US high performance films producer Raven Industries (Sioux Falls, South Dakota; www.ravenind.com) said its engineered films division has tripled the production capacity of its polymer film and sheeting production facility in Midland, Texas / USA. The expansion, completed in January, will meet rising demand for the company’s durable geomembrane containment liners, used during the drilling process in hydraulic fracking operations. Raven said the liners are used for frac pits, secondary containment systems, reserve ponds and rig-site pads, and prevent the escape of brine, produced water and other drilling fluids into the surrounding soils and water reserves.

As part of the expansion process, the 371 cm wide film produced on the company’s advanced extrusion-lamination line in South Dakota will be further processed at the Texan plant into finished containment systems. Currently in the USA, there is a big wave of shale gas investments (see Plasteurope.com of 15.03.2017).