news from NPE
Teknor Apex scores early success with BioVinyl
Teknor Apex used NPE to launch its BioVinyl flexible PVC compounds incorporating Dow’s Ecolibrium bio-based phthalate-free plasticizers. It also revealed some of their first commercial applications. Initial customers for BioVinyl include Okabashi, which is using the material to mould flip-flop sandals, and Barbour Plastics, which is extruding a range of shoe welting. In addition, Flooring Adventures is using the flexible PVC to make Tuff-Seal interlocking floor tiles. Other target applications include irrigation tubing plus extruded seals and gaskets for building and construction applications. Researchers at Teknor Apex have produced developmental compounds using Ecolibrium for these two types of components and compared them with standard DINP and DEHP plasticizers. They found that for the seal
and gasket profiles for building applications, the bio-based plasticizer was more efficient than DEHP, providing compa-
Teknor Apex has successfully tested BioVinyl in irrigation tubing plus extruded seals and gaskets
Steer stirs up screw technology
Steer Engineering of India launched its patent-pending Dynamic Stir Element (DSE) for its Omega twin-screw extruders at NPE in Orlando. It is described as a “grooved mixing element with multiple surfaces in a short length”.
Mixing elements have
rable 70 Shore A hardness at lower loadings, as well as greater tensile strength and higher melt viscosity. For irrigation tubing, Teknor
Apex compared two mineral- filled 90 Shore A compounds. It found that Dow’s Ecolibrium exhibited 14% greater efficiency than DINP. Overall physical properties were comparable, but BioVinyl exhibited 50% higher long- term heat stability and a three- fold increase in dynamic heat stability, creating a larger processing window. Louis Cappucci, vice
president in charge of the vinyl division at Teknor Apex, said that the company has already produced more than 80 different compound formula-
tions using Ecolibrium targeted at applications such as medical tubing, wire & cable, industrial and automotive. Earlier this year, Dow and
Teknor Apex announced their joint market development agreement for flexible PVC using Ecolibrium (see Compounding World, Febru- ary 2012, page 8, for details). ❙
www.teknorapex.com ❙
www.dow.com/ecolibrium
Buss adds lab-scale MX kneader
Buss used NPE to launch a new laboratory version of its MX kneader. The machine is the first lab-scale kneader to feature four-flight technology. It has a maximum screw speed of 800 rpm and can deliver 5 to 25 kg/h with batch quantities of 300 g or more. Like the larger machines in the range, the MX 30 is particularly
suitable for the compounding of heat-sensitive and shear- sensitive polymers and the production of highly filled compounds. Examples include HFFR, XLPE and silane-crosslinkable cable compounds, according to the company. ❙
www.busscorp.com
www.compoundingworld.com
The Buss MX 30 is the
company’s
first lab-scale four-flight kneader
traditionally used grooves to disrupt flow and provide mixing, but material can stagnate and degrade in the grooves. Steer Engineering says that the DSE solves this problem because it is designed to be self-wiping, in a similar manner to a co- kneader where the pins wipe the screw flights. The DSE screw elements
provide stirring and distribution using elonga- tion flow with low and uniform shear. This is in contrast to kneading blocks that can produce high shear and pressure peaks, increasing the chances of degradation. ❙
www.steerworld.com
April 2012 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 13
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