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NEWSLETTER

CONTENTS

May 2019

Page 1:

New Acquisition

Page 2-3:

Case story- DEFINOX pigging system

GB4806:2016 status

Page 4:

BNIC

Drinking water approval of rubber compounds in Germany after 2021

News

• New R&D Manager

New Acquisition

In order to enhance growth as well as our presence in the market, especially in the Netherlands, AVK GUMMI has taken over Ravestein Rubberparts B.V. in the Netherlands.

”Throughout many years, the growth of AVK GUMMI has been based on organic growth, but we now have the opportunity of growing through the acquisition of Ravestein Rubberparts,” says Peter Lorentzen, Managing Director, and continues: “Apart from the existing turnover at Ravestein Rubberparts, we also see great potential of increased sales from AVK GUMMI in the Netherlands.”

In the future, Ravestein Rubberparts B.V. will be known as AVK Ravestein B.V. Focus of the company will still be the Dutch market, especially in the field of industrial products. AVK Ravestein has a modern and flexible machine park, however with certain limitations concerning the types and sizes of the machines.

Former owner, Rob Ravestein, says: ”I wanted to find an industrial partner who would carry on the company and who was familiar with the products and the processes – and I am certain to have found that in AVK GUMMI. Having a “big brother” with more equipment and greater capacity means that we can offer our customers a wider production programme. In turn, this will increase the turnover of AVK Ravestein.”

Rob Ravestein will continue until a new General Manager has been appointed and is familiar with the company.

“The future looks bright, and I am sure that the acquisition of AVK Ravestein will increase our turnover and market share,

especially in the Netherlands,” says Anders Guldbæk Christensen, Sales and R&D Director.

In general, AVK GUMMI sees continued growth, however to a lesser extent than last year.

”We see growth within the food sector, but a small decline in the technical market,” says Anders Guldbæk Christensen and concludes: “However, we still look with optimism towards the rest of 2019.”

”In connection with an increased demand for special rubber compounds, we have decided to invest in a new mixing line, which will be installed in 2019,” says Peter Lorentzen. “Apart from the new mixing line, we will also invest in increased moulding capacity in order to keep up with the increased demand.”

At present, the raw material situation concerning EPDM and NBR is stable. In 2018, the price of silicone increased considerably due to a lack of capacity with our raw material suppliers. The price level is now stagnated, but still high compared with previous price levels. We have not received any indication of a future price reduction, but we follow the situation closely. The price of carbon black is rising, partly due to the new rules for marine fuels. IMO (International Maritime Organization) has decided that as of 2020 a ship may not carry fuel with a content of more than 0.5% Sulphur on board. See http://www.imo.org. for more information.

The above means that there is an increased demand for oil with a low sulphur content, which is the oil applied in the production of the very clean carbon black types used by AVK GUMMI.

Peter Lorentzen, Managing Director of AVK GUMMI, and Rob Ravestein, previous owner and Managing Director of Ravestein Rubberparts B.V.

3D stop station.

Case story- DEFINOX pigging system

DEFINOX pigging system.

AVK GUMMI and DEFINOX have successfully completed a comprehensive project concerning the development of a new series of pigs for a pigging solution with stringent sanitary requirements.

For 50 years now, DEFINOX has specialised in the design and manufacture of valves and stainless steel equipment for industrial processes in the food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries.

The DEFINOX pigging system has been part of the product portfolio for more than 20 years. This scraping system is easily adapted to various kinds of processes and is suitable for most liquid and paste products in DIN, SMS or US lines.

Start of the co-operationSébastien Fontenit, Technical Manager at DEFINOX and employed with the company for 20 years, has been leading the development of the new pigging system since the start of the project in 2015.

The co-operation between DEFINOX and AVK GUMMI was initiated in 2016.

“During our first visit at AVK GUMMI we established that AVK GUMMI had a wide range of food and beverage approved elastomers and an extensive knowledge

within this field,” says Sébastien Fontenit and continues: “There are not so many rubber manufacturers in the food and beverage market with a high level of elastomer knowledge, but AVK GUMMI had really good references in the market. This, combined with the fact that AVK GUMMI has their own mixing plant and develops and produces all the compounds in house, meant that we soon identified AVK GUMMI as a future supplier.”

“Pigging systems was a new market for us, and we are very pleased that DEFINOX chose AVK GUMMI as a co-operative partner for the project,” says Heinz Schlup, Area Sales Manager at AVK GUMMI.”

Scope of projectDEFINOX already had an existing pigging system at the time, but needed a solution completely in silicone rubber where the parts were not screwed together. The new system was to include a magnet cage inside for detection during the cleaning process. It was important for DEFINOX to find a supplier, who already had rubber compounds with the required approvals – FDA, EC 1935/2004 and 3-A Sanitary Standards – as this would shorten the development process considerably.

“During our initial meetings, we discussed

the project goals and established the requirement specification together with the necessary actions,” says Heinz Schlup and continues: “We reviewed the drawings and went through the different possibilities of our rubber solutions that had the required food compliance.”

Right from the start of the project, regular Skype conferences were set up in order to follow the project closely and make sure that the mutual expectations were met.

“As the new pigging system was a redesign of the existing system to be released in a new market, it was important for us to be able to rely on the competences of AVK GUMMI,” says Sébastien Fontenit and continues:

“Throughout the entire project, we have received professional and proactive support, both in connection with choosing the most qualified compounds as well as finding the right production solution. The reports from each Skype conference with action points, deadlines and persons responsible for each action gave us a feeling of security that we were always on top of things. Finally, AVK GUMMI has helped us resolve a number of issues during the process, always taking into account our requirements.”

Test procedureApart from testing the selected rubber compound internally at AVK GUMMI, DEFINOX has carried out internal bench tests as well as field tests of the pigging system at customer sites throughout the project.

“The tests that we carry out are not subject to the same conditions as those of our customers,” says Sébastien Fontenit, and continues: “Therefore, it is important that the system is also tested by our customers. In this connection, we must make sure that the customer uses the system correctly. First of all, the parameters must be set to the new pig, and we need to make sure that the correct speed and pressure is applied as the lifetime of the pig will otherwise be shortened.”

Selected customers have tested the first generation of the new pigging system, so far for up to 120 km in use, which fulfils the expectations of DEFINOX. The lifetime of the pig depends on the production process (water or air) as well as the quality of the pipe and product that is pushed.

“Already before receiving the results of the first field tests, AVK GUMMI made some further improvements of the pigging system,” says Heinz Schlup and adds: “We expect that the lifetime of the new improved version will be even longer than the lifetime achieved during the first field tests.”

DEFINOX will not sell the new pig as a spare part for the previous pig generation to start with, but the intention is to do so later. Initially, the pigging system will therefore be used for new installations only.

The future“We are satisfied with the design of the pig and feel assured that the sanitary requirements have been met, and that our customers will be confident using the product,” says Sébastien Fontenit.

“We are happy to have a new product with a qualified elastomer that we can now introduce in the market.”

DEFINOX pigging bench test.

Status of the Chinese regulation for food contact materials – GB4806:2016In 2016, the new GB4806 was introduced in China, following a number of serious food scandals where contact materials contained dangerous substances. Together with a number of customers, AVK GUMMI participated in the optimisation of the regulation and still contributes with suggestions for improvements. This work is carried out in cooperation with DPTC (Changzhou Safety Testing for Entry-Exit Industrial and Consumable Products), who has been authorized by the Chinese State to build up and maintain the regulation. At the same time, public authorities, test institutes and the industry are working hard on implementing the regulation and introducing approved materials in order to strengthen the safety of the Chinese citizens through nationally approved food contact materials.

Status of the regulatory workAt the beginning of 2019, the Chinese authorities asked the industry to come up with suggestions for improvements of GB4806.11, which is the section of the regulation concerning rubber materials. AVK GUMMI submitted our feedback on 12 February 2019.

Later came the invitation to submit suggestions for new ingredients on the positive list, GB8695. We have also handed in this feedback, and we now

await the response of DPTC.

Although new ingredients are added to the positive list, the documentation burden remains high. Effectively, this means that a number of raw materials used without concern for food contact in Germany, France and the USA will not be added to the positive list in China.

AVK GUMMI compoundsOver the years, food contact compounds of AVK GUMMI have been developed in compliance with FDA 177.2600, 3-A (18-03), EN1935:2004 and some also in compliance with BfR XXI. In 2016, we introduced the first EPDM compound with a GB4806:2016 approval – EGB-75. With the latest update of EAF-70 and EAF-75, these compounds now also hold the Chinese approval together with the other approvals.

With the new EAF-70 and EAF-75, we now have two high-performance compounds, which we have based on the Chinese positive list without compromising on the unique properties: Low deformation, low friction, high temperature and chemical resistance as well as a long lifetime.

This gives our customers the possibility of continuing a global strategy with one compound instead of having a differentiated solution for each country. In turn, this will maintain low stock and eliminate issues of increased complexity.

Future compoundsEPDM is the most significant rubber type in the food industry. However, FKM, HNBR and silicone compounds are still required. While we are working hard on developing high-performance FKM and silicone compounds, it is still impossible to formulate an HNBR compound for the simple reason that HNBR is not on the positive list.

Together with our raw material suppliers, we are working on finding a solution to this. Therefore, we hope to be able to offer HNBR with a GB4806 approval within the next years and thus complete our portfolio of high-performance compounds with a global approval profile.

NEWS

NEWSLETTERPublished by:

AVK GUMMI A/SMosegaardsvej 1DK-8670 LaasbyTel.: + 45 86 95 13 11Fax: + 45 86 95 10 85

avk@avkgummi.dkwww.avkgummi.com

Sales: Anders G. ChristensenTechnical service: Erik CorneliusLogistics: Sune KrøisQuality: Kent A. RasmussenEditor: Anne-Kristina Lowes

New R&DManager

As of 1 September 2018 Esben Øster joined AVK GUMMI as R&D Manager.

Esben has a degree as chemical engineer and 20 years’ experience from the surface treatment industry.

With a wide chemical engineering knowledge from various sectors in the industry, both in Denmark and in the export markets, Esben has a solid background for handling the many different and challenging projects in the R&D department at AVK GUMMI, such as the development of recipes, test of a wide range of rubber compounds and the obtaining of approvals at external test institutes.

We welcome Esben at AVK GUMMI!

Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) is an organisation responsible for protecting the general interests of Cognac worldwide. One of the tasks of BNIC is to ensure that the rubber materials used for the production of cognac are safe.

In order for a rubber compound to be approved, the compound must comply with European legislation, including EN1935:2004. Furthermore, the compound must pass the following tests: Total migration (70% ethanol, 10 dage, 70⁰C); qualitative and quantitative analysis of the extract; taste and

smell (Eaux de vie, 10 days, 40⁰C); migration test in accordance with Arreté 09.11.1994.

Once all the requirements have been fulfilled, the compound is added to a Green List. BNIC also has a Yellow List, which is a list of rubber compounds that have passed all tests but have not yet obtained a complete certificate of conformity. So far, three of AVK GUMMIs compounds are on the Green List: FBF-70, FBF-75 and FGF-70. The next step is to obtain approval of one of our silicone compounds.

BNIC

In 2011, KTW was replaced by Elastomer Guideline as the Ministry of Environment wanted to update an outdated positive list and generally tighten up the test platform.

The new positive list was – and still is – rather limited, which made it impossible to formulate a suitable compound based on the list. Therefore, a supplementary list – List 2 – was identified. This list was to apply during a transitional five-year period. However, in 2014 the Ministry of Environment decided to extend the transitional period for a further five years until the end of 2021.

2021 is now getting close, but there seems to be no prospect of the transitional period being further extended. Moreover, existing approvals will be discontinued. Therefore, we must be prepared that the cost of drinking water compounds with a German approval will increase considerably and/or that the quality will be affected. The main reason for this is the very limited number of accelerators for sulphur-vulcanised compounds as well as the lack of peroxides for peroxide-vulcanised compounds.

The latter could potentially give us well-functioning compounds. However, the costs would increase considerably due to further process steps and more expensive raw materials. Also, the German authorities will carry out regular audits of the production site after 2021 just as the authorities require that we have a self-inspection system involving relatively advanced analysis procedures.At worst, we may risk that the function

and lifetime of the compounds that can be approved will deteriorate. This risk must be weighed against the assumption that the consumer safety will be improved.

”At AVK GUMMI we do not use raw materials that pose a risk to the consumer, which is why we welcome a qualified List 1,” says Anders Guldbæk Christensen, Sales and R&D Director, and continues: “Therefore, we still cooperate with the authorities and our colleagues in the industry within the scope of Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie (WDK) in order to create a functional approval programme to be applied after year 2021.

At the same time, we work hard on further developing our compounds so that AVK GUMMI will uphold our position as a global market leader of drinking water compounds. This means that after 2021, we will still have solutions that fulfil the requirements of our customers, and we keep up the work of optimising the function and lifetime of our compounds.”

Drinking water approval of rubber compounds in Germany – what will happen after 2021?

AVK gate valve.