HDPE resin was developed in the 1950’s, and experienced its first widespread commercial success in the hula hoop craze of that era. Since that time HDPE has moved from being purely material for toys and curiosities to being an important raw material for a wide range of consumer and industrial applications.
Most consumers would recognize HDPE in its most common forms of milk bottles and plastic grocery bags, as well as many other household containers such as shampoo bottles and laundry detergent bottles. In addition to these highly visible consumer applications, HDPE resin is also used in toys, plastic furniture, water pipes, sheds, liners, and many other applications. HDPE is even used in the pyrotechnic industry, as it provides greater protection to users in event of a malfunction than traditional materials such as PVC and steel. Many of these traditional materials shatter under the pressure of an explosion, which results in shards of sharp material being hurtled at the handler and bystanders. HDPE on the other hand simply tears, releasing the energy of the blast without creating numerous small projectiles. In its more everyday incarnation, HDPE resin is an excellent material for food packaging and is often the material which margarine containers and other such food receptacles are made out of. The major drawback of HDPE is that it is not an oxygen barrier, and so is not useful where airtight packaging is needed.
Post consumer HDPE resins are sold in the form of HDPE regrind, or HDPE pellets or granules. Virgin HDPE resins are sold in pellet or granule form. HDPE is an easily colored material, and for this reason recycled HDPE resin is quite often colored deep or dark colors to mask the color tainting that occurs naturally in the recycling process. Virgin HDPE also takes color well, producing bright long lasting effects which make it a popular choice for children’s toys.
HDPE Resin Properties
HDPE is a variant of polyethylene, an ethylene polymer. There are many different kinds of polyethylene, but HDPE is set apart by its strong molecular structure which contains little branching, and therefore possesses greater molecular and tensile strength than its less dense counterparts. HDPE is known to be able to withstand 4000 psi, and can stretch 400% before reaching breaking point.
HDPE resin is created by cracking naphtha, a compound found in crude oil. When naphtha is exposed to very high temperatures, it breaks down and releases ethylene gas. Ethylene gas polymerizes at high temperatures to form long chains of ethylene molecules. The polymerization of ethylene can be controlled in various ways to create different kinds of polyethylene resin. The common processes used to produce HDPE are the Ziegler and Philips processes, which use various catalysts to lower the temperature at which ethylene with polymerize and to control the molecular structure of the resulting polymer.
HDPE resins are solvent resistant, warp resistant, and can stand continuous temperatures of 110 degrees Cecilius without losing shape or structure. When used in pipes, HDPE is crack resistant, pressure resistant, and largely chemical resistant. For this reason it is used to carry water, natural gas, and other liquids. Various grades of HDPE resins are used for various applications, and HDPE has proven effective in blow molding applications, injection molding applications, film applications, pipe applications, and more. Different grades of HDPE posses different viscosity when in liquid form. For instance, injection molding HDPE resin has a very low viscosity, which allows it to quickly flow into a mold, whereas blow molding HDPE has a higher viscosity, which allows it to retain the shape of an entire mold and not simply pool at one end.
HDPE resins are highly recyclable, and post consumer HDPE is a major source of HDPE in non food contact applications. Though it is usually colored due to various colorants in the HDPE stream, recycled HDPE resin is of an equal quality to virgin HDPE resin in many respects. For this reason, scrap HDPE is in high demand, and post consumer reclamation programs exist in most developed areas of the world.
HDPE Resin Supplier
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