Colours & masterbatch | materials
Tam, marketing and business development manager. At Broadway Colours, operations director Nick
Barber weighs in on the increased functionality issue. “You would be forgiven for thinking that the way forward for colourants, additives and masterbatch would be to strive for the best colour, the best effect or visual appeal/performance in the final product,” he says. “To a degree this is correct, but the market has now evolved so that moulders are demanding an all in-one solution. Essentially the perfect masterbatch would have to distribute evenly at a low dosage, give processing and performance enhancements and work in a range of materials.”
Barber says Broadway Colours reacted to this by
introducing Process+ Technology, a blend of process know-how and production technology. Products that incorporate Process+ Technology are claimed to benefit from improved cycle times, surface finish and longevity. The new technology can be incorporated into any colour and be used in any material. Broadway can also supply additives based on Process+ Technology to work alongside customers’ existing formulations to help improve the production process.
High temperature capability Last October, Clariant announced a CHF7.5m (approximately €6.8m) global initiative to expand its ability to produce colour and additive masterbatches and compounds using engineering polymers and high-temperature plastics like PEEK (polyether ether ketone). Clariant (which recently announced a plan to merge with Huntsman) says this is progressing on schedule.
Jeff Saeger, who heads the
expansion programme for Clariant, reports two extrusion lines at the company’s masterbatches plant in Ahrensburg, Germany have been refurbished and can now run at temperatures up to 450°C. Another new line went into operation earlier this year. Two new co-rotating extruders are now up and running in Shanghai and a smaller high-temperature unit has been started up in Singapore. Saeger says equipment for processing fluoropolymers has been installed in Lewiston, Maine, US, and new lines for specialty high-temperature compounds are now running in Holden, Massachusetts. A new black masterbatch line for engineering polymers is schedule for start-up in Holden in Q3 2017. Clariant notes that in order to work effectively in polymers that are processed at temperatures between
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300° and 450°C, masterbatches must be specially formulated using not only the same high-temperature base material, but also special pigments and additives that can stand up to extreme levels of heat and shear. “All of this requires not only advanced extrusion equipment but also specialized auxiliaries, including pre- and post-drying drying equipment and multiple gravimetric side feeders,” says the company. “Clariant is going all-out to meet increasing demand
for high-temperature-compatible masterbatches and compounds around the world,” explains Saeger. “Processing knowledge and capabilities that were first developed in the US and Singapore are now being replicated in Europe and China, and we are adding new personnel, including some with specialised expertise in key market sectors like electrical/electronics.” Clariant expects the new investments
to be especially beneficial to manufac- turers of electrical products and appliances made with flame retardant engineering thermoplastics. It has obtained UL94 masterbatch listing for more than 200 commercial grades.
Liquid colours and additives Colour masterbatches are increasingly available in liquid form as well as solid. Some processors don’t like the idea of handling liquids though, which is one reason why last year Riverdale Global announced a system for supplying liquid colours and additives in drums that stay sealed from their delivery to the plastics processor to their return for refilling. It says the system provides substantial sustainability advantages over standard systems for liquid colours and pellet
concentrates. Riverdale Global’s Sealed Color system utilises a
patented “pump in a drum” design, which enables the drum to remain sealed during delivery to the moulding or extrusion company, metering into the process, and return to Riverdale Global for refill. Besides doing away with the complications of handling liquid colour, the company says the Sealed Color system eliminates unnecessary packaging, such as the non-reusable containers from other liquid colour suppliers and the gaylords and pallets used for pellet concentrates. Such traditional packaging entails disposal costs and typically ends up in landfills, it says. “Riverdale Global’s sealed-drum concept not only puts an end to unnecessary packaging and disposal costs but also eliminates the waste of residual colorant
July/August 2017 | INJECTION WORLD 35
Left: Riverdale Global’s Sealed Color system has a “pump in a drum” design
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