Foam Injection Molding based on GRANULATE IMPREGNATION with carbon dioxide
PLASTINUM® Foam Injection Molding
Linde's PLASTINUM Foam Injection Molding technology combines the benefits of simple chemical foaming with the efficiency gains of physical foaming. The plastic granulate is impregnated with the blowing agent carbon dioxide (CO2) in a pressure vessel (autoclave) upstream of the injection molding machine. The amount absorbed by the granulate depends on the plastic material, pressure, temperature, and impregnation time. The CO2 typically remains in the granulate for a period of more than two hours after it has been loaded and the pressure released. To enable a highly stable and reproducible process, the impregnated granulate is stored in a pressurized buffer tank, which minimizes the desorption of CO2 during storage.
Benefits of PLASTINUM Foam Injection Molding technology:
- Ease of installation and operation – can be retrofitted to almost all machines regardless of the manufacturer
- Few or no modifications to existing machinery are required
- Potential for high-density reductions of up to 50% (depending on the polymer, wall thickness, geometry, required mechanical properties, mold technology, etc.)
- Up to 60% lower costs than alternative physical foaming solutions
- Increased production flexibility, several injection molding machines can be supplied simultaneously
- Maximum return on capital investment, the same machine can be used for foamed and solid parts
PLASTINUM® Perfoamer System
The PLASTINUM Perfoamer System enables plastics manufacturers to quickly and easily integrate physical foaming technology into existing injection molding installations.
Jointly developed by Linde and ProTec Polymer Processing GmbH, it consists of two main components:
- an autoclave vessel in which the plastic granulate is impregnated with high-pressure carbon dioxide
- a pressurized buffer tank in which the granulate is stored for processing.
Equipped with optionally available conveying systems it can automatically supply one or several injection molding machines.
