Rising energy costs are consistently in the news lately and are affecting thousands of businesses up and down the UK. A recent quote from the British Plastics Federation (BPF) cited that members were hit with increases of up to 300% on their energy bills.
Here at Plastribution, we have also felt the pinch. The running costs for our buildings and ancillaries have nearly doubled in recent months. Whilst we have spent significant time looking at bringing down our own costs internally, we are also actively thinking about how we can support customers to reduce their spend, use less energy and to operate more sustainably in general.
The good news is, for many plastics materials processors, we may have a solution that can help.
Introducing GRANIC by GCR Group, the drop-in mineral masterbatch that can help you to reduce your energy consumption.
Using GRANIC mineral masterbatches can reduce your energy consumption in production by up to 25%.
How does this work?
- GRANIC mineral masterbatches are 7 times more thermally conductive than polymer. This results in faster melting and mixing in an extruder.
- GRANIC enhances processability by keeping a more homogeneous melting temperature, resulting in less power consumption and less melt pressure.
- Additionally, using GRANIC will also reduce your CO2 emissions, as this material has an inherently lower carbon footprint than standard polymer alone.
Case Study
In a recent blow moulding trial, GRANIC 742 was added at 20%. Here are some of the benefits our customer found.
- Screw speed was reduced whilst maintaining the same output.
- Electrical ampage was reduced whilst maintaining the same output.
- Resin cooled much faster, therefore resulting in a reduced cycle time.
- GRANIC significantly reduced CO2 emissions as the material has an inherently lower carbon footprint than standard polymer alone.
Changes noted with the addition of 20% GRANIC 742 compared with processing a standard polymer by itself.
Similar successful case with GRANIC 1081 in an injection moulding application
Granic®1081 was used as a reinforcing mineral Masterbatch for a PP injection moulding application. It was used to increase the strength and stiffness of the end product whilst also delivering an improvement in processing and reductions in cycle time (cooling time).
Replacing a 30% talc compound with 40% of Granic 1081 (1KG Polypropylene part – Melt Flow Index: 25) yielded the following results:
Granic mineral filled masterbatches can be used in a wide variety of polymer including LDPE, HDPE, PP, HIPS.
If you would like to know more about the potential for increasing your current usage of GRANIC or look at new projects, then please contact the team at Plastribution who will be happy to support.
