additives feature | PVC stabilizers
– standard and custom – or cost-effective options available as now. And this is important, since additive suppliers – and
compounders – continue to face numerous challenges in PVC markets. Many stem from compliance with environmental and health and safety rules that require formulation changes. Notable here is the European Union’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) directive, which is phasing out di-butyltin and lead compounds and other materials. At the same time VinylPlus – a voluntary commitment by the European PVC industry – aims to boost PVC’s sustainability, including its many additives. These are regional initiatives with global implications. There is also an obvious and ongoing need to
improve the performance, processability and cost benefi ts of PVC compounds, a process heavily depend- ent on additive selection. The ability to develop innovative grades based on evolving compounding and end-user needs can help additive suppliers outperform markets in times of low growth or declining demand.
Driving demand Galata Chemicals is one company that looks to use innovative product developments to expand compound- ers’ applications. Formerly the PVC additives business of Chemtura, but now owned by Artek Surfi n Chemicals of India, the company has been developing PVC stabilizers to provide grades that keep compounders ahead of the market. “The trend is to anticipate customer needs,” says
Galata has developed
stabilizers to allow PVC to withstand 125°C in wire and cable
applications
Drew Clock, Galata’s global business director. “We are trying to determine what is coming down the pike so we do not simply react to changes but drive change through innovation.” Its global portfolio of PVC additives includes: Mark methyltin, butyltin and octyltin stabilizers; Mark solid and liquid mixed-metal stabilizers; OBS organic-based heavy-metal-free stabilizers; and Blendex polymer modifi ers.
Among the supplier’s developments are heat
stabilizers for wire and cable insulation that allow PVC to maintain properties at 125°C, the point where most current stabilizers become ineffective, says the company. Target applications include automotive cabling. It has also commercialised new Mark tin
stabilizers with low levels of the metal. By developing what it terms “synergistic compositions”, the company reduces tin while maintaining or improving perfor- mance characteristics of the additives,
54 COMPOUNDING WORLD | June 2014
www.compoundingworld.com
without increasing cost-in-use. The economy of additives dictates that tin reductions be meaningful. Clock says it is not possible to either hold the line on costs or generate savings by cutting tin levels only 1 to 2%. To assemble a complete package of regulatory benefi ts, performance and economy, Galata offers mixed-metal stabilizers using undisclosed renewable chemicals for rigid and fl exible PVC. “The key is always to improve product performance at the same or lower cost,” Clock says. In recent years, Galata has become more focused on
developing custom formulations. Prior to its sale by Chemtura four years ago, around 10% of its additives were developed on a custom basis; that ratio is now closer to 80%, and could go higher as its management believes that even in a stable market there are signifi - cant growth opportunities for innovative formulations.
Building blocks Another company that has grown in this market in recent years is US-based PMC Group. The family-owned company has purchased polymer additives businesses from petrochemical majors including Dow Chemical, AkzoNobel, Arkema, BASF, PPG Industries and Huntington Laboratories. The company has three major business units in the US that offer vinyl additives: PMC Organometallix, PMC Crystal and PMC Biogenix – as well as operations in Asia and Europe. Late last year, PMC opened its Center for Vinyl
Innovation (CVI) in Pennsylvania, which is dedicated to testing, research and additive development for global PVC and CPVC markets. The company’s additives, many of which are customisable, include: butyltin, methyltin and octyltin heat stabilizers; lubricants (including one-packs); and various metallic stearates. The business units of PMC Group produce a range of performance additives, tin-based catalysts and other
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