In cast film,producers that are interested in increasing output without investing in a new extrusion line are turning to wider and wider dies.At die builder Extrusion Dies Industries(EDI;Chippewa Falls,WI),Technology Manager Sam Iuliano has seen 3.1m dies grow to 4.7m and even 5.3m,driven in part by efforts to have cast polypropylene(GPP)film com-pete with biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP)."Of course,to get the kind of clarity you get from orientation," Iuliano says,"you need to quench the film very rapidly, and the best way to do that is to run the chill roll relatively slow."That involves running the line slower,which as Iuliano points out,"doesn't make the accountants happy,"so film extruders are asking for wider and wider dies, increasing kg/hr without lifting line speed.
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