DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-QUALITY LLDPE AND OPTIMIZED PROCESSING FOR FILM BLOWING

The majority of LLDPE resins is processed via blown film extrusion tec hniques for various applications in the industrial and consumer packag ing business. These LLDPE resins all have, independent of the molecula r structure differences, the same intrinsic limitation in blown film e xtrusion processing. These limitations are: low output, high sensitivi ty to surface defects (stripes, sharkskin), high machine power require ment, need for large die gaps, lower bubble stability, and low melt st rength. As a consequence, the more versatile-manufacturing and propert y wise-LLDPE resins are not used to their full potential. The industri al objective is therefore threefold: develop a new LLDPE resin overcom ing the above limitations, develop a new flexible blown film extrusion line tailored to the new generation of LLDPE resins, develop an effic ient 3-D finite element simulation code to assist in the resin and blo wn film extrusion line development.