Film producer Ampac Packaging LLC has formed a partnership with Dow Chemical Co. to make coextruded blown film using a Dow specialty resin.
The Cincinnati firm will retrofit an eight-layer blown film line to make barrier film using Dow's Saran polyvinylidene dichloride resin, said Chad Buckley, Ampac marketing and product manager for consumer packaging.
The barrier film primarily is used in food applications to protect against oxygen permeation and moisture loss, especially in high-humidity settings, Buckley said. The film provides better moisture protection than ethylene vinyl alcohol barrier layers on traditional films and can replace foil, he said.
The company will make seven- and eight-layer Saran film, using a mixture of polyolefins and engineered materials, Buckley said. Dow, based in Midland, Mich., is providing the die design to re-engineer an Ampac coextrusion machine from Brampton Engineering. The machine has a web greater than 50 inches wide.
The company also has added a nine-layer coextrusion line from Battenfeld Gloucester to make barrier films for food use, Buckley said. That line was installed in October, he said.
The Dow partnership was mentioned during Pack Expo International 2005, held Nov. 7-11 in Chicago, and follow-up interviews were completed after the show.
In August, Ampac purchased a majority interest in film converter Kapak Corp., a Minneapolis company that makes stand-up pouches and roll stock. Kapak officials said during Pack Expo that the firm has developed a pouch that can be married to a trigger sprayer.
Kapak makes the pouch stock at its St. Louis Park, Minn., facility.
