Oil-based plasticizer to replace phthalates
Danisco A/S is touting a vegetable oil-based product to replace phthalate plasticizers in vinyl.
The firm said its Grindsted Soft-N-Safe plasticizer recently was approved for food-contact use in the European Union. The product is based on castor oil and acetic acid. Danisco claims Grindsted does not have hormone-disrupting effects, is tasteless and odorless and is metabolized like vegetable oil.
The Copenhagen, Denmark, company said Grindsted is suitable for flexible vinyl applications without changing processing equipment. It foresees bottle-cap liners, cling film, toys and medical uses among the first commercial applications. The plasticizer, which costs three to four times more than phthalates, might be too expensive for uses such as flooring, wire and cable, and office furnishings, the firm said.
Danisco is a large sweetener and food-ingredients company.
Tel. +45 (3) 266-2000, fax +45 (3)266-2175, e-mail [email protected]
Resin dryer offered in low-cost version
Baltimore-based Novatec Inc. is offering users a lower-cost version of its compressed-air resin dryer by removing the internal membrane and making it a retrofit option.
Users that do not need the very low, minus 40° F dew point made possible by the membrane save roughly a third of the unit's $3,500 price, said John Doub Jr., executive vice president.
Doub said that, depending on the temperature of the incoming air, the NovaDrier N-50 model can get to a minus 10° F dew point without the membrane - which is adequate for many resins. Novatec owns a patent on the membrane version of the dessicant-free dryer, which Doub said greatly reduces energy costs as well as maintenance costs associated with the moving parts in conventional dryers.
Tel. (410) 789-4811, e-mail [email protected]
Sunbelt introduces liquid solvent dies
Sunbelt Corp. has introduced liquid solvent dyes geared toward thermoplastic polyester concentrates.
The Rock Hill, S.C., firm said the products are light-fast and suited to pharmaceutical and medicine bottles, among other uses. The grades include brown, red and blue.
Sunbelt's technical center is in Wayne, N.J.
Tel. (800) 768-9787 or (973) 633-1600, fax (973) 633-6620 or e-mail [email protected]
Infraredia's monitor averts hidden faults
Infraredia LLC's infrared-based systems enable an extruder, thermoformer or injection molder to control and monitor all aspects of resin processing.
The firm, a new joint venture in Naples, Fla., aims to supply open- and closed-loop control systems to large-volume processors and others in the plastics industry.
Groupe Deltec Vespromar Inc. markets the systems, which use A-series infrared cameras from the thermography division of Flir Systems Inc. in North Billerica, Mass. Plastics processors in Michigan, Florida and elsewhere began beta tests in September.
Infraredia is owned by GDVI of Naples and Phoenix Avis of Farmington, Mich. The machine-vision technology ``will allow people to see plastic thermally and know what its exact temperature is across the web in real time,'' said John Hoskins, Infraredia managing director and GDVI president. He envisions the technology changing the way plastics are processed and, in particular, benefiting high-speed, in-line thermoforming.
Infraredia's thermal stability and processing make parts that do not have hidden faults, which later can cause breaks, failures or fatigue, Hoskins said. ``Current monitoring equipment and the human eye may see only 10 percent. Our systems and IR technology see 100 percent.''
For image processing, Infraredia uses a single-board computer with a passive back plane and incorporates software intelligent enough to flag problem areas, said Gerald Budd, president of Phoenix Avis.
Tel. (239) 272-9202, fax (239) 389-6485, e-mail [email protected]
Shredder designed for difficult material
Herbold Meckesheim GmbH's new, low-speed, single-rotor HOG shredder/granulator, the HGM, reduces difficult materials or material containing tramp metal - including post-consumer bottles, metal-reinforced plastic or rubber parts and shredded waste from car recycling.
The shredder has an oversized rotor equipped with knives in a helical pattern.
For making powder, the company introduced the GPU series of pulverizers and the new PU 500.
A modular design means the pulverizers are available with different rotors for various uses: grinding discs with grooved and conical grinding tools; wing beaters with replaceable ridges; pinned discs for machines without a screen; and counter-rotating or blast rotors.
The company in Meckesheim, Germany, has a U.S. subsidiary, Resource Recycling Systems Inc., in Smithfield, R.I.
Tel. (401) 232-3354, fax (401) 232-5425, e-mail [email protected] recycling.net.
