are directly compared by using both AquaFrost™ and air-cooled technologies Structure A –PE/PE/Tie/PA6/EVOH/PA6/tie/PE/PE Structure B –PE/Tie/PA6/EVOH/PA6/tie/PE/tie/PA6

Haze Comparison

Haze Comparison – (Cont’d)

WVTR Comparison

OTR Comparison

OTR vs. Anneal. Temp (at 85/30)

OTR vs. Tank Position (at 65/20)

OTR vs. Water Temp (at 85/30)

Blown vs. Aquafrost™

Conclusion AquaFrost™ process has many distinct advantages when it comes to thermoformability, haze, puncture, etc.. Processors need to be careful when it comes to matching permeability performance to blown film

Acknowledgement DSM Engineering Plastics –Mr. Ted Brink Kuraray America -- EVALCA –Mr. Robert Armstrong

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