An important feature of the BM26B experimental hutch is its size, which makes it possible to construct industrially relevant experimental conditions. In 2010 a Collin Blown Film Unit type 180-400 and extruder were set up on BM26B to investigate the microstructure of LDPE films

Enough polymer film is made every year to wrap up the Earth at least three times. Improving the quality of films could allow production of thinner films with the same performance characteristics, with consequently less environmental impact. This work is a collaboration between TU Eindhoven, the University of Genoa and DUBBLE staff.

Reference: E.M. Troisi et.al. “Structure evolution during film blowing: An experimental study using in-situ small angle X-ray scattering”, Eur. Polymer Journal, Volume 74, (2016) 190-208; doi:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2015.11.022

A description of this experiment can be found here