Business and Technology of the Global Polyethylene Industry: An In-depth Look at the History, Technology, Catalysts, and Modern Commercial Manufacture of Polyethylene and Its Products

Chapter 6

Fabrication of Polyethylene

6.1 Introduction

The fabrication of polyethylene into commercial products is the business objective of the polyethylene industry. The applications of polyethylene may be very broadly defined in the following categories:

• Packaging
• Containers
• Transportation
• Medical
• Coatings

Each product category consists of thousands of individual products that have applications that touch essentially every aspect of human existence. The net result of these products is to improve the standard of living of society across the globe.

This chapter will discuss the primary methods that are used to shape polyethylene in the molten state into the end-use products. These fabrication methods are generally divided into extrusion and molding methods.

• Extrusion methods: Extrusion is used for polyethylene films, sheets, wire and cable, coatings and pipe. Film is manufactured by either a blown-film or casting process.
• Molding methods: Molding is divided into primarily injection molding, blow molding, rotational molding and thermoforming.

Other subjects that will also be discussed that impact the polyethylene fabrication business are the wide array of additives that are blended into polyethylene to improve the performance of the end-use products and the rheological properties of polyethylene which explain the flow of molten polyethylene that takes place during the fabrication process.

6.1.1 Fabrication Business

Unlike the companies that manufacture polyethylene as a raw ...