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Does your PE or PP resin have the exact material properties you want?
If you’re manufacturing a specialty film, bottle, foam, or other plastic product, the standard off-the-shelf grades offered by the big resin manufacturers don’t always meet your needs.
It’s like when you go to buy a new suit. Often, something off the rack fits you just fine. But, sometimes, they don’t have your size or it doesn’t fit right.
What if you could get a tailored solution?
For example, you might need a certain melt index for your product or maybe you need a resin with better properties than the standard grade. In many cases, there is a way you can tailor a standard resin to give you the properties you want and have it work well in your equipment.
How’s that possible? By using electron beam processing.
Let’s look at how one company is using electron beam processing to solve a problem. They have an application that requires a low melt flow but the specialty resin is expensive, and its availability is limited. They found that they can start with a low-cost grade of polyethylene then reduce the melt index by using an electron beam to achieve the exact melt flow they want for their application and for their equipment.
In some cases, a new material can be created that’s unattainable from the resin manufacturers.
Here’s another example using polypropylene. A company needs a higher melt index than what they can get from a standard grade. They can start with a standard grade and then have it electron beamed to get the high melt flow they need.
Millions of pounds of bulk resins are regularly processed using e-beam for just such applications. The combined cost of the starting material and the e-beam step can be below the cost of the expensive specialty resins.
You may not have heard of the electron beam process because manufacturers often consider this step as their trade secret.
Here’s how it works.
A shower of fast electrons strikes the product as it’s conveyed through the beam. The long-chain molecules of the polymer are ionized by the fast electrons. This creates an improved branched polymer.
Instead of a high-cost, hard-to-get low density polyethylene, what if you start with a low-cost linear low density polyethylene? When the linear low is electron beamed, you get the melt strength you need for foaming or thermoforming. And you get the higher temperature rating inherent in linear low.
E-BEAM Services makes it simple and straightforward for you to use this tool. E-BEAM helps you do the experimental work to determine what works best in your process. Once you demonstrate success in your plant, E-BEAM can produce your specialty resin in any quantity you require, from gaylords to multiple bulk hopper trucks or even railcar quantities.
E-BEAM will work with you to get the best logistics. E-BEAM operates a network of powerful electron beam accelerators, with cost-effective plant utilization and a high level of processing efficiency.
Whichever manufacturing process you’re using, you can get a competitive advantage with electron beam.
So, how do you get started?
You can contact one of E-BEAM’s friendly tech services representatives to explore your problem or opportunity.
For more than 20 years, E-BEAM has been processing millions of pounds per year of bulk resins. E-BEAM makes it simple and straightforward for you to create a tailored specialty resin, and it becomes your trade secret. Our motto is: “Our customers make great products.”
