Extrusion International 6-2024-USA

57 Extrusion International 6/2024 CORONA TREATMENT – CASE STUDY Corona Treatment Technology to Handle a Wide Range of Film Thicknesses Part of the Polyart Group and a leading UK niche manufacturer of PE, PP and other co- extruded blown films, Tech Folien specified Vetaphone corona technology for the most recent of its five Hosokawa Alpine extruders located in its 40,000 sq/ft production facility in Speke, a suburb of Liverpool. The company, which is BRCGS Packaging Materials and ISO 9001:2015 certified is a major supplier to the food industry, offering a wide range of transparent, white and coloured films in thicknesses from 10 to 600-micron that are single or double-side corona treated, as well as top-coated products, all of which are recyclable. Previously a user of US manufactured corona technol- ogy, the company’s introduction to Vetaphone was un- usual, as Maintenance Manager Dave Churm explained: “We have had a Vetaphone corona treater running off another manufacturer’s generator for around 20 years and it’s done us proud. So, when we came to specify the new Alpine in 2023, we looked at what the Danish com- pany had to offer as a complete package.” The result was a project costing £1.5m that saw two 1920mm double-sided Vetaphone VE2C-B stations with segmented electrodes fitted to a Hosokawa Al - pine HX75 Flex Mono Extruder. The Alpine has a 75 mm screw, a maximum working width of 1800 mm and can produce 10 – 200-micron LD, LLDPE, and HDPE at up to 150 m/min. The Vetaphone iCorona generator 2UL has an 8kW rating and the whole system is controlled by an iCC7 panel with Profinet interface. The 90-degree ex - traction blower has a 2.2 kW motor capable of venting 32 m3 air per minute. “From our investigations it quickly became obvious that Vetaphone sets the standard in the corona treat- ment market. Our requirement was for a system that could handle a variety of work and their response to our enquiries and specific requirements was first class. Vetaphone 1920mm VE2C-B stations are fitted to the latest Hosokawa Alpine blown film extruder at Tech Folien Maintenance Manager Dave Churm rates the Vetaphone corona technology for its reliable performance and controllability