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Applications Multiwall sheet applications E xotic fruits, flowers, fish – there is a broad selection of these in our supermarkets. For this variety, fresh food has to be transported safely over long distances. Transport boxes made of hollow-chamber multiwall sheets are particularly suitable for this. They resemble corrugated cardboard boxes but are waterproof. Until now, multiwall sheets could not be made from bioplastics. Together with international partners, the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT has now developed a biobased and biodegradable material that can withstand the complex requirements in sheet production and replace fossil plastics in the future. Currently, multiwall sheets are manufactured from fossilbased plastics, mostly polypropylene (PP). An alternative based on renewable raw materials comes from Fraunhofer UMSICHT. The researchers have developed a tailor-made blend of bioplastics with similar properties to the PP blend to be replaced. The sheets made of the new material are lightweight and yet highly resilient. Unlike corrugated cardboard boxes, they are waterproof, water resistant and easy to clean. The challenge of profile extrusion Bioplastics blends available on the market have so far not been suitable for demanding profile sheet extrusion processes. It was a breakthrough when material properties were improved and processing behavior was adapted by developing a specific PLA-based formulation. “Particularly challenging was the high complexity of industrial profile extrusion,” explains Sengül Tolga, Department of Biobased Plastics at Fraunhofer UMSICHT, who was one of the researchers responsible for material development. “Our research also focused on the cost-effectiveness of the new material. Thus, we only used commercially available bioplastics and additives,” adds Hendrik Roch, also from the Biobased Plastics Department. The scientifically substantiated material development comprised of systematic investigations of the relationships between composition, melt properties and processing of the blend. The works took place at the Fraunhofer UMSICHT Plastics Technology Center in Willich, which is specialized in such bioplastics projects. For testing the processing of the new material, first demonstration experiments were carried out at a pilot plant (sheet width 450 mm) situated in the premises of a renowned manufacturer of hollowchamber profile tools. The project concluded with a successful pilot test in industrial scale (sheet width 2500 mm) at a Colombian partner company. The multiwall sheets manufactured can be used, for example, for the production of transport boxes for the export of flowers, perishable fruit or fish. In addition, the new material is to be developed further for other applications in the floriculture and horticulture sector. Successful international cooperation The material development was part of a research project within the Bioeconomy International Programme of the Germann Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Under the leadership of Fraunhofer UMSICHT, four partners from Germany and Colombia shared their knowledge and experience in order to jointly develop the multiwall sheets made of bioplastics: • Fraunhofer-Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT, Oberhausen, Germany • Instituto de Capacitación e Investigatción del Plástico y del Caucho (ICIPC), Medellín, Colombia • FKuR Kunststoff GmbH, Willich, Germany • Compañía de Empaques S.A., Medellín, Colombia. The combined expertise of the two research institutes Fraunhofer UMSICHT and ICIPC was of great value for the development of this innovative bioplastic for use in the demanding industrial extrusion of multiwall sheets. The close cooperation with the industrial partners made it possible to realize a quick and practical implementation. MT www.fkur.com | www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de Transport box made of multiwall sheets produced from bioplastics Multiwall sheet extrusion line bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/19] Vol. 14 35
