Laurel BioComposite has announced that it has acquired an ENTEK E-Max 53 mm twin screw extruder as part of its multi-tiered strategy to offer the new patent-pending Bio-Res for injection molders.
ENTEK E-Max 53mm twin screw extruder
The extruder with specifications 300 hp, 1200 rpm is fitted to a 25 m unit in Laurel’s Minnesota-based pilot plant. This extruder can produce 1000 lbs of Bio-Res in an hour. The production rate of the machine is 8,000,000 lbs. per year. Bio-Res is an inexpensive and high-performance replacement for normal resins based on petroleum that are used in various plastic manufacturing methods.
According to Tim Bearnes, Laurel’s President, the customers believe that the company has a considerable production potential. Test articles will be made for the customers, after the new extruder is added, before the completion of the master batch plant.
This new extruder has specifically enabled the Bio-Res to increase the eco-friendly or renewable matter of plastic products by at least 40% economically. The new bio-material is offered in the form of pellets that can easily blend with polypropylene, polyethylene, PHA matrices and polylactic acid.
Bio-Res pellets contain 80% bio-material and are available in master batches. The pellets can be directly inserted by the injection molders into injection molded components. Additionally, the material can be combined with a variety of resins. The materials are considered to be unique in the bio additives market, due to its higher flow characteristic. Bio-Res can be particularly utilized in industries, which include automotive and agriculture, garden and lawn, shipping applications. Besides the eco-friendly benefits of the material, Bio-Res-based injection molded components have shown an increase in tensile modulus and stiffness by 10% over the base resin.