The Reifenhäuser Group and Russia’s largest integrated petrochemicals producer Sibur extended their cooperation and joined forces in new projects aimed at polymer processors. Sibur experts attend the Reifenhäuser Open House on October 17 and 22 at the Troisdorf headquarters during K 2019. At its Technology Center, Reifenhäuser will demonstrate seven extrusion lines – six of which are completely new.
In May, Reifenhäuser and Sibur signed a cooperation agreement to develop new polymer products at Sibur’s PolyLab center, Russia's first R&D center for the development and testing of polymer products. Reifenhäuser will use the products developed at PolyLab based on Sibur's polymers as demonstration projects for its potential customers. Moreover, the two companies will use the PolyLab to launch custom solutions for the production of polymer sheet, film, and nonwoven materials for mutual customers.
Reifenhäuser Cast Sheet Coating supplied two extrusion lines and Reifenhäuser Blown Film Polyrema delivered a 3-layer blown film line for PolyLab. Sibur employs all three lines for R&D purposes to test new developments and film recipes.
The cast film line, a type MIDEX 5–60/120/60–2000, is designed to produce CPP film, LDPE film, and stretch film. Its particular features include Reifenhäuser extruders that process all polymers without changing screws and the MIDEX-RA rotary arm winder that is adapted also to processing stretch and PET film. Sibur uses the second line, a type MIREX-MT-H 1-80-0900 sheet line, to process polypropylene film which is then processed into cups and trays on a thermoformer. The core of this line is the polishingstack of the MIRX-MT-H series. It has vertical polishing rolls and mechatronic nip adjustment. The two lines are equipped for the production of PET film.
New raw materials and film recipes go hand in hand with the current debate on sustainability and the Circular Economy. Ulrich Reifenhäuser, CSO of the Reifenhäuser Group, emphasized that the absolute decisive factor here is the practical handling of plastics. “Our industry is called upon to incorporate plastics into the Circular Economy. We bear co-responsibility for setting up collection systems to recycle plastic waste, minimize production waste, and make advances in new application fields, such as lightweight construction in the automotive industry. This is one of the reasons we are particularly delighted in the cooperation with Sibur. They will test new raw materials developments at their ultra-modern R&D center and in the future, they will launch products that are recyclable and reusable,” he said.
