Calendering is a crucial process in the production of thermoplastics, involving the use of specialized machines to transform molten polymers into thin sheets or foils. BG Plast designs and manufactures calenders with various geometries, ensuring precision and versatility for different types of polymers. This process is an integral part of industries that require high-quality thermoplastic products, with applications ranging from the packaging, automotive and industrial sectors. With advanced electromechanical controls and customizable configurations, BG Plast calenders ensure accuracy in thickness and consistency.
Cross-axis device improves material distribution between rollers
The characteristics of BG Plast calendering
The quality of calendered products depends on several key factors, including material properties, roll configurations and process parameters. BG Plast machines are designed to minimize variations in material flow, temperature and pressure, ensuring that the final product meets the most stringent quality standards. Our advanced roller technology also reduces the risk of contamination, ensuring that the production environment remains clean and efficient. Operator experience is another critical factor, and BG Plast offers comprehensive training to ensure that operators can fully utilize the capabilities of our machines.
Let’s discover the features that differentiate our calenders from the competition.
Precision thickness control in calendering
One of the main advantages of BG Plast calenders is the ability to guarantee precise material thickness, from 0.1 mm to 40 mm. This accuracy is achieved through electromechanical control systems that adjust the opening and closing of the rolls. For thinner materials, BG Plast uses a “cross-axis,” a specific device to adjust the alignment of the rollers, further perfecting thickness control. These are features that make our machines essential for industries such as food and pharmaceutical packaging, where material consistency is critical to product performance.
Customizable roll configurations for optimal performance
BG Plast’s calendering systems are highly adaptable and offer a variety of roll configurations tailored to customer specifications. The width of our calendering rolls ranges from 450 mm to 8000 mm, making our machines suitable for a wide range of production scales. In addition, our lines can accommodate up to seven extruders for co-extrusion applications, enabling manufacturers to make multilayer sheets combining materials such as PP, PET and PE that are ideal for the diverse needs of industries such as packaging, construction and industrial manufacturing.
Thermoregulation to improve material properties
Temperature control plays a key role in the calendering process, and BG Plast machines are equipped with independent thermoregulation units for each cylinder. These units allow precise management of water or oil flow and temperature, ensuring that materials maintain the desired characteristics during production. Thermoregulation is particularly advantageous when working with polymers such as PP, PS and PET, which are sensitive to temperature variations. By controlling these variables, BG Plast ensures that calendered sheets and foils display optimum strength, flexibility and surface finish.
High-performance calenders for thin foil production
BG Plast excels in thin foil production, with lines capable of producing materials with thicknesses ranging from 0.15 mm to 1.80 mm. Our machines can handle a wide variety of polymers, including PP, PS, PE, PET, PETG, TPU, PMMA and PC making them ideal for thermoforming applications. The high productivity of our lines, ranging from 250 kg/h to 2000 kg/h, enables manufacturers to meet high-volume production requirements, particularly in areas such as food packaging and general industrial applications. Our multilayer configurations also allow for barrier foils, improving product performance in specific environments, such as those requiring moisture or gas resistance.
BG Plast offers different types of feed-block configuration for total customization
The applications of thermoplastic calendering
From packaging to automotive manufacturing to renewable energy solutions, the applications of thermoplastic calendered materials are various, and each industry takes advantage of their unique benefits to create durable, high-performance products. Let’s explore the wide range of industries in which calendering plays a critical role.
Calendering applications in the packaging industry
The packaging industry is among the biggest beneficiaries of the calendering process. BG Plast’s lines produce high-quality sheets and foils, which are essential for creating rigid packaging, blisters and food containers. The ability to maintain a consistent thickness and apply multilayer barriers ensures that packaging solutions are not only durable, but also meet industry standards for food safety. In addition, the smooth surface finish and dimensional stability of calendered materials enhance the aesthetics and structural integrity of packaging products.
Calendering for sustainable packaging solutions
Sustainability is an increasingly important issue in the packaging industry, and BG Plast is leading the way in providing solutions that support environmental responsibility. In line with this trend, BG Plast offers advanced extrusion technologies for the production of high-performance, recyclable PET sheet and foil. Our range of extrusion lines includes options for high and medium capacity production.
For high production volumes, we offer single-screw extruders with pre-drying systems as well as parallel twin-screw extruders, which do not require pre-drying of the material. These systems are capable of producing PET sheets with thicknesses ranging from 0.15 mm to 1.50 mm and widths from 600 mm to 1600 mm, with production rates as high as 1800 kg/h. For low-to-medium production capacities, up to 600 kg/h, BG Plast provides a system based on a single-screw triple degassing extruder.
This is a technology that helps manufacturers achieve sustainability goals by decreasing energy consumption and optimizing the use of recycled materials, reducing the need for virgin plastic and promoting a circular economy.
The main applications of the foils produced with BG Plast machinery include food packaging
Industrial applications of calendering
Beyond packaging, calendered thermoplastics find applications in industry in general. BG Plast calenders are often used in the production of foils and sheets used in construction, automotive components, and even renewable energy solutions. For example, thermoplastic foils used in roofing membranes or automotive seals take advantage of the precision and uniformity offered by our calenders. The robust and durable design of our machines ensures long-term reliability, even in complex industrial environments.
Advantages of calendering in the automotive industry
As seen, the automotive industry relies on calendered thermoplastics for a variety of applications, including gaskets, seals, and interior components. BG Plast’s calenders provide the precision needed to produce materials with excellent sealing properties, contributing to vehicle efficiency and safety. The uniform thickness and surface quality of calendered foils and sheets improve the durability and longevity of automotive components, helping manufacturers meet the high standards of modern vehicle production.
The role of calendering in renewable energy
In the renewable energy sector, foils and sheets produced by calendering play an important role, for example in the production of photovoltaic modules. The uniform thickness and superior electrical insulation properties of these materials are critical to the efficiency and durability of renewable energy systems. BG Plast’s calenders enable manufacturers to produce high-quality components that contribute to the growing global demand for clean energy solutions.
The future of calendering with BG Plast
BG Plast continues to innovate in the field of calendering with lines that meet the ever-changing needs of industries around the world. Our focus on precision, customization and efficiency ensures that our customers receive high-performance solutions tailored to their specific applications.
The demand for high-quality thermoplastic products continues to grow, and BG Plast has always been at the forefront of calendering technology, designing and manufacturing machinery that enables manufacturers to remain competitive in a rapidly changing market. For packaging, automotive and a variety of industrial applications, BG Plast’s calenders offer unparalleled quality, consistency and versatility: put us to the test. Contact us today for your next project.