Blown film extrusion

Blow film extrusion process

Blown film extrusion is the most common process for the production of continuous films that are used primarily for packaging. The first step in the process is to melt the plastic in the extruder, the molten polymer then enters an annular die head and is formed into a tube of plastic material. For multilayer films one extruder per material is required, their melt strands are combined in the die head to produce a tube of plastic with concentric layers.

After exiting the die the film tube, which is still in a plastic state, is pulled upwards by nip rollers. At the same time compressed air is blown into the film tube to achieve the desired film thickness and width. Chilled air is blown on the outside of the tube. Once cooled the film approaches the nip rollers and the bubble of film is gradually flattened into ‘lay-flat’ tubing. The nip rolls transport the film to the in-line slitters and roll winders at the base of the line.

For film blowing, FKuR offers pure biobased Green HD, LD and LLD PE grades from Braskem as well as customized Terralene® PE compounds and biodegradable Bio-Flex® blends developed in-house.

Webinar “Bioplastics for Film Extrusion”

In our webinars, you will benefit from concise knowledge exchange and practical tips. In our online seminar, you will learn what to look out for when processing our bioplastics and how to optimally extrude films. If you wish, you can ask questions at any time, and we also schedule enough time at the end of each webinar to answer your questions. Register now!