Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
May 17, 2017 02:00 AM

LSR Select gives molder more control

Chris Sweeney
LSR World
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Chris Sweeney
    Bluestar employees working at the firm's site in York, S.C. The firm's new silicone processing system allows for more control in the molding process.

    York, S.C. — Bluestar Silicones USA Corp. is ready to shake up the LSR industry with a new silicone processing system.

    Dubbed LSR Select, the system gives molders more control over the cure profile, allowing them to adjust the levels of inhibitor and catalyst in process.

    LSR Select changes the way the inhibitor and catalyst are injected into the mold. A traditional process takes two components, Part A and B, and flows them through a pump into a static mixer and are injected into the mold. This process is kit-matched and must go in the same way with the same batch. Getting ratios to be exactly perfect to have full utilization of the silicone product is an ongoing issue with many molders, North American President Christopher York said.

    "This hasn't changed since LSR began 35 or 40 years ago," he said. "It's been an A component, B component, match kits forever. All the optimization on the equipment side, the press, the molds and the pumps, are all maxed out. This is so unique for the industry right now, the molders don't know what to think because it is a complete game-changing technology."

    What LSR Select does is switch when the catalyst and inhibitor are mixed. Instead of mixing a Part A and Part B together, the molder takes an LSR compound that contains the minimum amount of inhibitor in the base chemistry. That is then mixed in line with whatever additional inhibitor is needed followed by a platinum catalyst immediately before molding. The result is molders now have control of how much inhibitor and catalyst are injected in-line to optimize cure kinetics and efficiency.

    "This is like the jump from a pager to a cell phone," said Todd Lawrence, a research assistant at the York facility who helped oversee the development of this process. "We've cut down the amount of material that it takes to get from this point to the injector screw."

    Bluestar will provide the chemistry and developed the system. The firm partnered with Elmet, an Austrian-based silicone systems producer, to bring the machinery to life. Bluestar said LSR Select is projected to be operational at its York facility in June.

    Elmet said in an email that LSR Select gives processors flexibility. For example, sometimes LSR cures too fast and the mold temperature has to be reduced to avoid problems and sometimes it cures too slow even though the mold temperature is already very high.

    Either way, the result is a longer cycle time. Elmet said LSR Select will help ease both problems.

    "It's very user-friendly and accessible," Lawrence said. "We didn't have to have an additional cabinet to control all the functions of this. [Elmet] really simplified it; they figured out how to dose while the material's flowing, not preload and shoot."

    Karen O'Keefe, Bluestar Silicones elastomers business director, said productivity improvements vary depending on the durometer and part, but can range anywhere from 10-50 percent.

    "When you think of a product like baby bottle nipples, that's a consumer-oriented product," she said.

    "You just can't get the price point any lower, especially for consumer goods that are highly price-sensitive," O'Keefe said. "Improvement in productivity is really the only way to help address the cost pressures without sacrificing that margin at the molder level."

    The single-base system reduces downtime and eliminates the need for kit matching. And producing more parts per press reduces capital investment.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Conference covers advances in materials, machinery, cold runners
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Redline's ‘outrageous cultural behaviors' retain top employees
    2
    Material Insights: Polypropylene production — both virgin and recycled — in the spotlight
    3
    Redline buys Georgia-based Quality Holdings
    4
    Illinois, Utah see chemical recycling battles
    5
    Plastifab diversifies molding with Marchel acquisition
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified