Calcium carbonate and the use of black masterbatch
what is masterbatch
Masterbatches are intermediate products of the polymer industry that are used in order to color and create different properties in the form of granules in combination with the raw materials of each final product.
What kind of substance is calcium carbonate?
Calcium carbonate compound appears as odorless powders or colorless crystals and calcium carbonate is insoluble in water. The extraction process keeps the calcium carbonate very close to its original state of purity.
Precipitated calcium carbonate compound is produced industrially by decomposing limestone into calcium oxide and then reabsorbing it in the next step or as a product of the process that is used to make sodium carbonate. Precipitated calcium carbonate is purer than terrestrial calcium carbonate and has different (and appropriate) handling properties.
The use of calcium carbonate compounds in polyolefins has a significant improvement in productivity
Calcium carbonate compound offers the ability to improve manufacturing efficiency and performance physical properties with specific heat thermal conductivity and thermal expansion properties. Here we cover concepts such as: plastic processing applications including blown films, extrusion coating, sheet extrusion/thermoforming and extrusion blow molding.
The proper selection of calcium carbonate compound in relation to the optimal masterbatch carrier resin is required to achieve the desired productivity improvement. It is a unique choice of calcium carbonate compound and resin that maintains or improves physical properties for these respective applications.
Physicochemical aspects of calcium carbonate composite compounds
one One of the applications of polyolefin is using calcium carbonate to improve productivity and strengthen physical properties, and one of the important features of calcium carbonate that is increased when added to polyamps is thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity of calcium carbonate (2.7 W/m * K) is less than 0.5 compared to neat polyolefin resins.
This increase in thermal conductivity of polyolefins filled with calcium carbonate provides the ability to melt the resin.
Another property of calcium carbonate materials, which is significantly different from the property of polyolefins, is the specific heat. The specific heat of calcium carbonate is (0.9 KJ / Kg * K), while polyolefins are between (k 1.8 and 2.4 KJ / (Kg). The lower specific heat of calcium carbonate means less energy to raise the temperature of the resin.
In the processes of radiant heat transfer, composite resin mixture is slower than the same neat resin. This is especially true in extrusion coating processes.
It is also important to understand the difference in specific gravity or density of calcium carbonate versus polyolefins. The specific gravity of calcium carbonate is 2.7 g/cm3 compared to the general range of 0.90 to 0.96 g/cm3 for most polyamps.
This means that 1 gram of calcium carbonate occupies approximately 1/3 of the volume of 1 gram of polymer. Outputs should be compared by volume, not weight.
When polyolefins are melted, their density increases from 0.960-0.900 to 0.700 g/cm3, significantly compared to calcium carbonate, which increases in a very small volume under polymer melt processing conditions.
Most polyolefin manufacturers use calcium carbonate through masterbatch in their processes. These are typically 70 to 80% by weight of calcium carbonate in a polyolefin carrier resin.
Loadings of up to 35% calcium carbonate in the final product (visitors) have a significant effect on both processing and physical properties. For this reason, use the same carrier resin as the matrix polymer for the concentrate used to make the product. In the case of resins with a melt index (PE) or melt flow rate (PP) of less than 1.0 dg/min, it may not be practical to produce a masterbatch with the same resin and an MI or MFR resin closer to 1.0 may be selected.
The most important productivity improvement in polyampoule blown film programs is as an increase in volume production.
Another benefit of using calcium carbonate
It is possible to make it heavier, as a result, the physical properties of the film are higher
A longer period of time is required between shutdowns and for cleaning
Due to the mild abrasive performance of calcium carbonate particles, for most blown film applications, calcium carbonate (calcium carbonate) from marble is recommended.
Calcium carbonate, calcium treated with stearic acid, is a completely beneficial substance. The size of the particles with an average diameter of 1.4μ.
The ability to achieve an increase in volumetric output by adding calcium carbonate is the result of higher thermal conductivity and volumetric expansion according to temperature. In general, as the calcium carbonate level increases in polyolefin blown film extrusion, a decrease in drive pressure and head pressure is observed by the processor.
Lower drive amps and head pressures allow the processor to increase screw speed to the previous pressure amperage level, resulting in increased extruder power.
Improvements in Resin – The thermal conductivity of the mineral composite results in faster melting and a higher melt density than neat resin, allowing more product to move down the screw. Therefore, the volume output is higher.
As the film exits the higher thermal conductivity of the mineral composite resin, it cools the film faster which, along with the increased volume, allows processors to achieve faster line speeds.
However, an increase in the rate of more than 100% with 25% calcium carbonate in LLDPE film and 21% with 15% calcium carbonate in HMW-HDPE film has been observed.
Improvements in physical properties have been noted in relation to increased productivity, and the key properties improved by adding calcium carbonate are: impact strength, tear resistance, stiffness, moisture vapor transmission rate (MVTR) and oxygen transfer rate (OTR).
Impact power
This property is caused by the change of polyolefin morphology around the calcium carbonate particles. This material has a melting index of 1.0 dg/min, 0.918 g/cm3 of ethylene-hexane polymer, which is called resin (A).
Calcium carbonate is introduced into the blown film extrusion process using an inorganic resin masterbatch. This masterbatch is produced using resin (A) as calcium bicarbonate carrier resin.
Please refer to Table 1 for masterbatch and weight fraction mix compositions. The droplet impact resistance of Zart is tabulated in Figure 1 along with the related improvements in productivity.
The impact performance of HMW-HDPE films was measured using Formosa E905 HMW-HDPE as the matrix polymer. This material is resin (B, 0.05 decigrams per minute). Melt index, 0.950 g/cm3 ethylene-hexane calcium carbonate was reintroduced through the resin masterbatch, Minerals (M1), and the results of zart drop impact are shown in Figure 2. HMW-HDPE films show a similar response regarding the impact performance with the addition of calcium carbonate. It is worth noting that the progress was significantly increased at higher loading level of calcium carbonate.
barrier properties
Adding calcium carbonate to polyolefin films improves the barrier performance. The improved barrier allows processors to process and maintain characteristics from below and maintain barrier characteristics or improve barrier characteristics in the same gauge (A) shows the masterbatch (M1). Figure 5 shows a similar improvement in results using resin composite (B) masterbatch (M1) when testing water vapor transmission rate in 1 mil films.
The rate of oxygen transmission was not tested on the resin films (B), however, the carbon dioxide transmission test was performed and a reduction in the transmission rate was observed. These results are shown in 1 mil movies in Figure 6.
Extrusion coating
Productivity: Polyolefin extrusion coating applications gain significant productivity gains from the addition of calcium carbonate. As in the case of extruded blown film, an increase in volume is also observed in the extrusion coating.
Adhesion, heat seal and printability have also been seen in the extrusion coating. The high extrusion temperature and low coating weight found in most extrusion coating applications necessitates the use of Omyacarb® 2SST. This material, calcium carbonate, has a particle size of 2.0μ and is well coated with a stearic acid.
Improved Adhesion: Improved adhesion is due to the specific heat difference between calcium carbonate and polyolefins. Heat losses between the die and the node are mainly transferred through radiant heat mechanisms.
When calcium carbonate is present in a resin-mineral composite mixture, temperature loss from the polymer extruder from the die to the stud is minimal.
Printable
Printable enhancement is produced by adding calcium carbonate to the rough surface microcide. In figure 7 and 8, the surfaces are shown in low and high magnification without and with calcium carbonate. The uneven surface causes the ink to get wet, resulting in better printing.
Mineral composites Specific data for the performance of this feature is not currently available. However, temperature and residence time adjustment of sealing equipment may be required for optimal sealing performance due to the rapid heat transfer facilitated by calcium carbonate.
Text
In most extrusion coating applications, converters coat at a constant weight. By adding calcium carbonate, thinner coatings are obtained due to the specific gravity of inorganic polymer particles against polyolefin.
Polyolefin sheet / thermoforming
For productivity and performance of physical properties in polyolefin – calcium carbonate mineral composites for sheet/thermoforming applications.
Productivity: HDPE sheet was run on a standard 114.3 mm (4.5 in), 24:1 L/D Davis sheet extrusion line. This line had a 7.62 mm (0.300 in) thick sheet at a speed of 1.14 m/min (3.75 fpm). After adding 25 weights of calcium carbonate (1) through the masterbatch (M1), the output increased to 1.60 m/min (5.25 fpm), while reducing the gauge to 6.35 mm. (0.250″). The sheets showed equivalent performance. Off-line heating of the mineral composite sheet resin showed a reduction in cycle time from 6 minutes to 4.5 minutes. Heat deflection temperature and modulus also showed moderate increases with the addition of calcium carbonate. gave PP homopolymer and copolymer in thicknesses of 1.27 mm (0.050″) and 0.69 mm (0.027″) as shown in Table 2 that thermoforming tests showed better resistance to nominal wall dimensions with regard to drawing depth as calcium carbonate (1). We assumed that the sheet produced with resin-composite is calcium carbonate, so its inherent specific heat remains lower.
In heating, where the sheet is heated in a radiant furnace and transferred against it to a forming step in the process, radiant heat loss dominates. With the use of calcium carbonate, the zero shear viscosity of the composite system appears to be somewhat reduced at the higher sheet temperature that exists just before forming.
The purpose of evaluating productivity on a volume equivalent basis is important to understanding the true benefits of calcium carbonate compounding. The addition of this mineral directly in the molding of bottles with a constant weight causes a natural weight reduction. For this reason, measurements were made using fixed wall thickness. Diagrams 9 and 10 show the exit temperature from the mold. As a result, it was shown that part exit temperature can be reduced by 25% or cycle time by 30% under ideal conditions, when preparing an equivalent volume of material.
Calcium carbonate is used to improve the production efficiency and performance characteristics of extruded blown films, extrusion coatings, extruded sheets/heated parts and blown containers.
By choosing calcium carbonate, the amount of total loading of minerals and matrix polymer used for the production of masterbatch resin-minerals
It can be adjusted by balancing physical properties and functional efficiency.
Application of black masterbatch
A wide variety of black masterbatches are widely used in the plastic industry.
Black masterbatch properties
UV protection
Improved processability and compatibility with advanced compound properties (such as stiffness, impact resistance, tear and puncture resistance)
Affordable for customers
Application of black masterbatch in agriculture
A wide range of black sets are designed for use across the agricultural industry, in different climates, with diverse crop types.
Applications of black masterbatch
Mulch film
Silo stretch packaging
Greenhouse film and irrigation products
Black Masterbatch addresses issues including high opacity, low cost, mechanical strength, thin gauge extrusion, UV protection and stability, controlled clarity, heat.
Other characteristics of black masterbatch are: light transmission, engineering surface tension properties, chemical resistance and high speed extrusion.
Applications of black masterbatch in the building construction industry
Whether used in building exteriors, pipes and fittings, or accessories, black masterbatches are designed to provide functional additives that have critical properties such as: flame retardant, UV resistance, puncture and tear resistance, color stability and mechanical stability, select the right film for masterbatches and custom compositions.
Application of black masterbatch in electrical and electronics industry
In the electrical and electronic sector, a wide range of black masterbatch is specially designed for electrical insulation. Combining properties such as low friction and thermal loading control, a range of polymer monitors maintain dimensional stability, weather resistance, impact resistance and anti-static properties.and adhere to aesthetic criteria without compromising processability. Black masterbatch in the automotive industry has an ideal combination of properties, from initialization and resistance to thermal management. Polyamide, polypropylene or plastic such as PC or PBT are used both in the coloring of the bumpers, in the exterior and in the roof boxes.
Black masterbatch applications
Toys, cosmetic packaging, hand tools or sporting goods, in which thermoplastics, thermoplastic elastomers or soft heat welding are used. With Masterbatch Black you can achieve your wish, and Masterbatch Black not only meets your performance needs, but also meets all relevant standards and regulations, including toxicity and sustainability.
