New Resin from Dow Goes Beyond Conventional Polypropylene

Dow Plastics' recently launched INSPiRE* Performance Polymer, a new propylene-base resin built on molecular architecture, reportedly takes performance and processing ability beyond conventional polypropylene.

"INSPiRE Performance Polymers represent our promise to differentiate our product offering and expand our plastics portfolio," says Ioannis Spanudakis, global business director, Dow Polypropylene. "The new performance polymers will provide customers with new material solutions and processing advantages previously not known in many applications — all made possible by the ability of Dow to use proprietary technologies in bringing new materials to market."

Blown film extrusion
The first product in the INSPiRE Performance Polymers family — INSPiRE 112 — is designed for blown film extrusion. "We are using revolutionary technology that goes beyond conventional polypropylene, delivering a product with high output rates and significantly improved bubble stability and drawdown capabilities. We believe that INSPiRE 112 Performance Polymers will expand film capabilities for converters," notes Spanudakis.

Spanudakis says that since its introduction in 1992, INSITE Technology has utilized molecular architecture and modeling to deliver product innovations in the polyolefins industry, including ELITE enhanced polyethylene resins, AFFINITY polyolefin plastomers, ENGAGE polyolefin elastomers and INDEX interpolymers. "This first product from the INSPiRE Performance Polymers business platform is the newest addition to a proud tradition of technology and process innovation."

According to Carlos Ruiz, global new business development manager for Dow Polypropylene, the new performance polymer provides many advantages for converters. "Using molecular architecture, we have developed a very unique polymer with superb melt strength for the air-quench blown film process. INSPiRE 112 Performance Polymer is custom designed to work within your current applications and/or machinery specifications, allowing you ‘drop-in' processing performance," says Ruiz.

Ruiz adds that INSPiRE 112 polymer exhibits great bubble stability, high output rates, gauge uniformity, and drawdown capabilities in both conventional and high stalk air-quenched blown film lines. "Converters can run this resin on existing PE film lines with only slight adjustments," he says.

Right packaging properties
INSPiRE 112 Performance Polymer can help converters achieve the right balance of properties for a number of packaging applications ranging from standup pouches, meat and poultry packaging, and pet food bags to heavy-duty shipping sacks, soft paper tissue overwrap, hot-filled bags, industrial bundling films and thin gauge films.

Through co-extrusion and/or blends, converters can take advantage of the entire Dow polyolefins product offering. INSPiRE 112 Performance Polymer is designed for effective blending with other ethylene-based polymers. Ruiz says blending INSPiRE 112 polymer with DOWLEX linear low-density polyethylene resins or ELITE resins can enable converters to achieve a better combination of physical properties and modulus than could be achieved by using DOWLEX LLDPE or ELITE resins alone.

"Our customers can take the next step to co-extrusion to get the best benefits from each polymer," says Ruiz. "Co-extruding INSPiRE 112 Performance Polymer with ELITE enhanced polyethylene resins or AFFINITY polyolefin plastomers results in superior stiffness, aesthetics and exceptional heat-seal and hot-tack properties.

Another critical performance attribute of co-extrusion, notes Ruiz, is inner layer adhesion. "INSPiRE 112 Performance Polymer shows superior inner layer adhesion with both ELITE resins and AFFINITY plastomers."

For more information: in Europe, Dow Customer Information Centre, Tel: ++31.2069.16268 (The Netherlands); in North America, Customer Information Group, Tel: 1-800-441-4369.

Edited by Bill Noone