28 | Focus on Resins: NTL Chemical Consulting
MANUFACTURING TRENDS
RESIN
NTL Chemical Consulting was founded in 2008 in Thessaloniki, Greece, by Nikos Pargianas to provide resin technology to the panel industry.
Mike Botting spoke to Mr Pargianas about the latest trends in resin manufacture N
ikos Pargianas has around 35 years’ experience in resin synthesis, having
worked in the field for some years before founding NTL Chemical Consulting. Today, the day-to-day running of the
company is in the hands of Mr Pargianas’ son George, who joined NTL five years ago. However, Nikos Pargianas retains the role of managing director, despite having ‘retired’ three years ago. NTL employs around 12 people, most of whom are experienced resin technologists, including external specialist consultants who are also contracted to the business on specific projects.
Resin manufacture is not actually what the
company does: It is dedicated to product- based research and development of resins, additives and other chemicals, for which it has a laboratory in Thessaloniki’s Technology Park.
Complete-package engineering services for the construction and operation of resin plants are also offered. NTL says it has worked in this way with companies all over the world and says that its application experience is a key skill. For the production of trial boards, NTL
cooperates with various universities and wood institutes, which have the equipment to make and test samples. The company was founded on the production of formaldehyde and phenolic- based resins and that is still a major component of its business, although it has obviously had to respond to the call for the reduction of formaldehyde emissions in wood-based panels.
NTL produces all types of formaldehyde- class resins: from E1 down to Super E0 and to levels of natural wood, including special hardeners, cross-linkers and formaldehyde
scavengers, which help to reduce the final boards’ production cost per m3
.
The current aim of the company, of
necessity, is to develop ‘green’ bio-based sustainable resins as that is what the market is demanding. “We have been approached by our
customers, pushing us for the rapid development of these products and we are working on sustainable alternatives to formaldehyde resins,” said Mr Pargianas. “Several wood panel manufacturing
companies worldwide, as well Institutes and universities, are also carrying out research projects in this field. However, the development and production of formaldehyde-free & ‘green’ bio-based sustainable resins are not something new. “The first particleboard production I have seen using tannin as a bio-based sustainable resin was in Australia almost 30 years ago,” said Mr Pargianas. “The tannin was extracted from acacia bark in South Africa and used in Australia. Tannin from South Africa was also used in South Korea for particleboard production, about 20 years ago.” These resins were not without their problems, explained Mr Pargianas. The tannin had to be used in powder form and this created dilution difficulties and a dust problem. “Tannin needed a cross-linker and urea formaldehyde concentrate (UFC) was used at that time, at less than 5% concentration, and the formaldehyde emission of the resultant boards was down to that of natural wood.” Other problems were also encountered: tannin is dark brown in colour, thus affecting the colour of the finished board; and the particleboard produced was not stable and “expanded in all directions,” said Mr Pargianas.
Above: NTL has a research lab in Thessaloniki’s Technology Park WBPI | April/May 2024 |
www.wbpionline.com
“This was one of the main reasons, in my opinion, why the clients stopped using
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