LCC Polytar, one of the most important plastics processing companies in the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan, is investing in a KraussMaffei Berstorff system for the production of polyolefin sheets. The system will shortly come on stream in Salavat, the location of the company's head office. Polytar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Russian Gazprom Neftechim Salavat Group, is planning to press ahead with the latest plastics processing technologies in the region.
The complete production line featuring the KraussMaffei Berstorff KME 150- 36 B/V single-screw extruder as the key component has a modular design which permits gradual retrofitting at any time to increase processing flexibility. "We attach maximum priority to a modular line concept with which we can easily manufacture different end products since we can attain an enormous leading edge with a wide range of products", emphasized Alexei Vitaljevitch Nikolayev, Director of Polytar. "We are also totally impressed by the processing engineering expertise of KraussMaffei Berstorff."
The system will initially produce 2.5-meter-wide polyolefin sheets up to 40 millimeters thick. In the next phase the customer can process polystyrene, acrylonitrite butadiene styrene and thin sheets (with a thickness ranging between 0.5 and 2 millimeters).
These thin sheets can be rolled since the system concept ensures quick changeover from stacked sheets to rolls through simple transversal adjustment of the stacking unit and winder at the end of the line. "The processing engineering concept of our 36D single-screw extruder comprising a grooved bush and a degassing unit also means that both compact and chemically foamed sheets can be produced.
Production can also be changed with the aid of a vented screw to polystyrene and acrylonitrite butadiene styrene", said Peter Oswald, Manager of the Sheet Extrusion Product Group at KraussMaffei Berstorff in Munich.
The machines are also characterized by high melt specifications and careful melt preparation; these factors are primarily the main reasons for the excellent product quality. In addition, KraussMaffei Berstorff has many years of application and process experience in integrating downstream injection units and submodules in the overall system concept. In the long term the system can be retrofitted with coextruders to produce multi-layer sheets by using cost-effective materials or recyclates.
Polytar refines the pipe materials produced in the parent group Gazprom Neftechim Salavat into premium quality end products such as films, geotextiles or highly impact-resistant polystyrene sheets, e.g. for the packaging industry, primarily for the domestic market or for sale in CIS states. Around 7,500 tonnes of polymers are processed annually - and the trend is still upwards. Polytar is planning, for example, to extend production capacities, increase the product portfolio to include other extrusion areas and construct a new technology center in Salavat.
