The present invention provides a protective coating for protecting a substrate from deleterious elements present in environments in which the substrates are deployed and methods and apparatus for deploying a PVC encasement with a longitudinal snap jacket of suitable length and girth to coat a pylon substrate or building girder and provide a filler within the snap jacket and around an encased pylon.

Gas-permeable barrier films include a polyolefin and an inorganic filler dispersed in the polyolefin. Methods for forming polymeric films and articles of manufacture prepared therefrom are described.

Gas-permeable barrier films include a polyolefin and an inorganic filler dispersed in the polyolefin. Methods for forming polymeric films and articles of manufacture prepared therefrom are described.

A polyetheretherketone pipe of length greater than 250 meters and a residual stress of less than 5 MPa may be made using a calibrator device 2 which includes a cone shaped opening 6 arranged to receive a molten extruded pipe shaped polymer. Attached to the front member 4 is a vacuum plate 14a and successive vacuum plates 14b-14h are attached to one another to define an array of vacuum plates, the vacuum plates being arranged to allow a vacuum to be applied to a pipe precursor passing through opening 16. The vacuum plates 14 also include temperature control means for heating or cooling the plates and therefore heating or cooling a pipe precursor passing through the openings. With a vacuum applied to opening 6, 16 and heating/cooling the plates, an extruded hot plastics pipe is inserted into calibrator 2 via opening 6 and conveyed through opening 16 in plates 14, whereupon it is urged by the vacuum against the cylindrical surface defined by plates 14 to maintain its shape and the temperature of each plate is controlled to control the rate of cooling of the pipe precursor passing through. The pipe may be cooled at a relatively slow rate so that a pipe made from a relatively fast crystallising polymer crystalises and the crystallinity of the pipe along its extent and throughout its thickness is substantially constant.

A splittable introducer sheath includes a tubular body portion formed from a first material and at least one stripe extending an entire length of the main body portion, the at least one stripe being formed form a second material. The first material is one of a medium-density polyethylene modified with a friction-reducing additive or high-density polyethylene (HDPE) modified with a friction-reducing additive. The second material is a thermoplastic elastomer modified with a siloxane additive. The sheath is dividable longitudinally along the at least one stripe.

A sizer for cooling an extrudate includes a core and a housing. The core includes an extrusion channel which accommodates the extrudate, a core cooling channel, and a core vacuum channel in fluid communication with said extrusion channel. The housing includes a housing cooling channel, a housing vacuum channel, a cooling intake, and a cooling exhaust. The housing cooling and vacuum channels having curved segments. The cooling intake and exhaust being in fluid communication with said housing cooling channel.

A blown film line and process for making blown film, including an annular extrusion or coextrusion die, a plurality of nip rollers at a location remote from the annular die, a blown film bubble extruding from the annular die and traveling toward the nip rollers along a traveling path, an air cooling apparatus in the vicinity of the annular die, and a water cooling apparatus located downstream from the air cooling apparatus along the traveling path. The water cooling apparatus includes a wet porous material in direct contact with the blown film bubble and surrounding an outer circumference of the blown film bubble. The wet porous material continuously wipes the blown film bubble with water as the blown film bubble moves along the traveling path.

A multilayer membrane comprising at least two co-extruded layers where the two co-extruded layer contain different polymers and one of the two co-extruded layers contains an extrusion additive. Examples of useful extrusion additives may include a nucleating agent or a pore-forming particulate. A method for making the membrane is also disclosed. Using an extrusion additive when co-extruding two different polymers avoids some of the drawbacks associated with processes involving the co-extrusion of different polymers, particularly processes where a co-extruded non-porous precursor is later stretched to form pores. For example, the drawback of lower permeability, difficulty to make lower Gurley, and splittiness may be improved.

The invention relates to an apparatus for providing marks on extruded films, in particular on stretched films, which are exiting an extrusion lip of a film extruder and a respective method. The apparatus comprises at least one nozzle means for directing a gas stream, preferably an air stream to a surface of the film exiting the extrusion lip of the film extruder, wherein the nozzle means are configured and arranged in such a manner that the gas stream locally causes a cooling of the extruded film to create a local mark.

A splittable introducer sheath includes a tubular body portion formed from a first material and at least one stripe extending an entire length of the main body portion, the at least one stripe being formed form a second material. The first material is one of a medium-density polyethylene modified with a friction-reducing additive or high-density polyethylene (HDPE) modified with a friction-reducing additive. The second material is a thermoplastic elastomer modified with a siloxane additive. The sheath is dividable longitudinally along the at least one stripe.