Plastic Manufacturing Industry Research Articles

Transcriptomic analysis reveals ligninolytic enzymes of white-rot fungus Phanerochaete sordida YK-624 participating in bisphenol F biodegradation under ligninolytic conditions.

Bisphenol F (BPF) is widely used in the plastic manufacturing industry as a replacement for bisphenol A (BPA) because BPF and BPA have similar structures and comparable properties. However, BPF is ubiquitously present in the environment and has higher toxicity to humans. This study is the first to report BPF degradation using the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete sordida YK-624 under ligninolytic conditions (pH=4.5, 30 °C). P. sordida YK-624 almost completely degraded BPF within 4 days. Moreover, functional genes involved in BPF degradation were detected by RNA-Seq. Metabolic processes and peroxidases were enriched by GO analysis, and the metabolic pathway was enriched according to the KEGG pathway analysis. These results suggested that P. sordida YK-624 could secrete higher levels of ligninolytic enzymes lignin peroxidase (LiP) and manganese peroxidase (MnP) for BPF degradation. The results indicated that LiPs and MnPs are important for BPF degradation and cytochrome P450s play a small role. Furthermore, reliability of the RNA-Seq results was validated by qRT-PCR.

Highly efficient, recyclable and alternative method of synthesizing phenols from phenylboronic acids using non-endangered metal: Samarium oxide

Oxidation of phenylboronic acid to phenol is one of the important industrial processes and it is generally employed in the plastic, explosive and drug manufacturing industries. Over the past decades, numerous efficient methods have been described for the generation of phenols from phenylboronic acids in the presence of oxidant. However, these methods suffered from various limitations, including the use of expensive, toxic reagents and sophisticated protocol to synthesise the phenols. Additionally, some of these reported literatures employed endangered metals, in which mankind is facing the risk of limited supply of these elements in 20 years’ time from now. As such, a viable alternative and green method for achieving organic synthesis is highly sought after by the chemists of today. Herein, we report for the first time a facile, efficient and alternative method in the preparation of phenols from phenylboronic acids using non-endangered metal as catalyst. In all cases, all phenols were afforded in satisfactory yields (81–96%) by employing column-free method. In the recyclability study, the Sm2O3 catalyst was found to possess good catalytic performance, even after being reused for five consecutive times (96–91%). In addition, SEM result revealed that the morphology of the recycled Sm2O3 catalyst was well preserved after five successive uses, which indicate no observable changes occurred in the recovered catalysts. As a final note, the current method is anticipated to be useful for industries manufacturing chemical intermediates as it provides an alternative method of catalysis by using a non-endangered metal in organic transformations.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness to Increase Productivity of Injection Molding Machine: A Case Study in Plastic Manufacturing Industry

In line with the unstable market conditions in Indonesia, especially the plastic manufacturing industry, the companies need to be well prepared to survive. There were two research goals. First, it was to find out why the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) rate at the company did not meet the expected standard. Second, it was to determine what improvement should be made to increase the OEE for the machine. The research applied a case study in one of the plastic manufacturing industries located in Tangerang, Indonesia. It focused on the performance of Toshiba injection molding machine number 42/IS 450 GSW. The analysis was performed by applying Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) with support from other tools such as Pareto chart, Cause and Effect Diagram (CED), and six big losses. By following the whole framework of the research, it finds causes of why the OEE does not meet the target. Then, from the results, it can be concluded that the implementation of the methods has a positive impact on the company. The OEE rate increases from an average of 26,43% to 78,87%. It means the OEE rate has achieved the company target of 75%.

Evaluation of Supplier Performance in Plastic Manufacturing Industry: A Case Study

The supplier is an essential element in the production process because it supplies raw materials. In the supply chain, supplier performance evaluation is an essential factor. This evaluation is used to assess supplier performance in improving company performance. This study aims to evaluate supplier performance using the integration of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Standardized Unitless Rating (SUR) methods. AHP is proposed for the determination of criteria weights, and SUR is used to evaluate supplier performance. Criteria weights on AHP are used in the SUR method to evaluate supplier performance. A case study was carried out in the plastic manufacturing industry in Indonesia. The criteria used include Quality (Q), Cost (C), Delivery (D), Flexibility (F), Responsiveness (R), Warranty and claim policies (W), and Environmental management system (E). The results showed that cost is the most critical criterion in evaluating supplier performance. The results also showed that AHP and SUR were effectively used to evaluate supplier performance.

The Influence of Waste Tire Powder on the Properties of Waste Tire Powder/Polypropylene Plastic Composite

The use of waste tire powder (WTP) as a polypropylene (PP) property enhancer in plastic composite has been prepared. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and mechanical testing have been used to measure the properties of PP/WTP. Sample morphology shows that there are no impurities in post-fracture images on both PP and PP/WTP. Apart from that, it can be seen that the surface of PP / WTP is slightly smooth. PP and PP/WTP are nearly similar in the FTIR spectrum. During tensile and flexural tests, the PP/WTP value drops as the WTP amount increases. For elongation break and impact testing, PP/WTP at 40% WTP exhibits highest strength value compare to other samples. In all cases, WTP with smallest range of size (250–500 µm) shows better mechanical performance compare to other sizes. PP/WTP plastic composite has a highly great potential to be used in most plastic manufacturing industry and sustain the green environment by taking the advantage of waste tire powder.

Analysis of the Correlation and Regional Distribution of Plastic Waste Pollution

Plastic has brought great convenience to people’s lives, but it has also brought severe environmental pollution to the world. It is almost impossible to break down entirely in nature, and plastic waste, whether in rivers, oceans, or on land, can persist in the environment for centuries. The problem of plastic waste disposal has caused worldwide concern. It is necessary to reduce the production of plastic products through global cooperation effectively. However, achieving this goal will also involve some unexpected issues, such as controlling the adverse economic impact of plastics, and the rationality and fairness of the distribution of responsibilities between different countries. This paper collects massive data and takes China as an example to study the impact of plastic output reduction on China’s Express industry and the plastics manufacturing industry using multivariate regression. This paper summarizes the positive and negative effects of plastic waste reduction. Given the distribution and management of national and regional plastic waste responsibilities, the global carbon emission rights distribution method is used for reference. The comprehensive index allocation method is used to deal with the problem of both fairness and efficiency relatively. What is more, based on the conclusions, this paper also provides suggestions for a global joint response to plastic waste.

Parametric characterization of nano-hybrid wood polymer composites using ANOVA and regression analysis

The need to reduce waste is driving the development of new materials and technologies that support the transition of societies towards a more environmentally sustainable world. Wood-polymer composites (WPCs) can be produced by using waste products deriving from wood and plastic manufacturing industries. Enhanced mechanical and physical properties of WPCs also allow for these materials to substitute their conventional counterparts, especially the ones intended to be used in dry and hot environments. This paper examined how the addition of various reinforcements influenced the properties of polymer matrix-based WPC. More closely, this paper focused on assessing the mechanical properties of Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and date palm leaves-based composite samples with different reinforcement types of recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE) fibers and nano-Aluminum Oxide (nano-Al2O3) particles. A two-way ANOVA and multivariate linear regression models are developed to predict and examine the effects and the interaction between the effect of batches and series on density, absorption, strength, modulus and absorbed energy before and after aging. The results suggest that combining the PMMA with recycled date palm leaves and including a mixture of commercially available PETE fiber reinforcements along with nano-Al2O3 particles produces samples that show enhanced mechanical and water resistance properties compared to composites without such reinforcements. The analysis used to detect the WPC combination and reinforcements embedded in the composite structure indicated that the reinforcements limited the absorption of water. The mechanical tests conducted on the reinforced WPC samples showed an improvement of mechanical characteristics. Adding both recycled PETE fibers and nano-Al2O3 particles to the samples increases the flexural characteristics and shows the largest capacity to absorb energy at impact followed by single reinforcement samples. For samples that underwent aging in chloride solution (offshore simulation), the enhanced capabilities were reduced by 8 and 15%.

Phase Perturbation as a Measurement Metric: A Novel Noncontact In-Line Production Measurement Through an All-Electronic Millimeter-Wave System Tracking Millidegree Perturbations in Phase

The market value for the plastics manufacturing industry is projected to exceed USd700 billion in the coming decade [1]. Technology for reliable quality control is an essential component of the manufacturing process. Present technology for monitoring the thickness profile of manufactured plastics typically makes use of interferometry with a white-light (broadband or tunable-wavelength) laser source. [2]-[5]. While this method has found satisfactory implementation as a quality control mechanism to monitor deviations in the thickness of plastics, the cost and complexity of implementation can be prohibitive. In addition, laser-based time-of-flight terahertz time-domain spectroscopic (THz-TDS) tomography systems have been presented as a suitable alternative; however, a femtosecond pulsed laser is still required to render measurements on the order of a micron (mm) [6].

Investigation and Optimization of Production Variables: A Case of Plastic Manufacturing Industry

The study evaluates and analysis the extrusion plastic production variables in Innoson Plastic Manufacturing Company, Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria. The research method adopted is the application of statistical tools and design of expert tools to evaluate and to analyze the influence of the variables. The statistical correlation of the variables is to understand the significant relationship between the variables. The parameters are all significance except time. This show that time is not significant in modeling the system. The use of design expert was applied to evaluate the extrusion plastic production variable to understand what the variables portray and its influence on production. The mixture design method of D-optimal Non-Simplex Screening model was used to optimize the production variables which entails that the best quantity of product that is to produce is 9204.461 units. The results show that the industry should be conscious of highly influence input variable during production.

Design, Analysis and Fabrication of Safe Holder and Cam Dies in Injection Molding

Injection molding is one of the very significant methodologies in the plastic manufacturing industry. Production of any shape in the injection molding, mold with cavity must require. For this mold making three phases were involved in this project starting from design, analysis, manufacturing respectively. The objective of this project is to introduce detailed steps on design mold and using the simulation software to analyze the material flow, temperature and pressure characteristics of the product. The product designed and analyzed for this project is SAFE HOLDER and CAM. The manufacturing of mold is done by using advanced machinery such as CNC. The design and analysis of this product and mold were made by the designing analysis software CATIA V5, ANSYS 15.0, which is then stimulated by the use of Fluid Flow (Fluent) tool. This project was very useful in knowing the fluid characteristic behavior subjected to flowing inside the mold and also observed the variation of values with respect to given values at each stage. In this project, the analysis performed with taking polypropylene as a fluid from propylene polymer and steel as solid material for the die with inlet values are 230℃ temperature and 15m/s velocity.

Evaluating barriers to implementing green supply chain management: An example from an emerging economy

This study proposes a fuzzy-based VIKOR (VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) framework for evaluating barriers to implementing green supply chain management (GSCM) in the context of an emerging economy. The methodology uses a mix method approach combining literature review and opinions of some selected managers from the plastic industry of Bangladesh to identify four main-barriers and twenty-five sub-barriers relevant to GSCM implementation. Fuzzy-VIKOR approach was applied to aid in the analysis of the barriers in the plastic industry of Bangladesh. The findings of the study show the order/rank of intensity and severity of the main-barriers to implementing GSCM practices in the plastic industry of Bangladesh as follows: ‘inadequate knowledge and support’, ‘insufficient technology and infrastructure’, ‘financial constraints and unsupportive organizational’ and ‘operational policies’. The results also show the rankings of the sub-barriers under each main barriers. This research contributes to the literature in a number of ways. First, it identifies multi-levels of barriers to GSCM implementation. Secondly, it identifies and proposes alternative action plans (strategies) to help mitigate and implement GSCM practices. Though this study has significant contributions, a number of limitations do exist. The barriers in this study were identified using the extant literature review and industrial managers’ opinions. A more scientific approach and empirical validation is required, especially in the plastic manufacturing industry of Bangladesh to identify more new challenging barriers. However, this study can provide managers with a better understanding of the barriers to implementing GSCM practices and motivate the researchers to further extend the investigation on the insights for developing strategic plans for implementing GSCM practices in the plastic industry of Bangladesh.

Warpage optimisation using virgin and recycled polycarbonates: a case study of front panel housing

Plastic product are commonly produced using an injection molding process. A large amount of product can produce within a very short time. One of the defect that often being encountered in the production is warpage. By determine the appropriate parameter setting by using optimisation method, the quality of the moulded part can be improve. The warpage can be minimise but difficult to eliminate. The part can be smaller than the actual size cause by the warpage. Due to this defect will cause the plastic part difficult to be assembled. Considering the increasing application of these thermoplastic materials, the use of recycled polymers has increased too. Environmental issues, the subsequent tendency to save resources and the high costs of polymers have made the recycling an inevitable option. This study provides a scientific knowledge that will be useful to plastic manufacturing industries in injection moulding process especially by using virgin and recycle material. The parameter that being significant from the studied that been review were mostly melt temperature, packing time, cooling time and packing pressure.

Industry 4.0 - Digital Twin Applied to Direct Digital Manufacturing

Marinha Grande is a city in Leiria’s district, Portugal. Marinha Grande is known as the moulding city, influenced by the glass, plastic and rapid manufacturing industry. Its history comes from the 18th century with the first glass factory. In order to improve technological development in the local industry, Centre for rapid and sustainable product development (CDRsp) was established in 2007.With that historical know-how and data-based moulding manufacturing, this work goal is to link that data with today’s technology, implementing the Industry 4.0. That information would be stored in a Cloud-Based Design and Manufacturing (CBDM) as well as the real-time operational data. Accessing to that cloud, the design and production engineers can work together to digitally create a product without having to stop the machinery.To implement these concepts, this paper suggests a Digital Twin (DT) to take advantage of the historical information allied to the existent industrial machinery. It suggests a digital twin of a robotic arm with an additive or hybrid manufacturing tool, printing big parts (e.g. garden benches or urban furniture) with reused materials such as tire, cork, wood or stone pow loads.

Tensile and flexural investigation on polypropylene recycling

Plastic recycling can be an effective way of reducing large amount of plastic waste in plastic manufacturing industry. Polypropylene (PP) is a versatile material that is capable of numerous commercial applications. This study is about the effect of composition between virgin and recycled PP towards their mechanical properties. The effect of blending PP product was investigated whether it can improve the performance of the material without deteriorating its original mechanical properties. The tensile and flexural tests were conducted according to ASTM D638 and ASTM D790, respectively. The results from tensile and flexural tests revealed that the sample which consisted of 75wt% of virgin PP and 25wt% of recycled PP were the optimum composition. The blended PP had positive influence on tensile strength, percent of elongation at break and Young’s modulus. Opposite trends were obtained from flexural tests where both flexural strength and bending modulus performed slightly less compared to virgin PP. In fact, blending virgin and recycled PP together at any composition did not seriously deteriorate the mechanical properties. Therefore, recycled PP can be used in production without the need to sacrifice its mechanical properties. Besides, PP recycling can reduce material costing and help to save the environment by reducing PP waste.

A Thermomechanical Analysis of Conformal Cooling Channels in 3D Printed Plastic Injection Molds

Plastic injection molding is a versatile process, and a major part of the present plastic manufacturing industry. The traditional die design is limited to straight (drilled) cooling channels, which don’t impart optimal thermal (or thermomechanical) performance. With the advent of additive manufacturing technology, injection molding tools with conformal cooling channels are now possible. However, optimum conformal channels based on thermomechanical performance are not found in the literature. This paper proposes a design methodology to generate optimized design configurations of such channels in plastic injection molds. The design of experiments (DOEs) technique is used to study the effect of the critical design parameters of conformal channels, as well as their cross-section geometries. In addition, designs for the “best” thermomechanical performance are identified. Finally, guidelines for selecting optimum design solutions given the plastic part thickness are provided.

Facility location selection for plastic manufacturing industry in Bangladesh by using AHP method

In present’s, the location selection problems play an important role for the top-level manager or entrepreneur for opening a new manufacturing company or relocate or expand their operation. As an engineered material, the plastic is used for manufacturing a wide variety of domestic products. For this reason, the plastic manufacturing industries are growing in Bangladesh through the last two eras. This paper might be helpful to select a new location or expansion of the existing one in Bangladesh for the plastic manufacturing company. In this study, we have taken five commercial districts as location and ten criteria for deep consideration from all promising sites of Bangladesh.For this purpose, data has collected through surveying and questionnaires. Then, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has used to make a preference measure to select the best location for plastic manufacturing industries. From the comparison value of the composite weight, it can be found that Mongla is the best alternative location for the decision problems.

Prioritizing Type of Industry through Health Risk Assessment of Occupational Exposure to Dimethylformamide in the Workplace.

The purpose of this study was to classify hazards at an industrial level and evaluate the exposure risks of workers exposed to dimethylformamide (DMF) used as a solvent in the workplace and to determine industries that need priority measures in managing DMF exposure. We calculated hazard quotients at an industrial level. The exposure data of DMF in the workplace were obtained from the work environment monitoring program provided by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. The evaluation was conducted on textile manufacturing, leather manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and rubber manufacturing industries, which have many unit work sites handling DMF. The highest central tendency exposure and reasonable maximum exposure were 2.13 and 18.66 mg/m3 for the rubber product manufacturing industry, respectively. A total of 63.8% of workplaces in the textile manufacturing sector had a hazard quotient higher than 1. The highest risk for exposure to DMF is in the rubber and plastic manufacturing industry, and the lowest risk was in the medical materials and pharmaceutical manufacturing sector. Based on this study, effective management of DMF exposure could be achieved by establishing priority management measures for the textile and rubber and plastic product industries.

Effect of bisphenol A exposure on the expressions of five ovary development related genes in the oriental river prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense (Decapoda, Palaemonidae)

The oriental river prawn,Macrobrachium nipponense, is one of the important commercial shrimp species. Recently a severe problem of precocious maturation has greatly hampered this shrimp aquaculture industry. Bisphenol A (BPA), a high-production-volume chemical substance used in the plastic manufacturing industry, has been thought of as an endocrine disruptor on the developmental processes of animals. In this study, we investigated the effect of BPA exposure on the expressions of five ovary development related genes such as Mago nashi, Tsunagi, Gustavus, Ubc9, and Von Willebrand factor D-Kazal inM. nipponense. Five concentration gradients (5.01, 7.76, 12.06, 18.62 and 28.84 mg/l) of BPA were set and the ovaries of exposed prawns were collected at different time points for expression analysis. Compared with the control group at day 19, BPA had a two-phase effect: a stimulating effect under low concentrations from 5.01 to 12.06 mg/l, whereas a negative effect was noted at high concentrations from 12.06 to 28.84 mg/l. The expression profiles under different BPA concentrations significantly changed along with the extension of exposure time. The medium concentration of BPA (12.06 mg/l) had a persistent influence on the expressions of the transcripts, while the effect was transient under the lowest concentration (5.01 mg/l). It is suggested that the concentration under 5.01 mg/l might be safe for the development ofM. nipponense, but exceeding 12.06 mg/l may be harmful. When exposed to clean fresh water without BPA, the gene expressions rebounded a little. This may indicate that the biological damage of BPA was partly reversible after the prawns had been placed in the fresh water without BPA. So the BPA pollutant concentration should be controlled at secure levels in order to ensure safety in aquaculture, in this respect. This study provides fundamental data for the relationship between BPA and precocious maturation of the prawn, and will most probably contribute to the understanding of the sexual maturation process in crustaceans.

Thermal comfort study of plastics manufacturing industry in converting process

Thermal comfort is one of ergonomics factors that can create a significant impact to workers performance. For a better thermal comfort, several environment factors (air temperature, wind speed and relative humidity) should be considered in this research. The object of the study is a building for converting process of plastics manufacturing industry located in Malang, Indonesia. The maximum air temperature inside the building can reach as high as 36°C. The result of this study shows that heat stress is dominantly caused by heat source from machine and wall building. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is used to show the air characteristic through inside the building. By using the CFD simulation, some scenarios of solution are successfully presented. Employees thermal comfort was investigated based on predicted mean vote model (PMV) and predicted percentage of dissatisfied model (PPD). Existing condition gives PMV in range from 1.83 to 2.82 and PPD in range from 68.9 to 98%. Meanwhile, modification of ventilation and replacing ceiling material from clear glass into reflective clear glass gave significant impact to reduce PMV into range from 1.63 to 2.18 and PPD into range from 58.2 to 84.2%. In sort, new design converting building process has more comfortable for workers.

Marine and freshwater microplastic research in South Africa.

South Africa has a vibrant plastics manufacturing industry, but recycling is limited and insufficient with a notable proportion of the unmanaged waste entering the environment. South Africa is a developing country with microplastics research in its inception. Very little is known about freshwater microplastics, and studies on South African marine microplastics are limited but actively being pursued. In a water-scarce country, protection of freshwater resources remains a priority, but in the face of other socioeconomic issues (poverty, unemployment, and HIV/AIDS), it receives insufficiently effective attention. The full impact and risks of microplastics pollution in water is yet to be discovered. The risks may be enhanced in a developing country where many communities remain largely dependent on the land and natural waters. With South Africa being a water-scarce country, the quality of its aquatic resources is at an even greater risk with an assumed increasing background of microplastics, emphasizing the need for further research. A South African Water Research Commission-funded project is being undertaken to derive research priorities, but there is an immediate need for improved recycling and waste management. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:533-535. © 2017 SETAC.