Blown film cooling, gauge & bubble control
Blown Film Air Ring & Control Selector
Compare Addex cooling and control options in four guided steps. Start with the production result you want, describe the line in plain language, and carry the completed profile into application review and pricing.
Addex specializes in blown-film cooling, thickness-profile control, air distribution, and digital internal bubble cooling. Its systems can be integrated on new equipment or applied as targeted retrofits, so the right starting point may be one air ring, one control layer, or a coordinated upgrade path.
Authorized sales & applications support
Interactive Addex starting point
Start with the process problem, not a product name
You do not need a finished specification. Choose the closest answers and use “Not sure” whenever necessary. The result identifies a primary Addex product path, supporting components, and the details that still need engineering review.
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About Addex
Specialized technology for the air inside and outside the bubble
Based in Newark, New York, Addex focuses on blown-film cooling, gauge control, bubble-size control, and the controls that coordinate those functions. Windmöller & Hölscher acquired Addex in 2025, while Addex continues under its established name and product lines. Gauge Advisor provides authorized sales and applications support for Addex equipment.
Addex technologies at a glance
See the equipment behind the selector result
The selector recommends a preliminary starting point. This visual overview shows how the major Addex technologies differ and where supporting controls may enter the system.
External cooling and thickness-profile control
Start with the production limitation: baseline cooling and stability, higher heat removal, manual correction, automatic correction, air distribution, or a maximum-output application review.
High-Performance Air Rings
Dual-flow air-ring technology designed to deliver smooth, high-volume external cooling and bubble support. LFR is Addex’s air-ring path without manual or automatic gauge adjustment; final selection still depends on the required cooling, stability, die, and blower conditions.
Review: die profile, bubble shape, lip and collar arrangement, blower operating point, and actual production bottleneck.
Official Addex overview
Intensive Cooling
Adds a high-velocity cooling element close to the die exit, increasing heat removal and creating another stabilizing point where the bubble is weakest.
Review: cooling must be the real limitation, and the blower, extruder, tower, haul-off, winding, and downstream process must have capacity.
Official Addex overview
Manual Gauge Control
Uses narrow, individually adjustable airflow zones to reduce a stable, repeating thick-and-thin pattern without adding a fully automatic control loop.
Best fit: a repeatable total-film profile that stays in predictable locations and can be corrected periodically by the operator.
Official Addex overview
External Gauge Control
Uses mapped online film-thickness data to make localized airflow corrections around the bubble. Movement tracking keeps corrections aligned when the die or upper takeoff rotates or oscillates.
Requires: a correctable total-film profile, compatible live measurement, reliable mapping, and the appropriate position signals.
Official Addex overview
Single-Inlet Plenum
A dual-counterflow plenum that distributes cooling air from one main connection, reducing multiple-hose length, bend, and inlet effects as sources of uneven airflow.
Review: blower flow and pressure, connection size, available routing, movement, mounting, and service clearance.
Official Addex overview
Short Stack Intensive Cooling
An enclosed, two-level stacked Intensive Cooling arrangement for applications seeking a larger cooling increase than a standard air-ring upgrade. It is a detailed engineering path, not a default recommendation.
Review: product family, melt strength, blower and extruder capacity, available tower height, downstream limitations, and operating consistency.
Official Addex overviewBubble control, movement tracking, and system integration
External cooling is only one part of the line. These technologies regulate internal air, hold bubble diameter, map a moving profile, and coordinate selected functions from one control platform.
Digital IBC Control
Digital sensing and coordinated internal supply and exhaust control for maintaining bubble diameter, layflat, and stability. Faster valve options can support tighter control and quicker size changes.
Function: Digital internal bubble cooling (DIBC) controls bubble size and internal air; it does not replace external cooling or total-film profile control.
Official Addex overview
IBC Hardware
Internal supply and exhaust components configured for the die, internal passages, mating seat, basket geometry, clearances, and the demands of the selected cooling system.
Review: complete internal die profile, existing blowers and valves, available space, heating, insulation, and any hardware worth retaining.
Official Addex overview
Die & Haul-Off Position Tracking
Tracks applicable die or haul-off rotation and oscillation so measured film-thickness data can be mapped back to the correct position at the die.
Review: which section moves, encoder and drive signals, speed relationship, synchronization, ownership of movement control, and safety interlocks.
Official Addex overview
Generation 3 Control System
A modular controller and touchscreen platform that can coordinate selected profile control, digital IBC, movement, bubble-cage control, and other Addex system functions.
Review: modules, retained controls, communications, line-speed and position signals, enclosure, operator tasks, and plant integration.
Official Addex overviewProblem-to-technology map
Similar symptoms can require very different equipment
This is why the selector starts with what the line does before naming an air ring or control product.
Intensive Cooling review
Appropriate only when cooling or bubble stability reaches its limit before the extruder and downstream line.
Manual Gauge Control
A practical path when the same total-film thick and thin areas remain in predictable locations.
External Gauge Control
Uses compatible measurement and position mapping to keep making localized corrections during production.
Digital IBC Control or BIDS
DIBC regulates active internal supply and exhaust airflow on an IBC line. BIDS inflates or deflates retained air on a compatible non-IBC line. The appropriate path helps hold bubble diameter and finished layflat more consistently.
Why Addex and Gauge Advisor
A modular equipment selection with application support built in
Retrofit or OEM flexibility
Start with the highest-priority cooling or control problem and retain compatible equipment where a practical integration plan exists.
Blown-film specialization
Addex concentrates on the cooling, gauge, internal-air, movement, and control functions that directly shape blown-film performance.
Newark-based continuity
Addex continues under its established name and product lines, backed by Windmöller & Hölscher following the 2025 acquisition.
One commercial contact
Gauge Advisor coordinates application review, equipment selection, quotation, startup planning, and ongoing support with Addex.
What helps turn the selector result into a quotation
You can start with partial information. Photos, drawings, recent profiles, and blower data simply help the review move faster.
- Die size and face profile, current air ring, bubble shape, blow-up ratio range, frost-line height, movement, and installation space
- Blower model, motor size, operating speed, airflow, pressure, temperature, hoses, filters, and available variable-speed control
- Resin structures, thickness and layflat range, current and desired output, extruder loading, tower, haul-off, treater, winder, and downstream capacity
- Existing IBC supply and exhaust arrangement, internal die geometry, valves, sensors, bubble cage, scanner, and controls worth retaining
Quick answers
Before you submit the line profile
Is the selector result a final Addex equipment specification?
Does a higher-output air ring always increase production?
What is the difference between manual and automatic thickness control?
What happens after I send the selector results?
Ready to match the Addex system to the real line?
Gauge Advisor provides authorized Addex sales and applications support. Equipment guidance, quotations, and project coordination are included in the represented-equipment sales process at no separate consulting charge.