P U T O D A Y D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 1ipuatc.com/pdf/pu_today_dec2018_issue_final.pdf · 2019-02-07 · Mr Isaac Emmanuel - Covestro India Pvt Limited [email protected]

1P U T o d a y d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 8

2 P U T o d a y d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 8


COMMITTEE MEMBER’SMESSAGE

Dear friends, we are indeed in the end of the quarter of 2018 witnessing prices for many polyurethanes commodities nose diving from very high levels they had climbed up to. This is a new experience for the market and many stakeholders are struggling to keep pace with it, as such unpredictable movement of prices does impact the health of the

business with purchasers literally having no time to react and adapt.

The growth in a few sectors especially automotive seems to be sluggish which has a seasonal end year impact built in too. There is also a trend in the automotive PU purchasing to have 3 months’ and 6 months’ prices, whilst it brings the much needed stability there is always a feeling of opportunity lost during such incredible dips in prices of raw materials. I wonder if there are price tolerances limits built into the contract, so that one gets a chance to bring the issue up for discussion.

I would like to bring the general attention of stakeholders in the rigids insulation industry to a big challenge of 141b replacement as its threatening to impact existence of many PU processors, it is time that this topic is given its due attention and serious actions taken. This would mean in practice - a serious technical and commercial assessment of the available options as alternate blowing agents. Investing good part of the early 2019 in trials and to make a deep holistic assessment of the most suited blowing agents to fit individual requirements. I would strongly urge that stakeholders do open up to focused work in this direction. It is already believed that 141b merchant market is volatile and soon the prices could surge to levels under a rationing environment which makes buying 141b unaffordable anyway.

In the recent panel discussion on the innovation day there was a point on innovation and growth made by Sudhir Shenoy which really stuck me – He explained the explosive growth of PU in Footwear industry in the late early 2000, which had an incredible ride for more than a decade in the use of polyurethanes in footwear outsmarting and outgrowing all competing substrates namely PVC, EVA and Rubber. It was like a symphony where all musical instruments played at their best and in sync to make this growth happen. India is a price sensitive market and the footwear example goes on to prove how the PU machine producers, RM suppliers, Release agent suppliers used technology to innovate leading to cost effective solutions being delivered for real. Many companies like VKC Footwear who realised this unique opportunity rode the wave with outstanding commitment and passion creating a successful big market for open PU sandals. There is a lot to learn from this tremendous success story, for other sectors too. If we keep high level of barriers to entry for new entrepreneurs to invest, growth can only be organic and possibly driven by GDP. It is indeed a unique opportunity for stakeholders to come together and create possibly another symphony of unprecedented growth in other sectors too.

I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all merry Christmas and a great 2019 ahead. Wish you all great success in your current and future endeavours.

Arun KumarDirector, Innogrow Ventures


EDITORIAL

DECEMBER! Somehow this word, sounded a ‘ping’ in my head, followed by the lyrics of Queen: “Another one bites the dust...!” What!?

Why the image of a fall and failure? Is it the subconscious grappling with holding its subject grounded in reality?

Or is it doing a Nostradamus on me: Giving out ominous signals? Or is it a telling of one more wasted year - In terms of Time slipping by as: Incompletion / non-achievement / non-significance, are the residue?Maybe we should walk through the annals of our lives, looking for potential rather than flaws?New Year coming up! A fresh start: - A new chapter in life waiting in the wings. New questions to be asked, Answers to be discovered & incorporated. Carve out a quiet interlude for yourself today - In which to dream, pen in hand. For, only dreams give birth to change. Hope lurks on the threshold of the year to come, Whispering: ‘it will be happier’.As the old year retires and a new one is born, We commit into the hands of our Creator: The happenings of the past year, Ask for direction and guidance in the new one - May he grant us His tranquility, grace and wisdom!The New Year, is a blank book as of now, - Write a good one folks!

Sincerely,


Committee Member’s Message.... 3

Editorial ........................................ 4

Credits + Contents ....................... 5

Announcement ............................ 6

Industry Updates ......................... 7

International News ..................... 12

Product News ............................... 17

Technical Updates ....................... 21

Technical Article .......................... 29

Special Feature ............................. 39

IPUA Ventures ............................... 42

Economic Update .......................... 48

Safety Health & Environment......... 55

People ........................................... 57

Twitter Trends .............................. 58

Previews & Reports ..................... 61

Events & Trends ........................... 65

Book Review / Readers’ Feedback ....................... 66

C O N T E N T S

EditorMrs Medha Bhuta

Editorial TeamMr Pravin Mahajan - BASFMr Govind Gupta - DowMs Priya Fonseca - Special CorrespondentDr Snehalata Agashe - Virtual Technical Center

Compilation & SelectionDr G Mahesh - SheelafoamMr Arun Kumar - InnogrowMr Isaac Emmanuel - Covestro

Design ConceptMr Mukesh Bhuta

Graphic Design & LayoutRed Sky Designs

Production & ExecutionMr Murali MohanMr K. Ramamurthy

IPUA OFFICE BEARERS

Chairman Emeritus Rahul Gautam - [email protected]

Chairman Dr. G Mahesh - Sheela Foams - [email protected]

Sr. Vice Chairman Mr Rohit Relan - Bharat Seats - [email protected]

Vice Chairman Mr H S Kochar - Pfeda Synthetics - [email protected]

Treasurer Mr Samir Arora - Industrial Foams - [email protected]

Joint Treasurer Mr Ashwini Sehgal - Saan Global - [email protected]

IPUA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Mr Romesh Madan - Goodie International [email protected] Paramjeet Singh - Springwell Mattresses [email protected]. AS Puri - AS Enterprises [email protected] Sanjay Sanghi - Momentive Performance [email protected] Aseem Nirula - Huntsman [email protected] Ananth Shanmugananth - Dow Chemical [email protected] Isaac Emmanuel - Covestro India Pvt Limited [email protected] Deepak Mehta - Tirupati Foam [email protected] Rabindra Jhajharia - Multiwyn Foams [email protected] Pravin Mahajan - BASF India Limited [email protected] Arun Kumar - Innogrow Ventures [email protected]. Ram Sai Yelamanchili - Shaya Polymers [email protected] Anil Bansal - Foam Specialities Inc [email protected] Kalpesh Shah - Vitrag Foam [email protected] Siddarth Malani - Shree Malani Foams [email protected] Alok Tiwari - Milliken Chemicals [email protected] Abdul Razak - VKC Group [email protected] D.B. Shah / PK Mankad - GNFC [email protected] Arun Jhaluka - Flexipol [email protected] Lokesh Jain - Aadi Polymers [email protected] Vasant Gori - Britas International [email protected] Shreeram Naidu - Expanded Polymer System [email protected]

Governing Council MembersMr Vinod Vora [email protected] Rahul Gautam [email protected] G Ramachandran [email protected] Deepak Doshi [email protected] Mukesh Bhuta [email protected]

SecretaryMr P. V. Murali Mohan [email protected] [email protected]


ANNOUNCEMENT


INDUSTRY UPDATES

Manali starts Notedam PU production in India

Chennai: Indian chemical company Manali started m a k i n g N e u t h a n e

polyurethane cast elastomer systems at Chennai in September to cater the South East Asian markets.

The high-performance PU is was developed by its wholly-owned subsidiary Notedome based at Coventry, UK. Notedome sells the products in 45 countries.

M a n a l i b o u g ht N ot e d ome t h r o u g h A m c h e m b a s e d i n S i n g a p o r e i n O c t o b e r2016 for $13. 5m ($17. 3m)The UK subsidiar y generated revenue of 1.20 m and prof it

590,000 in year for the year 2017.

While parent Manali generates revenue from operations about INR 6.3bn ($87.4m)in 2017, an increase of about 10% over the previous year.

Growing application and robust growth projection of PU in the domestic and adjoining market may have prompted Manali to commence production of the range in India.

PU market projected to grow at a CAGR of 7% during 2016 to 2020, t rend would likely continue up to 2025 in India.

Global PU production grew at

about 5% between 2015 and 2016, but India recorded a sizeable raise of 13%, from 499 KT to 564 KT.Manali sa id that Notedome controls 15% share in the Asian markets for these mater ia ls. The Indian company said that by br ing ing spec ia l i zed PU production to India, it would be able to respond more quickly. The company added that its products would be more compet it ive.

N e u t h a n e p o l y u r e t h a n e s are used in diverse range of industries and applications in automotive, high-performance vehicles and agriculture sector.

Source : UTECH

Dow to open more system houses in MENA region

Dow Polyurethanes strategy in India, Middle East and Africa is to move further

up the value chain, according to Shanmugananth Muthupandian. Muthupandian is commerc ia l d i rec tor, Poly ure t hane, Dow C he m ic a l I nte r nat iona l . He was speaking at the recent PU Innovation Day held in Mumbai.

The compa ny w i l l e x amine wit h investment s in systems houses in the countr y, Middle E a s t a nd A f r i c a , he adde d .

Dow has ramped-up its investment in India in recent months. Earlier this year, Dow Polyurethanes opened a second systems house in

the Lote Parshuram industrial area in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. Its target markets are consumer durables, infrastructure and automotive.

Muthupandian declined to share capacity details of the Ratnagiri unit, but said it s a modular site and further capacity could be added quickly.

D ow I nd i a a l s o op e ne d a Technolog y Center (DI TC) in Navi Mumbai this year. This has a dedicated lab for polyurethane a p p l i c a t i o n d e v e l o p m e n t .

Muthupandian said: Previously, the focus was on building capacities for products like MDI & polyols but now emphasis is on moving

a one step ahead in value chain. The approach is on understanding the customer requirements and designing customer centric products.

Opportunities outside India also interest the polyurethanes business unit. It has plans to open more systems houses in the next five years.

We are considering opening more system houses in the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa) in the next five years to meet market requirements of the market, said Muthupandian. This is in addition to more than 20 produc t ion; t e c h n ic a l a nd de ve lopme nt sites spread across the region.

Source : UTECH

NOVEMBER 15, 2018

BY Simon Robinson | Mumbai


INDUSTRY UPDATES


INDUSTRY UPDATES

Eyeing Rs 2k crs in revenue, Kurl-on says partnership with IKEA will prove beneficialBy Pranbihanga Borpuzari | ET Online

The company clocked about Rs 1050 crore in revenue last fiscal and expects it to grow to about Rs 1350 crore this fiscal.

In t he face of inc reasing competit ion, home-grown mattress and furniture major

Kurl-on says it is not perturbed by the entry of foreign player and in fact collaborating with the likes of IKEA to pickup best practices.

“Some part of Kurl-on’s business did get cannibalized with the opening of IKEA’s first store in Hyderabad, but it is not a cause of worry. We help our dealers and support them by being different from large stores like IKEA,” Sudhakar Pai, Chairman and MD, Kurl-on says.Ashutosh Vaidya, Chief Marketing Officer, Kurl-on has a working partnership with IKEA in India and this includes manufacturing products under local sourcing. “We want to learn from IKEA, about their best practices and how their processes are built. If we can replicate this in our manufacturing, we will do very well. We also develop products for IKEA that include mattresses and sofas,” says Vaidya. He adds that it would be interesting to pick up, perhaps, the 10 things IKEA does around manufacturing, quality control and technology.

Pai says he is not worried about competition because the company understands the pulse of the market and consumers in its 56 years of existence. “For example,

about 40-45% of India’s mattress requirement comes in odd sizes and not standardized. When it comes to foreign players, they do not understand the market like we do. In the US, there are about only four standard sizes, but we in Kurl-on have more than 80 standard sizes. Apart from this, about 45% of our requirements come for odd size mattresses. We understand the market better and that is why we have an edge,” says Pai.

Va idya adds t hat any la rge store’s approach is that of being a generalist . They will have everything and at comparatively lower price. “If you have a big hospital in a city, it does not mean

a specialist doctor will go out of business. Similarly, Kurl-On is a specialist that understands the customers need. We are also moving our big network to an omni-channel mode where you can order online and have a mattress delivered in a span of say three hours. When large stores came up, people thought kirana stores will close. However, that has not happened and both co-exist,” says Vaidya. The company clocked about Rs 1050 crore in revenue last fiscal and expects it to grow to about Rs 1350 crore this fiscal. In three years the company plans to clock Rs 2000 crore in revenues. A key growth


driver will be Kurl-on’s strategy to further expand its market share by increasing focus and catering to the next-gen, young Indian consumer with a slew of innovative products and technology, besides launching exclusive, high-end products for the premium and affluent market. Kurl-on expects expects these new market demographics to contribute to a significant 25% of its total sales in the next three years. Besides, Kurl-on also announced that it will expand its exclusive, premium chain of home furniture & furnishing outlets- “Home

Komfort by Kurl-on”, targeting the mid-premium urbanites from its current 920 to 2500 by 2020. Delhi, NCR and the Northern market comprising Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow will be among the key markets for Kurl-on as part of this growth strateg y and Kurl-on expects that these markets will grow to contribute 25% of its total revenues from 18 % at present.

Announcing its growth plans, at a press briefing on Thursday, Kurl-on also launched ‘Sleep Station-Mattress in a Box’ and ‘STR8’

technology mattresses. ‘Mattress in a box’ packed in an easy to carry box can either be purchased by customers online from the comfort of their homes or easily carried back home, from any of the Kurl-on brand outlets.

At present, Kurl-on has 138 “Kurlon Korner” and 42 “Kurlon Home” outlets in the Northern region. Overall, it has 920 plus exclusive franchise outlets and 7000 plus multi-brand outlet presence across the breadth and width of the countr y, making its products accessible to its customers easily.

INDUSTRY UPDATES

Covestro aims to inspire over 3,000 girl students in India with #STEM4GirlsFestival2018.

NOVEMBER 24th, 2018 | Greater Noida

Co v e s t r o , t h e g l o b a l manufac turer of high-pe r for ma nce poly mer

m a t e r i a l s , i n a u g u r a t e d #STEM4GirlsFestival2018 at the Nehru Science Center, Mumbai on Monday, 8th October where they reached out to over 1200 girls with a huge celebration to promote STEM education amongst them. In continuance with the effort towards promoting science education in India, Covestro along with Greenlight for Girls, Nehru Science Centre & Chandra Mohan Foundation is proud to present the third edition of the STEM workshop which is being conducted in 6 cities with the third workshop which was held at the Covestro facility

in Greater Noida on 21st – 24th November 2018.

Covestro engaged with about 437 girl students across 10 schools in Greater Noida with STEM-based interactive sessions. Through #STEM4GirlsFestival2018, the company has so far reached out to over 2000 girl students from Greater Noida, Mumbai and Calicut.

Keeping greater aspirations towards this initiative, Mr. Ajay Durrani, MD, Covestro (India) highlighted how important educating a girl child is, “Science is the key in finding sustainable solutions in every industry and in various economic and social challenges faced by the world. Hence,

our target is to popularize STEM4Girls to potentially create a platform to build a career for these young girls. We want all these students to be curious, courageous and colourful while they take this leap in life, as these are also the core values that Covestro practises.”

An MHRD report shows that only 8.52% of the girls enrolled in higher education were pursuing bachelor degrees in engineering or technology in 2012-13. This was far below the national average of 13.27%. This is a major concern as the loser in this scenario is not


INDUSTRY UPDATES

just the women who do not get a chance to chase their dreams but also science itself, which fails to benefit from other points of view. On the contrary year after year, in school exams, we hear of how girls have outshone boys, but when it comes to those who take up research in later life, the number of women is minuscule. This means that many of our best brains that showed the maximum potential do not pick research as a career.

The programme will focus on teaching girls in the age group of 11 -15 years with various STEM-based concepts through demonstrations while highlighting the colourful and innovative material science for which Covestro is renowned. The journey started 2 years ago and this year Covestro will celebrate #STEM4GirlsFestival2018 which will travel across Mumbai, Calicut, Dharampur, Panjim, Nagpur and Greater Noida and also inspire people from all around to join the festival.

Last year, Covestro India had successfully reached out to 1327 girls aged 11-15 from schools ac ross Mumbai who got an opportunity to an interactive and fun experience around Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

About Covestro:

With 2017 sales of EUR 14.1 billion, Covestro is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer mater ia ls and

the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, construction, wood processing and furniture, and electrical and electronics industr ies. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,200 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2017.

Find more information at: www.covestro.in and www.covestro.com

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CovestroGroup

About Greenlight for Girls:

G re e n l ig ht for g i r l s i s a n i nte r n at ion a l or g a n i sat ion dedicated to inspire girls of all ages and backgrounds to pursue STEM subjects - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics - by introducing them to the world of science in fun and exciting ways.Find more information at: www.greenlightforgirls.org

About Nehru Science Centre

Nehru Science Centre, among the four National level Science Museums in NCSM, working as the Western Zone Headquarters with five science centres in Nagpur, Calicut, Bhopal, Dharampur and Goa under its umbrella caters to the people in the Western part of India. As a part of its activities, the Centre organizes regular extensive science education programmes,

activities and competitions for the benefit of the common people and students in particular.

F ind more in for mat ion at : ht tps://nehrusciencecentre.gov.in/?Antispam=e990WhElVH7

About Chandra Mohan Foundation

Chandra Mohan Foundation was founded in 2001 as a Sec 25 Company under the Companies Act, 1956 with the objective of raising public environmental a w a r e ne s s a nd p r omot i n g e nv i ronme nt a l ly consc ious behaviour in India.

Find more information at: https://chandramohanfoundation.org/

Forward-looking statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on cur rent assumptions and forecasts made by Covestro AG. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Covestro’s public reports which are available at www.covestro.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.


New production facility in Taiwan to meet market demands for world’s first Expanded Thermoplastic Polyurethane

New facility will support growing demand for BASF’s Infinergy® E-TPU from multiple industries

Expanded global footprint to better serve customers in Asia Pacific

Ch a n g h u a , Ta i w a n – September 21, 2018 – BASF, inventor of the world ’s

f irst Expanded Thermoplastic P o l y u r e t h a n e ( E - T P U ) Infinergy®, has launched a new Infinergy production facility at its Changhua manufactur ing site in Taiwan. The expanded capac it y w i l l meet g rowing demand for the revolutionary material solution across a variety of applications and industries.“The Changhua production site will play a key role in helping us to meet the rising demand for E-TPU,” said Jens Dierssen, Head of Global Business Management Infinergy, BASF. “With the new production facility, we are expanding our global footprint to better serve customers within the Asia Pacific region.”“This investment ref lects our commitment to the market , providing efficient production, timely qualification process to meet the growing market demands and customer needs. We are now even closer to the market and our customers, ” added Kin Wah Chay, Managing Director of BASF Taiwan.The closed-cell, elastic particle foam has a unique blend of properties, such as high rebound, low density, durability over a

wide temperature range, chemical resistance and low weight. This innovation is widely used in the transportation, furniture,c o n s t r u c t i o n a n d s p o r t s equipment, such as a bicycle saddle c reated by E rgon, a c yc ling innovat ion company based in Koblenz, Germany.Ergon’s bic yc le saddles a re c o m p r i s e d o f t w o s h e l l s functioning in isolation from each other in a sandwich construction, held in a floating arrangement by the high-performance elastomer

damper made of In f inerg y.In a three-wheeled concept vehicle, 05GEN f rom Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., BASF’s Infinergy was used in the tires to enhance the overall riding experience, and its characteristic cellular structure contributed to its striking design.The mater ia l has a lso been a d o p t e d i n c o n s t r u c t i o n , providing a safer and improved sporting experience on running track and playing fields, owing to the outstanding cushioning effect of the E-TPU particles.

Huntsman Launches Daltopir® Xhfr Insulation TechnologyA solid solution for improved panel processing and optimal fire ratings

Ev e r b e r g , B E L G I U M - Huntsman Polyurethanes has developed a new fire-

rated PIR based foam insulation for composite panels. DaltoPIR® XHFR insulation technology was launched at the PPA-Europe / IFBS Panels and Profiles conference, which opened on October 25,

2018, in Thessalonki, Greece. Describing to the conference, how DaltoPIR® fire-rated insulation products have something solid to deliver in terms of process and results, Kurt Jander, Sales Leader Insulation Systems at Huntsman, said: “With excellent

INTERNATIONAL NEWS


thermal properties, our patented DaltoPIR® insulation technology delivers optimal fire and smoke properties without compromising on processing performance or durability. In this way, panel producers can be assured that they are using the right systems available to create solid performance, in the most efficient way possible.” Huntsman’s new Da ltoPIR® insulation technology offers a different viscosity build up in rising foam, thereby enabling more stable and more consistent

processing. This in turn can help panel producers achieve better panel planarity and quicker line speed. Furthermore, the resulting foam has very low friability, which contributes positively to the long-term properties of the panels. In his conference presentation, Kurt outlined the solid results achieved in durability tests, where panels were subjected to long temperature cycles and aesthetic properties were continuously monitored.

Huntsman’s solid new DaltoPIR® insulation technology is fully

integrated into a novel product portfolio, which contains a range of different foam systems for various laminator conditions a nd f i re r a t i ng s t a nd a rd s .

F or more i n for m at ion , go t o : h t t p s : / / w w w. h u n t s m a n .c o m / D a l t o P I R o r e m a i l : [email protected]* PPA-Europe is the European Association of Panels & Profiles and IFBS is the International Association for Metal Building Envelopes.

The Spanish Group Hierros Y Transformados | Metalpanel S.a. Chooses A Saip Sandwich Panel Production Line To Expand Its Capacities And Develop New Sandwich Panels

NOVEMBER 17th, 2018

A CONTITECH sandwich panel production line, entirely designed and built by SAIP for one of the most dynamic and market-oriented companies in Europe: Adrian Navarro, CEO Grupo Hierros y Transformados – Metalpanel, tells how the project was born and his vision.

Met a lpa ne l i s one of the leading European c o m p a n i e s i n t h e

manufac tur ing of sandwic h panels. The production plant and the headquarters are based near

Toledo, while sales offices are spread throughout Spain and other European countries, as well as in

INTERNATIONAL NEWS


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Africa, Middle East, Central and South America.

The company designs and builds cladding panels, mainly for facades, roofs and freezers which f ind application in the construction of industrial buildings, agricultural facilities, cold chain, offices and housing, among others. According to application and final result desired, panels can be either finished with steel, aluminum, copper, wood imitation and corten-steel.

Metalpanel panels stand out for high level aesthetics and great functionality.

The factory is installed on an area of 100,000m2 and has a production capacity which today reaches daily production volumes up to 18,000 m2 causing the factory can count on a significant competitive advantage in terms of meeting the demand and the delivery terms.

Saip: Mr Navarro, why did you decide to buy a new line?

In Metalpanel we have always been clear our vocation of service and reinvestment in machinery that diversifies product and provides value to the market of industrial enclosures.

And with the three lines that we had active until a few months ago, our capabilities for developing new products and new markets were almost complete. We had decided that we wanted to expand capacit ies and develop new sandwich panels, and of course also improve the quality.

Saip: How you have known our Company?

SAIP was always one of those companies that one has as a reference when talking about continuous sandwich panels. The relationship we have with DOW CHEMICAL and with its testing centre together with SAIP, CEDEPA , allowed us to know first-hand and see a continuous line working and working. In a later step we met Luca Ceresa, Saip Sales Manager, and his team.

The Toledo production plant

Saip: Why did you choose Saip ?

Their skills and solutions, both in the mechanical part and in the chemical part of the line, convinced us. And, of course, we were also convinced of the capacity to react to our stated needs and the economic valuation of their work. Our line has been a very demanding project, with innovations and requirements of last generation. For this reason, we wanted a solid partner and SAIP has been it both during the project and after its installation and commissioning. I have to say that the truth is that both the personal response and the solutions offered, convinced us.

Saip: How did CEDEPA impact on your choice?

CEDEPA was for us the occasion to be able to know an installed line and see it in depth. Let’s say it was just a starting point, but it served to bring a position closer and convince us that SAIP would be the right partner.

Luca Ceresa: Our mission is to support customers by improving their productive performances according targets. We are confident that our line will boost Metalpanel in making a step forward towards its growth targets.

Adrian NavarroCEO Grupo Hierros y Transformados – Metalpanel


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Luca CeresaSaip Sales Manager

Mr Adrian Navarro: Metalpanel is currently a company with an international presence with sales in 46 countries and the turnover is 58 million Euros per year. We produce 4 Million m2 and have 4 continuous sandwich panel manufacturing lines, three of them with a polyurethane core and one of them with a rock wool core. The factory uses 7000tm of polyurethane each year and processes 26,000 tons of steel. Our team of 110 people has international projection, global vocation and strong presence in food and cold chain as well as in residential and industrial buildings. We follow the philosophy of constant improvement and we are very grateful and happy to have SAIP as our most recent collaborator in the search for product diversifications and new markets.

Saip: Mr Navarro, would you recommend Saip products ?

Definitely yes. We consider SAIP as one of the manufacturers of sandwich panel lines, as well as the rest of the solutions they offer, as one of the main global options nowadays.

No doubt, to repeat for the next line, who knows when? but it will come ...

METALPANEL LINE main features:

T h e S A N D W I C H PA N E L S PRODUCTION LINE supplied to Met a lpa ne l i s ba sed on CONTITECH technology, that is, it ’s been conceived for the PRODUCTION IN CONTINUOUS. The line it’s completely designed and developed by our engineering team, is fully automated and considerably versatile, which means that it can manufacture different kind of panels, either with rigid and flexible substrates, such as:

• Tile panels• Tile panels with aluminum foil internal substrate• Cold room panels• Sterile rooms panelssaving time and minimizing waste.The productivity is improved while the high-quality level of products maintained.

Its foaming section is composed by an infrared preheating oven and by a 30 mt double belt press conveyor, characterized by an electric lifting system and direct-gas heating.

A brand-new technology foaming machine ensures best quality and

precision of the foam injection process.

The machine has the following main characteristics:

• Operates with six components• Uses pentane as blowing agent• The injection of the foam is made by comb fixed system• Dosing system with output and ratio control in closed-loop• Mass flow meter

The cutting section is provided with a sturdy cutter, specially designed by SAIP for the customer. It ensures a good visibility of the blade and a perfect cut, free of scraps and waste.



PRODUCT NEWS

New 3D Bonding Technology Using Novel Polyurethane Set to Revolutionize Footwear Manufacture

Simplicity Works partners with Huntsman Polyurethanes and DESMA to deliver project with potential to shake up the footwear sector

Everberg, Belgium – A unique footwear mater ia l f rom Huntsman Polyurethanes

sits at the heart of an innovative new way of making shoes, which has the potential to transform shoe production worldwide. In the biggest change to footwear assembly in 40 years, Spanish company Simplicity Works – working together with Huntsman Polyurethanes and DESMA – has developed a revolutionary new shoe production method t hat of fe r s ga me - c ha ng i ng possibilities to manufacturers looking to produce products closer to customers in Europe and North America. In collaboration, the three companies have created a highly automated, cost effective way of bonding together two-dimensional components, in a single shot, to form a seamless, t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l u p p e r . Simplicity Works’ patent-protected 3D Bonding Technology is a world-first. Requiring no stitching and no lasting, the process connects all pieces of a shoe simultaneously,

in just a few seconds. Faster and cheaper than conventional f o o t w e a r m a n u f a c t u r i n g techniques, the new technology can be customized to suit requirements and is already proving popular with a number of big brand shoe companies - helping them bring local production overheads into line with lower labor cost countries. The 3D Bonding Technolog y employs an innovative 3D mold design created by Simplic ity Works; a specifically designed, injectable material from Huntsman Polyurethanes; and a state-of-the-art DESMA injection-molding machine. In the first step, individual upper components are placed into the mold, in slots separated by narrow channels - a bit like putting a puzzle together. A counter mold then presses each piece into place. The network of channels between the upper components is then injected, in a single shot, with the high-performance polyurethane developed by Huntsman. The end result is a shoe upper, held together by a flexible, polyurethane

skeleton, which is both functional and stylish. To obtain an excellent qua l it y poly ure t ha ne foam structure, which forms a durable skin, with a high definition texture, Simplicity Works and Huntsman e x tensive ly resea rc hed new processes and materials. Available in different colors, the texture of the bonded polyurethanes lines (or ribways) can be varied meaning designers can select glossy or matt options combined with multiple other, textile-like surface finishes. Suitable for creating all kinds of shoes, and compatible with different synthetic and natural materials, the 3D Bonding Technology can make shoe production outside of low labor cost countries far more cost competitive. With no seams to stitch, the overall production process is less labor intensive - reducing overheads. Material costs are also lower as there are no overlapping areas and much less waste. From a consumer perspective there are additional benefits. With no knitting or stitching lines, and no doubling-up of material, shoes


PRODUCT NEWS

have less friction and pressure points, and behave more like a pair of socks. Shoes are also more waterproof as there are no needle holes or permeable seam lines. The launch of Simplicity Works’ 3D Bonding process culminates six years of work for the three partners, who believe passionately in the technology’s ability to disrupt conventional forms of footwear production. Adrian Hernandez, CEO of Simplicity Works and inventor of 3D Bonding Technology, said: “I’ve worked in the footwear industry for 25 years, in different countries and continents, so am very familiar with the complexities involved in conventional shoe product ion. Si x years ago, I realized there was a way to simplify footwear manufacturing. Keen to redress the geographical balance in the footwear industry in terms of labor costs, I came up with a radical new process that can make shoe production in North America and Europe more cost effective, while also increasing comfort for consumers. With my concept patent-protected, I began looking for par tners to make my vision a reality; which led me to DESMA and Huntsman.” Continuing he said: “Working closely together over the last six years, our three teams have pooled their knowledge and expertise to c reate a process with the potential to shake up the shoe sector. The timing could not be better. Currently, an estimated 80% of European foot wea r imports come from low cost labor countries. Faced with rising costs in these territories, many footwear companies are looking to move production back to Europe and North America. Our 3D Bonding

Technology enables them to do just that, creating shoes that are more economical than those created in Asia - and that’s before factoring in transportation cost savings.” Johan van Dyck, Global OEM Business Development Manager at Huntsman Polyurethanes, said: “The brief from Simplicity Works was demanding - but we like a challenge! They wanted us to develop a reactive, injectable poly urethane system, which combined excellent adhesion properties with extreme product f low-ability. The material also had to deliver comfor t and cushioning, alongside superb finishing aesthetics. Using our many years of soling experience, we set about developing a suitable technology. It was a long process, with various refinements needed along the way, but we now have a revolutionary platform for either one or two-shot bonding. Our work on this project has enabled us to extend our long-standing relationship with DESMA and forge a new alliance with Simplicity Works - an entrepreneurial team committed to changing the future of footwear manufactur ing.” Christian Decker, CEO at DESMA, said: “We are a technology leader in the global footwear industry and have been providing manufacturers with advanced machinery and molds for more than 70 years. The principles of clever, innovative, sustainable, automated footwear production, sit at the heart of our business, making us a natural partner for Simplicity Works. We are delighted to be involved in this project, working with Simplicity Works and the team at Huntsman Polyurethanes, to give footwear

producers a means of making highly sophisticated footwear, in high labor cost countr ies, in a more e conomic way.” Simplicity Works’ 3D Bonding Technology is flexible – meaning footwear manufac turers can choose to use it as the main joining technique or combine it with traditional stitching methods for functional or decorative purposes. Simplicity Works holds the patent r ights for its technology and engineers designs for customers using CAD software. Once a product has been designed, Simplicity Works develops all the tooling and molds needed for footwear production. This know-how is then transferred to manufacturers complete with machinery and poly uret hane spec i f icat ions determined in cooperation with Huntsman and DESMA. With the 3D Bonding Technology able to significantly reduce production cost s , a propor t ion of t h is saving is collected as royalties by Simplicity Works – with DESMA providing all necessary machinery and automation systems, and Huntsman delivering the best polyurethane to work alongside the 3D Bonding Technolog y. Incredibly versatile, Simplicity Works’ 3D Bonding Technology has the potential to add value outside of the footwear industry and the company is exploring opportunities to use this universal manufacturing method to make apparel, accessories and even furniture. For more information go to: www.3dbonding.com where you can find out more about the technology and its applications.


PRODUCT NEWS

Ultralight ‘supermaterial’ made using plastic bottle waste

PTI | Updated: Nov 4, 2018

SI NG A P OR E : S c ie nt i s t s have developed a way to convert plastic bottle waste

into flexible and durable aerogels that could be used for heat and sound insulation in buildings, o i l sp i l l c le a n i ng , a nd a s a l i g h t w e i g h t l i n i n g f o r f iref ighter coats and masks.

Plastic waste is toxic and non-biodegradable. Such waste often

ends up in oceans and landfills, affecting marine life and causing problems such as groundwater contamination and land scarcity.Globally, the annual consumption of plastic bottles has been rising steadily, and it is expected to exceed half a trillion tons per year by 2021.

“Plast ic bott le waste is one of t he most common t y pe of p la s t i c wa s t e a nd h a s

det r imenta l e f fec t s on the environment,” said Hai Minh Duong, an associate professor at Nat iona l Unive r s i t y of S i n g a p o r e ( N U S ) .

Plastic bottles are commonly m a d e f r om p ol ye t h y le ne terephthalate (PET), which is the most recycled plastic in the world.“Our team has developed a simple, cost-effective and green


PRODUCT NEWS

method to convert plastic bottle waste into PET aerogels for many e xc it ing uses ,” sa id Duong.“One plastic bottle can be recycled to produce an A4-sized PET aerogel sheet. The fabrication technology is also easily scalable for mass production. In this way, we can help cut down the harmful environmental damage caused by plastic waste,” he said.

The PET aerogels developed a re sof t , f le x ible , du rable , e x t remely l ight and easy to handle. They also demonstrate super ior thermal insulat ion and strong absorption capacity.

These proper t ies make them attractive for a wide range of applications, such as for heat and sound insulation in buildings, oil spill cleaning, and also as a

lightweight lining for firefighter coats and carbon dioxide absorption masks that could be used during fire rescue operations and fire escape.In their earlier work, the research team had successfully converted paper and fashion waste into c e l l u l o s e a n d c o t t o n a e r o g e l s r e s p e c t i v e l y .

The research team has filed a patent for its novel PET aerogel technology, and will continue to enhance the performance of the PET aerogels and explore new applications. The NUS researchers are also keen to work with companies to bring the technology to market.

Representative image of plastic waste)”

One plastic bottle can be recycled to produce an A4-sized PET aerogel sheet.

The fabrication technology is also easily scalable for

mass production.


TECHNICAL UPDATES

Hollow Composites: Done!

Cannon Afros Has Developed A Technology For The Produc-Tion of Hollow Structures In Carbon Fibre Reinforced Composite Parts (Cfrp) Containing Pre-Positioned Metal Inserts, Obtained With An High Pressure Impregnation Technology —At The Proper Polymerization Temperature —By Means of Contrast Pressing, Using High Resistance Cores Made In A Low-Melting, Drainable Metal Alloy.

In brief, hollow HP-RTM composites, of irregular shape or containing fixed inserts, can be made with a CFRP skin and a drainable metal core. A patent is pending for this technology, that in the meantime has been industrialised and is available.

Past History

The C a r bon F ibre (C F) composite impregnation technology has evolved in

recent years, based on BMW’s need to produce tens of thousands of composite parts in an efficient and repeatable way, to build very light electric vehicles for a sustainable solution of the private transport in large urban centres. BMW and its composite parts suppliers have therefore invested heavily in the development of high pressure resin transfer moulding (HP-RTM) technology.

This involves the impregnation of the f ibre by high pressure injection of the resin into a mould maintained at high pressure.

The resin, Epoxy or Polyurethane, has a high reactivity and is dosed and mixed in high pressure through a mixing head mounted directly on the mould.

The cavity reproduces the outline of the piece to be moulded. Normally

this has a three-dimensional laminated structure with a shape that is not overly hollowed, to avoid wrinkles induced in the fibre when trying to obtain an important variation of shape.

The cavity is f illed / padded with layers of CF, woven or multidirectional, overlapped and held under several thousand tons (from 400 to 4000) pressure.

Vacuum is made in the closed mould by extracting all the air, both in the cavity and in the fabric pack.

The resin is then injected into the cavity by operating the high pressure mixing head, and it flows between the pressed weft of the fabric until it is completely filled.

A small excess of resin is discharged


INTERVIEW


from the mould joining borders, just to be safe that no air bubbles have been entrapped in the finished part. To run through the weft of the fabric, however, a pressure head must be formed between the injection point of the resin, where the mixing head stands, and the sliding front of the resin itself which is impregnating the fabric, to overcome the hydraulic resistance to the flow.

The pressure is monitored near the injection point and rises gradually during the diffusion of the resin until it reaches important values, typically up to a peak of 80 - 100 bar when the cavity is filled, but lately some customers already use peaks at 130 bar and require peaks up to 200 bar.

The final pressure is always higher because, on the one hand, the reactivity of the resin has been increased to allow the piece to be extracted after 100 seconds (they were 5 - 6 minutes at the beginning); on the other hand, the higher the peak is, the more compact the resin is in the moulded part, thus obtaining composite pieces with percentages of resin in volume around only 40% - 45% of the total. These percentages are now comparable with those

obtained in an autoclave with pre-impregnated composite for aeronautical parts.

The Problem

Therefore, in order to produce CFRP with high-quality structural characteristics in HP-RTM, it is necessary to press the CF laminate with thrusts that guarantee at least 80 bar of specific pressure on the surface of the piece.

If the pieces are a mono-foil structure, the two mould shells solve the problem and require a press with the tonnage necessary to overcome the pressure on the surface. However, if the pieces to be produced are hollow – to increase their stiffness keeping the weight very low – then one must glue two half-shells or provide a light core that supports the pressure force without collapsing or using a removable, strong, heavy core.

Light cores that cannot be removed (in balsa wood or foam) exist, but none can withstand pressures higher than 15 – 20 bars.

Removable cores exist, formed by a rigid porous conglomerate, whose structure – af ter demoulding the part – dissolves in water and

disintegrates, allowing the powder to come out from small holes drilled in the CF skin. But even this “dough” does not resist to more than 30 bars.

There is the possibility of using flexible bladders filled with liquid, compensating the pressure of the liquid with that of the resin (when using fragile yet very deformable bladders, not bulky and easy to extract).

Thick bladders exist that are pre-pressurized at the peak pressure and which however are too heavy to be left in the moulded part or are difficult to extract from very shaped bodies, which also show a difficulty in reaching the remotest acute corners of the cavity.

The Afros solution

A metal core is created with the exact shape that leaves a mould cavity of the thickness desired for the CFRP part’ structure. The core can easily accommodate metal inser ts or spacer pins incorporated in the casting. The core is made of a metal eutectic alloy and melts at temperatures that are not critical for the current limits of structural resins for CFRP

TECHNICAL UPDATES


(usually post cured at about 130 - 140 °C, they can withstand up to 30 °C higher temperatures without risk of damaging the part).

There are several metal alloys whose melting point can start from slightly higher than room tempera-ture up to 250 °C.

The metal alloy is poured into a mould in which the inserts are already firmly positioned. To avoid bubbles, shrinkages and gluing problems the mould is preheated to a temperature not far from the eutectic alloy’s melting point. The mould is internally coated with a release powder and has holes with extraction pins and a sealing gasket, to avoid excessive burrs or uncontrolled melt losses.

Once the core has been formed, it is demoulded and deburred, removing the re lease agent , checking the exact positioning of the inserts and making sure that it is free of bubbles on the surface or under the skin.

The core is then placed in the HP-RTM mould after placing the correct sequence of fibre layers in the mould half that houses the core. It should be noted that the fibre must be oriented (to better support the efforts on the piece when in operation) and must be pre-formed to the precise shape needed to be insert it into the mould. The core is pressed onto the lower layers of fibre and lined on its upper side with the other layers of fibre. Then the other half mould is closed, checking that its vacuum-tightness, and pressure is applied to support the push of the resin on the outer surfaces.

The mould is pre-heated to the curing temperature (around 130 °C) and the resin is injected with high pressure, monitoring the diffusion pressure with at least one sensor near the cavity inlet point and optionally some others in peripheral points, including some capacitive sensors of presence that feel the front of the resin arriving in remote or thin areas, more subject to critical filling. Once the peak pressure has reached the desired value (up to 210 bar), the head closes, going into recirculation mode. Once the cure time is over, the press opens and the piece is extracted.

At this point there are two options to proceed:

• Still hot, the piece is housed inside a template support and is placed into the oven, heating it up to the melting temperature of the eutectic with air, radiation or induction. The molten eutectic alloy f lows from the template through pre-dr illed drainage holes and completely empties the hollow composite, leaving the inserts in the desired position and incorporated into the CFRP part.

• The second opt ion is ver y interesting: the piece is cooled and its metal core is used as a reinforce-ment, allowing to perform all the mechanical operations necessary for finishing the part. The rigid core favours the placement of external components or the execution of cutting and deburring operations, creating a stiff piece that is not deformed and does not vibrate dur ing processing. Once the mechanical work is finished, the piece is checked, put in a template

and then in the hot oven to melt the core and recover the very low viscosity molten alloy, which completely drains even from very small holes.

In addition, these low melting temperatures (from 135 to 220 °C) make it possible to carry out emptying or rotating checks of the piece: the liquid eutectic can be removed from all the remote pockets that, with the bladder or other types of filling, could not be neither reached nor emptied. The eutectic flows into a tank under the melting oven, where it is recovered and put back into the crucible for the fusion of many other cores.

This technique also allows to produce hollow cores for very large pieces in which the cavity is formed with resin-based conglomerates: for example, in the lost wax moulds which resist perfectly at high temperatures but do not withstand the pressures (they can be removed by crumbling with vibrators or by immersion in water).

Cannon Afros welcomes enquiries from manufacturers of lightweight CFRP parts needing to produce hollow parts with an industrially-prove n met hod. Nu me rous advantages and process details will be discussed with the interested prospects.

These parts can be, as a limited list of examples, moving elements of robot arms, t ransmission mechanisms, irregularly-shaped s t r uc t u r a l e l e me nt s , non -cylindrical tanks and reservoirs for liquids and compressed gases.

TECHNICAL UPDATES


Germany Cracks Productivity Puzzle as others Lag

By Sarah GordonThe Daily Doseoct 30, 2018

“Our lead t imes are four to 12 working days,” says Carina

Schneppenheim. “If we are not able to meet these, we will no longer be competitive, because the competition does not sleep.”Schneppenheim is the human resources director – and managing-d i re c tor- i n -wa i t i ng – of a manufacturing and design company founded by her grandfather nearly 50 years ago in Pulheim, between Cologne and Düsseldorf. Trying to improve productivity at the company, Kunststoffverarbeitung S c h n e p p e n h e i m , i s a n unrelenting challenge, which has been made even tougher by the rise of new Asian rivals.

But it is one in which German companies have fared better than European counterpar ts, most notably those in the United Kingdom, which by 2025 – if it continues to lag at the same rate – will be nearly a third less productive per hour worked than Germany, according to McKinsey.

Paul Wenham, managing director of Geometr ic Manufactur ing near Tewkesbury in the U.K., which makes precision-machined components for the defense indust r y and ot her sec tors , says British companies face big hurdles in a country where the productivity challenge is often

described as a “puzzle.” This is because no British sector or region can be singled out as responsible for t he u nde r pe r for ma nce .

However, comparisons between Germany and the U.K. in terms of managerial skills, institutional

Faced with growing competition, Deutschland is showing Europe how to up its productivity game

support and history cast light on what both countries’ companies can lea r n f rom eac h ot her.

“Rather Than A Pure Technological Challenge, The Challenge Is To Change Management.”

– Tera Allas, Senior Fellow, Mckinsey Center For Government

“It’s clear that Germany has very distinct differences in its business

structure and cultural makeup,” says Tony Danker, CEO of Be the Business, which campaigns to spread best practice on productivity to British companies. “There is real interest in continuous improvement and building business networks and institutions that focus on

this. This spirit and activity feels eminently replicable even if the institutions are not.”

Wenham thinks it is not just having the financial firepower to make investments, but “having the people who can see the need and buy in to it.”

“We want to look at robotics, but it’s a big capital investment as well as a big learning curve,” he says.Geometric uses the kanban system,

TECHNICAL UPDATES


which involves an email being sent once a customer uses a container of Geometric products, which triggers the company to replace it. The system has sped up response times, as well as reducing inventory. But for Wenham, the key to improving productivity has been less about adopting new processes and more about the training and insight that he himself has gained and then disseminated to his team.

Indeed, a key difference between the U.K. and Germany lies in the training that workers receive. A lthough German managers are less likely to have higher educational qualifications, they have often received vocational training that builds workplace expertise. And despite the U.K. having more tertiary-educated managers than Germany, the Organi zat ion for Economic Cooperation and Development data show their actual skills, in literacy and data management, are lower.

Tera Allas, a senior fellow at the McKinsey Center for Government, says the U.K. has one of the highest skill mismatches in the OECD. “We spend too little on training as a percentage of GDP,” she says. “It is a ticking time bomb.”

In comparison, the apprenticeship system in Germany is far more developed than in the U.K., which is still struggling to find a system that works. Half of German graduates have a vocational qualification, and 327 different training occupations are recognized within the country’s dual vocational and educational scheme.

Employers themselves play a key role. While the government pays for vocational schools and the teaching in them, employers pay other costs such as apprentices’ wages. Meanwhile, examiners for the most prestigious high-level exams are exper ienced professionals from companies such as BMW who volunteer for the role, according to Frank Dollendorf, international economic affairs director at IHK, Munich’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

D ol le ndor f e s t i m at e s t h a t more than a third of managers have some kind of vocational qualification. “Vocational training has a good image,” he says. “The heart and soul of the chamber is the vocational training program.”T he ne t wor k o f c h a mb e r s of commerce to whic h IHK belongs is another feature of the business landscape that differentiates Germany from the U.K. Membership of a chamber i s compu lsor y for G e r ma n companies, most of them from the Mittelstand of small and medium-size businesses that make up the vast majority of German employers. Bavaria’s IHK, for example, has nearly 400,000 members, while across Germany’s 16 states there are 79 chambers of commerce and industry, representing 3.6 million companies. Compare that with the British Chambers of Commerce, which represents just 75,000 businesses across the whole of the U.K.

The chambers provide a powerful lobbying voice on behalf of business, as well as a channel through which companies can

access generous state funding, for example for digit izat ion. Meanwhile, the fact that many Mittelstand companies are family-owned means relationships with suppliers tend to be long-term, encouraging innovation to be shared up and down the supply chain.

But t he headl ine fac t s and figures mask some very similar challenges facing German and U.K. companies. For both, improving productivity is not just about processes.

K u n s t s t o f f v e r a r b e i t u n g Schneppenheim uses an error-identification system, to which it partly credits an increase in sales of one-tenth over the past year and a reduction of a quarter in lead times. The company uses quality-management methods such as Ishikawa diagrams – causal charts created by Kaoru Ishikawa that help prevent defects – and addresses problems in small “error management” teams.

But Schneppenheim says the most difficult part is that “you have to be absolutely honest with yourself in terms of how good your processes are.” She says it took her about a year and a half to properly explain her goals to her 20-strong team and to bring every member of it along with her.

Back in the U.K., Geometric’s Wenham has been just as rigorous in trying to tackle the productivity puzzle. Starting in 2015, he took part first in Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program, then in a 12-month program supported

TECHNICAL UPDATES


by Be the Business. Wenham visited Rolls-Royce, Babcock and BAE Systems, and the results of studying best practice elsewhere, as well as the changes in his own approach, may have contributed to a steady improvement in profit margins.

While U.K. firms look to German productivity growth as a beacon, companies in Germany fee l gripped by a productivity crisis of their own. Output per worker may be growing faster in Germany than it is in the U.K., but company bosses and policymakers still fear this is not fast enough to maintain the country’s competitiveness

against fiercer rivals outside of Europe.

For employers in both Germany and the U.K., the key to sustained produc t iv it y g row t h l ies in increasing the number of workers with the skills they need.

Geometric has recently employed its first degree-level apprentice, whom Wenham describes as a “bright spark.” But the apprentice has to travel 70 miles to the nearest university to do his day a week studying mechanical engineering.In Germany, apprenticeships are becoming less appealing. Although a well-funded advertising campaign

appears to have slowed the fall, the IHK estimates that, by 2030, 524,000 degree-level vacancies will be unfilled in Upper Bavaria alone.

This is the main challenge for any sustained improvement in productivity, not just for the U.K. and Germany but for many other economies, says McKinsey’s Allas, who argues that new processes and machinery can only be properly taken advantage of by managers with the skills to do so.

“Rather than a pure technological challenge, the challenge is to change management,” she says.

TECHNICAL UPDATES



TECHNICAL ARTICLE

The Benefits of Incorporating Ultra-Fresh Antimicrobial Treatments during Manufacture of Polyurethane Foams

A well-documented increase in demand for polyurethane foam in the automotive,

marine, packaging, and building and construction industries in recent years has signif icantly increased demand in the overall global polymer foam market. According to Markets and Markets, the entire polyurethane foam market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.0% from 2018 to 2023, representing an increase in growth of over USD 25 billion.

Growth in the Polyurethane industry is being primarily driven by the increasing demand for flexible polyurethane foam, used mainly in bedding, furniture, footwear and the automotive industry. This figure reflects the many physical attributes such as durability, firmness, cushioning, sound/vibration absorption and light weight that flexible foam can offer the consumer.

Although the benefits of foams are well-recognized, one potential drawback with these materials is their susceptibility to microbial attack, especially in high traffic areas that can lead to a plentiful food sou rce , in a rea s t hat experience optimal microbial growth temperatures and moisture and in a reas where reg ula r cleaning is often limited. This paper explores the ability of Ultra-

Fresh antimicrobial treatments to provide a value-added feature to control the growth of unwanted microbes and their deleterious effects in polyurethane foam products.

What are Microbes?

Microbes are organisms that are often not visible to the naked eye, requiring the use of a microscope to be clearly seen. They include bacteria, algae, fungi, and protozoa. Although these organisms are microscopic, they are present in abundance all around us. On unprotected materials, their growth rate in optimal environmental conditions can be rapid, with some bacteria doubling every twenty minutes. Once growth takes hold, these microorganisms will cause unpleasant odors, staining and product degradation, reducing the useful life of untreated foam.

What are Ultra-Fresh Antimicrobial Treatments?

Ult ra-Fresh is a por t folio of antimicrobial treatments developed by Thomson Research Associates, Inc. (TRA), a company with over 60 years of antimicrobial expertise. Ultra-Fresh antimicrobials control the growth of bacteria and fungi

that can lead to unpleasant smells, stains and degradation. They can therefore become an integral part of an overall cleaning regime.

Within the Ultra-Fresh portfolio are two products that are widely used in the polyurethane foam industry. Ultra-Fresh DM-25 and Ultra-Fresh DW-30 are highly effective, broad spectrum treatments that have been designed for easy incorporation into the foam during manufacture, typically by direct addition to the polyol prior to the polymerization process.

Ult ra-Fresh DM-25 is a non-aqueous solution formulated with octyl isothiazolinone blended into a non-phthalate carrier. Ultra-Fresh DW-30 is a non-aqueous dispersion containing zinc pyrithione and thiabendazole in a non-phthalate carrier and is engineered to provide a low VOC profile. Both products offer built-in protection against unwanted odours, stains and degradation.

How does Ultra-Fresh DM-25 and Ultra-Fresh DW-30 Work?

W he n m ic robe s e ncou nte r Ultra-Fresh treated foam, the antimicrobial within the foam matrix blocks cell division and reacts with key proteins within the


TECHNICAL ARTICLE

microbe, leading to cell death. By controlling unwanted microbes, Ultra-Fresh DM-25 and Ultra-Fresh DW-30 help to keep foams fresh, clean, and odour-free. Ultra-Fresh DM-25 and Ultra-Fresh DW-30 have had to pass the most stringent testing procedures for safety and eff icacy to meet international reg ulator y g uidel ines. Bot h products are US EPA registered, BPR compliant and comply with all regulatory requirements of each countr y where they are sold. They have been formulated with non-phthalate carriers to provide environmentally friendly alternatives to arsenic based antimicrobial options.

How is Antimicrobial Efficacy of Ultra-Fresh DM-25 & DW-30 Measured in Foams?

Many test methods developed by organizations such as the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC); American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM); International Organization for Standardization (ISO); and Japanese Industrial Standard (J IS) a re avai lable t o e v a lu a t e a nt i m ic r o bi a l performance. Such standardized test methods are often developed for specific types of materials, end-uses or antimicrobial technologies; therefore, choosing the correct test method is crucial.

Test Methods to Assess Antimicrobial Efficacy of Ultra-Fresh

Antimicrobial testing methods are usually grouped into two general categories: qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative tests are based on visual observations of microbial growth, with a microscope used to evaluate foams with no macroscopic growth. Such methods are used to roughly estimate the antibacterial / antifungal activity of a material. Visual observations, as seen in figure 1, makes these test methods easy to understand for those without a scientific background. However qualitative tests are not appropriate to measure activity of many types of antimicrobials.

Figure 1: AATCC Method 30, part III, using Aspergillus niger. Microscopic photos of untreated foam (left) supporting heavy amounts of fungal growth vs Ultra-Fresh treated foam (right) demonstrating antimicrobial activity by remaining free of growth after the 7 day incubation period.

Quantitative tests determine the degree of antimicrobial activity using a numeric value such as percent reduction or log reduction. With these methods a known number of bacteria are placed directly onto the foam. After a defined incubation period, the surviving bacteria are recovered and recounted as shown in figure 2.

Quant itat ive test s a re more sensitive than qualitative methods and can be used for a wider range of antimicrobial products. They provide more relevant real-world test conditions and the quantitative measurement of performance is a more meaningful result than a

zone of inhibition. However quantitative tests are much more expensive and time consuming to perform than qualitative tests. It is also imperative that an experienced laboratory is selected to conduct quantitative tests, as inexperienced or poor ly t ra ined microbiologists can lead to a wide variation of results.

Cer ta in indust r ies may develop specific ant imic robia l te s t cr iter ia that foams m u s t m e e t . F o r e x a m p l e , f o a m used in the marine, automotive and the


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furniture / bedding industries will often have to pass the ASTM G21.ASTM G21 protocol is used to assess the resistance of synthetic polymers to fungal attack. Foams are inoculated with five different types of fungal spores and then incubated for 28 days at optimal growth temperature. The presence of fungal growth on the samples is assessed through visual and microscopic observation. Figure 3 demonstrates growth on an untreated foam sample as well as the absence of growth on an Ultra-Fresh DM-25 treated sample after the test recommended 28-day incubation period.

Figure 2: ISO 20743, Staphylococcus aureus. Heavy bacterial recovery from untreated foam (left) versus Ultra-Fresh DW-30 treated foam (right) after testing using the ISO 20743 method.

Figure 3: ASTM G21. Growth observed on untreated foam (left) as compared to foam treated with Ultra-Fresh DM-25 (right) after testing using the ASTM G21.

Ultra-Fresh DM-25 and Ultra-Fresh DW-30 are recommended for foams that require performance in the highlighted test methods, as well as many other standardized test methods not discussed in this paper. TRA’s state-of-the-art labs

are equipped to perform thousands of these test s ever y year by rigorously trained microbiologists that are experts in their field. TRA provides efficacy testing during the developmental phase of any Ultra-Fresh program and continues with complimentary QC testing of established programs to ensure that treated foam maintains a high level of performance.

Ultra-Fresh DM-25 and Ultra-Fresh DW-30 work continuously to control unpleasant odours caused by microbial growth in foam, and prevent staining and degradation caused by the proliferation of bacteria, mold and mildew. This built-in protection assures foams remain clean and fresh.


TECHNICAL ARTICLE

The light-weight PU solutions in Automotive

Introduction

To reduce energy consumption, emission and to increase the acceleration performance of a

car, besides a more effective engine, lower weight of the car is the easiest way. Usages of more and more plastics, especially polyurethanes in the automotive industry have been contributing a lot to reduce the total weight of cars.

Polyurethanes are widely used for interior parts and exterior parts. Well known comfortable seating, headrest, steering wheel; back foam for instrument panel, door panel; acoustic carpet underlay and roof liner are all made of polyurethane. Structure parts as bumper, panel substrate, sun roof, trunk floor, spoiler, fender, bonnet, etc. of polyurethane or its composites are finding more and more opportunities in the automotive industry. In this paperthe technologies to produce low-weight polyurethane structural parts are briefly described.

Technologies

To make polyurethane structural parts three main technologies are available.

Reaction Injection Molding (RIM)

Two component PU system is mixed at the mixing head and injected into a mostly closed

mould. After demolding the (semi) final parts can be directly used or for further processing. Depending on used f illers in component or fibre mat in the mould the R IM process is div ided into conventional RIM, reinforced RIM (RRIM), structural RIM (S-RIM) or RTM (resin transfer molding). According to the chemistry we have conventional RIM-systems and high speed RIM-systems. PU RIM systems are widely used as exterior parts of high surface quality, as car body, bumper, spoiler, rear mirror house, etc.

Long Fibre Injection (LFI)

Others than the short f ibre is used for R-RIM and fibre mat for S-RIM, long fibre of up to 20cm is used at the LFI process. Instead of adding the fibre powder into the component, or put the mat onto the mould, long fibre is just mixed with the PU system at the mixing head. Due to its limited flowability the LFI system is mostly sprayed into open mould. Internal release agent is used to improve the productivity. PU composite parts by LFI process are finding


TECHNICAL ARTICLE

their usage as panel substrates, roof modules, etc.

Paper Honeycomb PU

Learned from nature, the super light PU composite consists of a paper honeycomb core covered by reinforced PU system on both sides. The PU layers can be made via the fibre mat + PU process or LFI process. The Honeycomb PU systems are finding their usage as sunroof, trunk floor, spare wheel cover, etc.

Summary

Technologies to produce PU structural parts are introduced.

They are widely used for both car interior and exterior, greatly contribute to reduce the total car weight. Most of the technologies are commercially available and BASF can deliver the proper PU systems

Elastolit® and Elastof lex® and processing supports, worldwideclose to your sites.


TECHNICAL ARTICLE

Polyurethane Composites for Biomedical Application

DR. SNEHALATA AGASHE

In the past, Polyurethanes (PUs) have been used in long term biomedical devices due to their

toughness, biocompatibility and ability to support cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation. Biodegradable PUs have been developed for tissue engineering and drug deliver y therapies. Additionally PUs can be prepared by reactive molding techniques, thereby rendering them potentially useful as injectable biomaterials for minimally invasive therapies. Biomaterials must embody the characteristics of biocompatibility, b i o - c o n d u c t i v i t y , l o n g -term bio-stability and f inally biodegradability (in most of the cases, to spare patients unnecessary stresses).

The characteristic properties of thermoplastic PUs such as elasticity, surface wettability, modulus and environmental sensitivity have gained much importance, but use of PUs by adding with bioactive fillers such as natural protein, polysaccharide, hydroxyl apatite (HA) and therefore fabricating composites of these materials with PU , render the material with unique characteristics. The usage of bioactive fillers improves biological properties as well as the mechanical properties of the final composite material. Furthermore, the fillers will benefit the composite with sensitivity to environmental stimuli and structural properties

of PUs such as shape memory poly u re t ha ne (SM PU), c a n improve the performance of the final products during biomedical application.

Generally four main techniques are used to synthesize PU and biomaterial composites1) Casting 2) spinning 3) foaming and 4) Coating.

Table 1 summarises the main PU composites for biomedical application

PU Composites for wound dressing : Wound healing involves a process of regenerating dermal and epidermal tissues which provide the safeguard to injured wounds. Hence an ideal wound dressing should possess 1) high bacterial resistance to decontaminate the exogenous microorganism 2) good haemostatic properties 3) high fluid adsorption 4) oxygen/water vapour permeability 5) microenvironment for wound healing 6) stable attachment and

Table1: Typical PU-Polymer Composites for Biomedical Application


TECHNICAL ARTICLE

Figure 1: Schematic representation of wound healing by CNMs and SMPUs

easy removal 6) cost effectiveness. A wound dressing fabricated with composite nano fiber mats (CNMs) based on PU, cellulose and zein with the incorporation of an anti mocrobial agent streptomycin sulphate has been repor ted. The obtained CNMs showed good hydrophilicity, excellent cell attachment, proliferation of blood clott ing ability and excellent antimicrobial properties for easy healing.Another smart multifunctional wound dressing was fabricted through electro

spinning the shape memor y polyurethanes (SMPU)/gelatin/chitosan/ and subsequent post t reatment with silver nit rate solution as anti microbial agent. SMPUs helped in terms of shape fixation assisted easy healing and shape recovery assisted closure of wounds. Figure 1 depicts the schematical representation of wound recover y by proposed CNMs and SMPUs

PU Composites for T issue Engineering : Three-dimensional a n d o p e n - c e l l P U f o a m microstructure for scaffold, filled with-Tr i Calc ium Phosphate (-TCP) are developed to support

cell attachment, proliferation, differentiation and extracellular matrix deposition, assisting bone regeneration. Scaffold should activate the healing mechanisms followed by implantation. Pore sizes of the foam also affect the course of osteogenesis. Pores larger than 300 μm become rapidly well-vascularized and induce osteogenesis, whereas small ones below 100 μm lead to hypoxic conditions which contribute to the osteochondral process. The porosity determines scaffold mechanical

properties. High porosity and pore size facilitate bone tissue healing but consequently reduces mec hanica l proper t ies . The hydrophilicity of scaffold surface modulates protein adsorption. Bone formation proceeds by osteogenesis, osteoinduct ion and osteoconduct ion. Hence meticulous engineering of PU foam mic rost r uc tures f i l led with (-TCP) can help in speedy regeneration of the bones followed by biodegradation of PU foam microstructures eventually. Figure 2 represents a 3D structure of PU composite scaffold.PU Composites for drug delivery: The controlled drug delivery system

is a combined application which can control the release of drugs, genes, and growth factors at a site of interest for wound healing and

Figure 2: 3D microstructure of the PU Composite scaffold

tissue regeneration. G e n e r a l l y , t h e controlled release m a n n e r c a n b e accomplished by simple d i f f usion alone or through d i f f u s i o n a n d deg radat ion, but a l so by t r ig ge r s from environmental st imuli (e.g., pH,

temperature, redox-reaction ), or through a hierarchical structure (e.g., coresheath, multilayers) which can change the diffusion trajectory. In general, the following two characteristics are crucial, ef fec t ive drug loading (high loading amount, high loading efficiency, and maintained activity of the drug) and accurate control over the drug release (avoid burst release, sustainable release, and target release). In other words, the system can deliver the loaded drugs into the target tissue with desirable release profile. Recently, a thermo- and pH-sensitive nanofibrous shape memory carrier was fabricated successfully based on a copolymer of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)-


TECHNICAL ARTICLE

co- poly(acrylic acid) P(NIPAAm-co-AAc) with an LCST of 37˚C and PU. A water-insoluble drug, nifedipine (NIF), was embedded into this composite nanofiber system, and the release behavior of NIF from nanofibers was observed by SEM and demonstrated by UVvis spectroscopy. In their study, it was found that the wettability of P (NIPAAm-co-AAc) nanofibers could be tunable due to the incorporation of PU. When the carrier became hydrophilic by decreasing the amount of PU, the released amount of the NIF rapidly increased with time, while the released amount of NIF exhibited a sustained release manner and slowly increased with time by switching the carrier to being hydrophobic Hence, this fabricated system could effectively control the release behaviour of NIF by adjusting the temperature or pH value of the aqueous medium and the amount of PU incorporated [14].

PU Composites for biosensors : A biosensor is an analytical dev ice which can sense and conver t a biological response into a detectable signal, and one desirable biosensor should exhibit at least some of the beneficial features, like specificity, stability, accuracy, wide analytical range, low detection limit, portable, and cheap. PU has been widely accepted as t he mater ia l of choice for making biosensors due to its high f lexibility, easy processibility, cost-effectiveness, and desirable biocompatibility. Koh et al.[14] recently fabricated one multilayered glucose sensor involved in applying electro-

spun PU and NO donor-loaded nanofibrous mats as the outer membrane. Due to the high porosity of the outermost membrane and controlled active release of NO, such a biosensor can effectively mitigate the foreign body response (e.g., reducing bacteria adhesion, decreasing inflammation) and thus improve sensor performance. Also, PU was applied as the diffusion-limiting layer to avoid the leakage of glucose oxidase and allow the dynamic glucose response range over the entire physiological range of blood glucose concentrations. Their results showed that PU CNMs could maintain a stable porous structure without NO donor leaching but release NO in a controlled manner.

From the above discussions it’s evident that PU composites have made great progress in biomedical applications, from the material design, preparation technology, mechanism analysis, structure, and property characterization to the final functional performance investigation and evaluation. Although numerous types of PU composites have been successfully fabricated and applied, some challenges still remain and need to be solved in the near future. The reported applications should be further explored, and a deeper understanding on the application-oriented structureproperty relation is needed, such as a thorough understanding between scaffold matrix and cell/tissue. Thereafter, PU composites can better benefit people’s lives or completely satisfy the requirements of particular applications.

References

[1] Piotr Szczepanczyk et al., Polyurethane composite foams with B-tricalcium phosphate for biomedical application. J. Reinforced Plastics and Composites, 34(22), (2015), 1856-1870. [2] E.J. Adolph, et al., Injectable polyurethane composite scaffolds delay wound contraction and support cellular infiltration and remodelling in rat excisional wounds, J. Biomed. Mater. Res. Part A 100A (2) (2012) 450-461. [3] A. Bhattacharyya, P. Mukhopadhyay, P.P. Kundu, Synthesis of a novel pH-sensitive polyurethane-alginate blend with poly(ethylene terephthalate) waste for the oral delivery of protein, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 131 (2014) 16. [4] L. Liu, et al., Fabrication and evaluation of polyurethane-based asymmetric membranes, J. Mater. Sci. 48 (5) (2013) 1902-1910. [5] W. Cynthia, et al., Biomimetic electrospun gelatin-chitosan polyurethane for heart valve leaflets, J. Mech. Med. Biol. 10 (4) (2010) 563-576. [6] D.N. Heo, et al., Burn-wound healing effect of gelatin/polyurethane nanofiber scaffold containing silver-sulfadiazine, J. Biomed. Nanotechnol. 9 (3) (2013) 511-515. [7] N. Detta, et al., Novel electrospun polyurethane/gelatin composite meshes for vascular grafts, J. Mater. Sci.-Mater. Med. 21 (5) (2010) 1761-1769. [8] R. Chen, et al., Preparation and characterization of coaxial electrospun thermoplastic polyurethane/collagen compound nanofibers for tissue engineering applications, Colloids Surf. B-Bio interfaces 79 (2) (2010) 315-325. [9] Y.P. Huang, et al., Swelling behaviours and mechanical properties of silk fibroinpolyurethane composite hydrogels, Compos. Sci. Technol. 84 (2013) 15-22. [10] H.Y. Wang, et al., A potential nonthrombogenic small-diameter vascular scaffold with polyurethane/poly(ethylene glycol) hybrid materials by electrospinning technique, J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 13 (2) (2013) 1578-1582. [11] H.Y. Mi, et al., Characterization of thermoplastic polyurethane/polylactic acid (TPU/PLA) tissue engineering scaffolds fabricated by microcellular injection molding, Mater. Sci. Eng. C-Mater. Biol. Appl. 33 (8) (2013) 4767-4776. [12] I.A. Paun, et al., MAPLE deposition of 3D micro patterned polymeric substrates for cell culture, Appl. Surf. Sci. 278 (2013) 166-172. [13] N. Baheiraei, et al., Preparation of a porous conductive scaffold from aniline pentamer-modified polyurethane/PCL blend for cardiac tissue engineering, J. Biomed. Mater. Res. Part A 103 (10) (2015) 3179-3187.[14] Book: Polyurethane Polymers; Chapter 16-Polyurethane composites and Nano composites for biomedical application by Jinlian Hu and Jin Tan, (2017) 477-498.


TECHNICAL ARTICLE

Pultrusion: a new tool for AeolicsThe year 2018 started with a record: according to WindEurope (an association promoting the use of wind power), on January 4 wind power in Europe generated 2,128 GWh of clean energy, equal to about 22.7% of the daily European demand.

This is an important goal for a sector, like wind power, in constant growth, considering

that on that day of the year the electricity generated by wind power was the second source of European energy after nuclear power. And that’s not all. A recent report from BP predicts that in the next 30 years, onshore wind power could become the cheapest form of electricity generation, with development costs (both for offshore and onshore wind power) continuing to drop.

Star t ing in 2007, Cannon has developed equipment dedicated to t he wind power indust r y : Cannon Afros designs and develops customised machines based on specific requests from customers, many of whom have renewed their confidence in the proposed solutions year after year.

A perfect example is the international group Siemens that, through the Wind Power division, has established itself as the leading supplier of renewable energy solutions that are trustworthy, eco-compatible, and cost efficient. With over thirty years of experience both onshore and offshore, it supplies clean renewable energy all over the world. Cannon Afros met this customer’s specific requirements with Epoxy DX, an infusion machine that runs processes reliably and accurately, so as to ensure the same mechanical resistance in every part of the blade.

Cannon’s commitment to wind power is on-going, thanks also to the stable par tnership with Siemens Gamesa Wind Power - to

which it supplied various degassing systems (useful in removing air from resin before it is injected), as well as various infusion machines - and through in-depth research to develop new increasingly high-performance products.

Su z lon , Ind ia ’s leading and the w o r l d ’ s s i x t h largest wind turbine manufacturer, has also put its faith in Cannon Afros and the high-performing Epoxy DX. In addition to requesting twelve infusion units, it also ordered as many Cannon G-Systems, the dedicated dispensing machines that precisely distribute the two-component epoxy adhesive used to hold together the two large shells that make up the turbine blades.

More recently, Cannon has entered the market by supplying equipment for the production of Carbon fibre-reinforced Spar Caps. These are fundamental blade components, connection supports between the shear web (a longitudinal structural element) and the blade shell.

They are manufactured using a special process called pultrusion. This process creates high perfor-mance structural parts, impregnating a reinforcement material with a liquid matrix, pulling it through a resin bath or in an mould fed by a dosing machine. The resulting

material then runs through a heated die to obtain the finished product. This process produces constant cross-section profiles that are resistant to the longitudinal stresses typical of turbine blades.

For this very type of processing, Cannon Afros of fers the B1, a specific pultrusion machine that is extremely accurate with variable range, depending on production speed. It is constantly monitored via a system that collects data in real time, specifically developed for this type of process.

The worldwide fight against climate change sees wind power as one of its key players: a renewable source of clean energy that respects the environment, wind power contributes to reducing importing energy from non-renewable sources (like fossil fuels), increasing security of supply and, thereby, improving the trade balance between nations and quality of life by creating new jobs.



SPECIAL FEATURE

Importance of PU Composites

By Priya Fonseca

Composites due to their incredible adaptability lend themselves to a wide array of

situations. They combine relatively easily with other materials to produce required properties and serve specific functions. Various composites f ind applicat ions towards product development in automotive, aerospace, military, marine, leisure, and more and form a significant part of the most innovative industries.

The Boeing B-787 Dreamliner, t he c om me rc i a l A me r i c a n long hau l , mid- s i z ed w ide

body, twin engine jet airliner is designed and manufactured from highly advanced materials. The Dreamliner is known for its application of light weight composite materials, modern design, high tech engines and reduced noise level. The wings, tail and fuselage of the aircraft is designed from composite materials

that make up 50% of the mass of the aircraft.

The increased applicat ion of composites in end use industries, has helped push the g lobal polyurethane composites market too. Polyurethane composites are being used primarily in:

• Electrical and electronics• Building and construction• Transport• Wind power energy.

They also see applications in areas of petrochemicals, sports and leisure, aerospace and defence.

According to market reports the global polyurethane composites market is expected to grow from USD 515.0 Million in 2016 to USD 909.8 Million by 2026, at a CAGR of 5.9% for the same 10 year period. Transportation segment is projected to be the fastest growing segment for the global polyurethane composites market f rom 2016 to 2026. Polyurethane composites that offer superior mechanical and physical properties compared


SPECIAL FEATURE

to other materials contribute to the development of lightweight automotive components. Light weighting, fuel economy, and p e r for m a nce be ne f i t s w i l l accelerate growth of composites in automotive.

Glass fibre polyurethane composites and carbon fibre polyurethane composites are the most popular fibre types. Globally glass fibre polyurethane composite segment has seen higher growth due to its properties, namely, strength, durability, stability, f lexibility, light weight and resistance to temperature, heat and moisture. The manufacturing processes include lay-up (most popular due to low cost and ease of processing), pultrusion, resin transfer molding,

injec t ion molding , f i lament winding and compression molding. Polyurethane of fers quicker, easier, more durable and less fume emitting processes as compared to other composite production methods. Using new polyurethane composite technologies will ensure this highly versatile material will find many more applications.

Polyurethanes resins chemistry in composite applications has a huge potential to grow. As per a 2016 ar ticle in Composites World, polyurethane composites accounted for only about 3% of the total composites resin market. Asia-Pacific has been the largest market for polyurethane composites owing to high economic growth rate and investments in industries that

Pc: “Growth Opportunities in Global Composites Industry 2013-2018,” Lucintel LLC (Irving, TX, US), 2012

require innovative light weighting solutions.

T he ke y compa n ie s i n t he global polyurethane composites market include BASF Se, Hexcel C o r p o r a t i o n , H u n t s m a n Corporation, SGL Group, Toray Industries, Inc., The Dow Chemical Company, Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Sekisui Chemical Co., Owens Corning.

Polyurethane f ibre reinforced composites have features that are superior to matrices of vinyl ester, polyester and epoxy such as better toughness owing to the flexibility and elongation of cured polymer structure, ability to be used with a wide range of processing conditions, and greater f ibre adhesion in


SPECIAL FEATURE

pultrusion processes associated with carbon fibre reinforcements. Polyurethane composites have better tensile strength, and are better resistant to abrasions and impact than composites based on unsaturated polyester and vinyl ester resins. Processing advantages include faster cure times as well as the fact that they are less labour intensive. The shorter pot life due to high degree of reactivity of the mixed polyurethane system and the tendency of voids or bubble formation in the laminate structure are the two main challenges to the conventional processes. These hurdles typically exist as most composite manufacturing operations are designed around thermosetting resins with longer pot life.

Over the last two decades thanks to changes to processing technology, polyurethane composites have made head way in foa med structural RIM automotive interior and exterior parts such as pickup truck boxes, load floors, package shelves and inner door panels. More recently, non-foamed, high density polyurethane composite systems are being used with traditional composite processes as well. These offer application opportunities that include window lineals, bathtubs, electric light poles and large parts for trucks and off-road vehicles.

T h e E u r o p e a n P u l t r u s i o n Technology Association in March of 2018 held a conference in Vienna that att racted 150 composite professionals from across the globe. This record number of

participants from North and South America, Europe, India and South Africa indicates a growing interest in pultrusion and the desire to explore opportunities for growth. In addition to market potential, the conference also highlighted new pultrusion resins and process technology that will improve per for mance and a lso keep properties intact. What is important to note is that polyurethane resins were identified as potentially the most cost effective solution for pultrusion.

To e n s u r e p o l y u r e t h a n e composites exploit the potential application possibilities, machine manufacturers, resin suppliers and composite fabricators will need to collaborate to enable innovative options. One example of collaborative effort is the creation of closed polyurethane pultrusion as against the convent ional open bath design. Redesigning processes, rethinking machinery, establishing new business models and looking for creative solutions are the backbone to path breaking growth in the area of polyurethane composites.

There are also low end applications and opportunities unique to India that may be explored. These include use of agricultural waste like rice husk, bagasse, coconut husk etc to make composite products like boards, panels for low cost construction, f looring panels, building panels, sound panels, wall boards, ceiling tiles, roofing panels and more. Agglomerated stone or marble for functional and decorative applications may also be an area of opportunity.

In emerging economies, factors such as ever increasing population, impetus of infrastructure projects, larger spending power and the push to go green will ensure that the future is extremely bright for the polyurethane composites market.

Market leaders pave the way:

• Towards creating sustainable solutions for aerospace BASF has created composite load floor technologies that contribute to light weighting.

• Dow offers strong composite p r o d u c t s t h a t a r e u s e d for bui lding prof i les l ike pilings and panels, window manufacturing and electrical infrastructure like utility poles and civil engineering. The versatility of the products lead to applications in segments like logistics and transport too.

• In 2017, BASF and DONG-IL CNE entered a strategic MoU to develop innovative lightweight utility poles and oil and gas pipes along with other solutions for advanced infrastructure. While one partner provides manufac tur ing e xper t ise , the other brings to the table, the most suitable brand of polyurethane to create branded utility poles.

• Covestro along with equipment specialist KraussMaffei, is developing new polyurethane systems designed to enable pu l t r ude d p ol y u re t h a ne composites. The company has developed resin systems that feature high line speed and don’t require coating.


IPUA VENTURES

First webinar of the webinar series by IPUATC on alternate blowing agent by David Williams, Honeywell

Energ y ef f ic ienc y in the building sector is the key to achieve the ambitions set

out in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) announced by India as par t of the Paris Agreement at COP21. Due to its cost effectiveness, energy efficiency measures can be deployed fairly easily in both new and existing building stock; hence it is promoted at large scale by the Government of India to meet the NDCs.

India Insulation Forum and Spray Foam Alliance of India join hands to train students of VJTI, Matunga, Mumbai

As part of India’s commitments to mit igate Climate Change, it declared a voluntary goal of reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20–25%, over 2005 levels, by 2020, launching a slew of policy measures. India also has a definite plan of action for clean energy, energy efficiency in various sectors of industries, achieving lower emission intensity in the automobile and transport sector, and building sector based on energy conservation.

The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2007 for commercial bu i ld i ng s t hat e s t abl i she d minimum energy performance standards has been updated in 2017 to set higher performance benchmarks for building energy efficiency. This initiative to curb the carbon footprint of buildings is not limited to the commercial sector, as the BEE, Ministry of Power, is also in the process to unveil the ECBC for residential buildings this year.

The f irst webinar of the webinar series was conducted by IPUA Technical Centre on

4th September, 2018. The webinar was presented by Mr. David Williams, Director Technology at Honeywell. He highlighted the effectiveness of 245fa and Solstice LBA in these systems which can answer the temporary difficulties that the industry can face with the phase out of current HCFC option of 141b and stringent energy and environmental norms. Mr Williams explained that Blowing agents have seen a transition from the conventional early use of CFC-11 to

HCFC-141b, followed by Enovate® 245fa to the latest transition to fourth generation HFO (Hydro-Fluro-Olef ins) Solst ice® LBA blowing agents. Honeywell has been in the forefront of invention of all these successive blowing agents providing a greener and environment friendly alternative along with enhanced energ y efficiency to the overall systems. With the phase-out of HCFC 141b imminent in India, Honeywell is well placed to offer its competitive solution to the users in form of Enovate® 245fa and Solstice® LBA. These molecules are close to

drop in replacement for systems using HCFC141b and offer better thermal insulation properties than some of the other alternatives. Owing to their low GWP and ODP, non-corrosive, mild or non-flammable nature these blowing agents are well suited for diverse applications. These systems can be readily applied as pure or co-blended system in applications such as: panel formulat ions, refrigerator insulation foams, water heaters, thermo wares, spray foams etc


IPUA VENTURES

The Housing for All by 2022 mission of the Government of India intends to meet the current housing shortage. Identifying and

switching to more energy efficient construction technologies, will contribute further towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the

building sector. Integrating energy efficiency in the envelope is a huge challenge as the construction of units is primarily for the LIG and


Webinar on Mattress Recycling By Soft Landing, Australia, Organized by IPUATC

IP U A Te c h n i c a l C e n t r e is pleased to organize the second webinar of our webinar

series on Mattress Recycling, by Soft Landing, Australia on 7th December 2018. The webinar is accessible to all the IPUA members. Please send in your nominations to “[email protected] “ by 5th December 2018 if you wish to attend the webinar. The abstract of the subject which will be discussed is as follows:

Abstract

As polyurethanes becomes a part of our every day life, preventive

measures ought to be taken with regard to mitigating the end of life problems. In the case of mattresses, t he potent r isk s a r ise f rom careless disposal which include fire due to uncontrolled storage, environmental damage, health and safety, to the community as a whole. IPUA, has decided to be proactive in increasing awareness precisely of such matters and what Indian industry could and should do about it

Rebecca Lee, Managing Director – Covestro Australia and Janelle – Manager, Mattress Product Stewardship, will together narrate

the stor y of SOF T LANDING in Australia. How the value chain was created, with industry participation & perspective and special focus on the philosophy of People, Profit, Planet and lessons from international experience of ma nag ing end- of- l i fe of mattresses.. With the single-largest segment under polyurethanes in India being mattresses, there is a great opportunity to generate new business and employment.

Learn how at the webinar...

Continuing the three-fold task of stakeholder awareness, applicator

training and lab collaboration, about 40 students from the post-graduate Civil Engg

discipline were given a three-hour introductory

course on the benefits and techniques of insulation.

The IPUA initiated the IIF & SFAI in 2013 &

2016 respectively precisely to meet the great task of capacity building to enable India fulfil its commitments and

ambitions.

IPUA VENTURES

EWS segment.

The IPUA initiated the IIF & SFAI in 2013 & 2016 respectively precisely to meet the great task of capacity building to enable India fulfil

a conscious effort to build in insulation in all their professional endeavours!

its commitments and ambitions. Continuing the three-fold task of stakeholder awareness, applicator training and lab collaboration, about 40 students from the post-graduate Civil Engg discipline were given a three-hour introductory course on t he benef it s and techniques of insulation. The IIF faculty included Armacell, B A SF, C ove s t ro, E x pa nde d Polymer Systems and Supreme Petrochemicals. Following the lec ture c lasses, the students were provided an exposure to demonstration of the techniques which aroused their curiosity. At the end, all took the Energy Conservation Through Insulation Oath, with hands on breasts committing to making always


IPUA VENTURES

IPUA’s PU Tech Innovation Day

Th e I n d i a n P o l y u r e t h a n e Association (IPUA)

conducted an event, “PU Tech Innovation Day” on the 28 Sept 2018 at Mumbai, first in its genre reflecting innovations taking place i n t he Poly u re t h a ne industry. The major raw material suppliers in the f ield of Polyurethanes s u c h a s H u n t s m a n , Dow Chemicals, BASF, C o v e s t r o , W a n h u a , Momentive Performance C h e m i c a l s , E v o n i k , M i l l i k e n , E x p a n d e d Polymer Systems and major processors like Sheela Foams, Bharat Seats, Harita Fehrer, Jumax Foam and some representatives of machinery manufacturers a nd d is t r ibutor s l ike Goodie International were present with their innovative products / ideas. The event also had a walk-through exhibition where these companies displayed their products, literature, video etc…..

The idea behind this event is to make Polyurethane industry in India aware of the new developments that are generally taking place in terms of materials, machinery, additives and processing. It was conceived to be a One day event with nine technical paper presentations and panel discussion with experts from the industry. The event also gave the Academia a platform to present

their ideas and research work being carried out at different locations.

Prof. G D Yadav, Vice Chancellor of Institute of Chemical Technology, a d i s t i n g u i s he d s c i e nt i s t , delivered the key note address. He encouraged the polyurethane industry to go in for innovations and offered his institute’s resources for collaborative work.

The technical papers covered subjec ts l ike step change in manufacture of PIR Foam, the challenges faced by the industry in combining fire safety and low emissions, the sprayable cool gel

for the flexible foam industry with a soft touch and a cooling effect .

On the processing side, there were papers on Hybrid release agents. There was also a paper called My Foam Plant, which is an algorithm based system where the usage of big data helps in improving efficiency in the overall operations.

In all, the One day event was a very well appreciated by the people of the Polyurethane industry who participated and found it useful that this event will become a regular one in Indian Polyurethane Association’s Calendar of events.



IPUA VENTURES

Technical Training on Slabstock Polyurethane Foam22 &23 November 2018, Kolkata

IP U A Te c h n i c a l C e n t r e organized a two day technical training session on Slabstock

Polyurethane Foam on 22nd and 23rd November, 2018 at The Lalit Great Eastern Hotel, Kolkata for its eastern region members. The IPUA Executive Committee member Mr. Rabindra Jhajharia welcomed the gathering. Experienced subject

matter specialists, Dr.RamSai Yelamanchili (Shaya Polymers), Mr. Sanjay Sanghi (Momentive Performance Materials) Mr Ruchin Shr ivastav (At har va Test ing Laboratories), Mr C S Tiwari and Mr Dharmendra Balyan (Sheela foams), Mr KVR Prasad (Hennecke Asia) and Mr. Hawaldar (GNFC) were the faculties for the training.

The t ra ining inc luded basic PU chemistry, foam synthesis, f u nd a me nt a l s of foa m i ng , foam making process, different formulations, Machineries used in manufac tur ing slab-stock Poly uret hane foam, t rouble shoot ing , Te s t ing , re le va nt S t a nd a rd s , S a fe t y, He a l t h , Environment, Product Stewardship etc over a two day period.

Participants at the training session


ECONOMIC UPDATE

IL&FS crisis shows India doesn’t have a clue how to pay for infrastructure

BRO worker drives a steamroller while the repairing a road surface in Ladakh region | Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg

MIHIR SHARMAOCTOBER 5, 2018

Modi govt doubled down on spending on roads & railways, hoping investment would pay for itself in a revival of private sector activity. It hasn’t.

Whe n one of I nd ia ’s largest shadow bankers – an institution with

169 subsidiaries that calls itself In f ra s t r uc t u re L ea sing a nd Financial Services – admitted to a series of defaults last week, Indian markets came close to a crisis. Fearing that a prolonged investment slowdown would intensify, the government invoked a little-known clause in India’s Companies Act and appointed a new board. The rot the defaults revealed is about more than one organization, however, or even this particular moment in the Indian economy’s fragile recovery. Behind the messy descent of IL&FS from a gilt-edged, quasi-sovereign debt issuer to the object of a bureaucratic bailout lies one unpalatable truth: India hasn’t a clue how to pay for infrastructure.

It’s not as if the government hasn’t tried. Soon after taking power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration doubled down on public spending on roads and Indian Railways, hoping the investment would pay for itself in

a revival of private-sector activity. It hasn’t, and now the government is running out of fiscal space while bond yields are soaring.

Modi and his officials felt they had little choice. The previous government, under then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had tried to build infrastructure in par tnership with the pr ivate sector. That model, in which a company would agree to use subsidized resources to build a road or a power plant for the state in return for a cut of the revenue, had collapsed well before Singh was voted out and in fact contributed greatly to his defeat. Contracts were poorly drafted and implemented; accusations of corruption multiplied; the government failed to fulfill its part of the bargain with its private-

sector partners; and huge chunks of capital got locked up in half-built projects, sharply slowing growth.

Singh had chosen the PPP model in the first place because he felt that India couldn’t afford to build all the infrastructure it needed – trillions of dollars’ worth – out of taxes that could be better spent on, for example, rural welfare. Modi’s choice of the alternative model is now coming back to haunt him, as distress spreads across India’s vast rural hinterland. On Tuesday, Delhi’s police used water cannons and tear gas on tens of thousands of protesting farmers who were denied permission to enter the capital.

So, if the public sector can’t afford to build infrastructure, and it can’t sign contracts with the private


sector to do the job, then what’s left? Couldn’t a private-sector funder aggregate such projects and raise funds for them from debt-market players that would otherwise avoid project finance like the plague? That’s what IL&FS attempted to do. Unfortunately, it ran into the old maturity mismatch problem. Using its quasi-public sector status – it’s a private company, but everyone pretended it wasn’t – it splurged on unsecured debt with a one-year tenure. When its long-gestation projects got held up thanks to land disputes, it suffered a liquidity crisis.

It’s hard to see how this problem can be avoided. Just as when one mortgage fails many others are likely to do so – a root cause behind the subprime blowup in 2008 – when one Indian infrastructure project is delayed, it’s likely others will be, too.

What about creating a fund that raises capital only from long-term investors? That’s the six-year old idea behind India’s National Investment & Infrastructure Fund, in which the sovereign wealth

funds of Singapore and Abu Dhabi are major investors. The concept isn’t a bad one.

But it only reduces the problem; it doesn’t eliminate it. In order to reassure foreign investors, the government had to put in almost half the money: It owns 49 percent of the NIIF. That means the size of the fund is limited by the state’s straitened resources. While the government hopes the NIIF will grow to have $6 billion to invest, that’s a drop in the bucket. India’s finance minister estimated in 2016 that the country’s infrastructure build-out would require more than $1.5 trillion over 10 years. It’s tough to see half of that coming out of the Indian government’s budget.

This looks like an insoluble problem. It isn’t, if you believe one simple thing is true: The infrastructure projects worth building are those that pay for themselves in the long run. If that’s the case, there’s got to be a way to structure investment so that they get built. Governments shouldn’t have to put their own money in: They should instead commit to getting out of the way

and ensuring that they aren’t doing anything that halts projects before they’re finished.

It’s the private sector that needs to put more resources into figuring out what’s worth building and what isn’t – and how to make money off it. Countries like India are where the potential profits are. Yet, too often, Western finance looks for intermediaries like IL&FS instead of doing its job and evaluating risks itself.

A f te r a l l , t he re ’s one more model on offer: China’s. The People’s Republic has proved that the government can build infrastructure – too much of it! – if private-sector finance isn’t allowed to operate freely. Unless the capital markets start working to solve the problem of long-term debt, they’re going to find that governments decide they aren’t worth keeping around. – Bloomberg.

ht tps://t hepr int . in/opinion/ilfs-crisis-shows-india-doesnt-have -a- c lue -how-to -pay-for-infrastructure/130063/

India Inc cheers jump in World Bank ease of doing business ranking

India jumped 23 places to the 77th position in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’ ranking released on Wednesday

Press Trust of India | New Delhi Last Updated at October 31, 2018

ECONOMIC UPDATE


ECONOMIC UPDATE


ECONOMIC UPDATE

India’s jump to the 77th position in the World Bank ’s Doing Business Report is an outcome

of the reforms undertaken by the Narendra Modi government and will boost the country’s investment attractiveness, industry bodies and experts said on Wednesday.

India jumped 23 places to the 77th position in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’ ranking released on Wednesday.

India was ranked 100th in the World Bank ’s Doing Business Report last year.

The ranking comes as a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government which faces strong dissenting voices from opposition par t ies ahead of the general elections next year.

“The revised position will greatly add to the investment attractiveness and competitiveness of the Indian economy, which is the world’s fastest growing large economy now,” CII President Rakesh Bharti Mittal said.

Commenting on the development, former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said, “Huge improvement in India’s global ranking in Ease of Doing Business report of the World Bank. This will enhance the competitiveness of the Indian economy and generate higher investments, both domestic and foreign.”

In it s annual repor t ‘Doing Business’ 2019 report, World Bank said India improved on six of the 10 parameters relating to starting and doing business in a country.These parameters include ease of

starting a business, construction permits, getting electricity, getting credit, paying taxes, trade across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

Ar un Kumar, Chairman and CEO, KPMG in India said India’s performance on the World Bank’s assessment is a positive sign for foreign investors and is likely to reap benefits in the coming days. Vishwas Udgirkar, Partner, Deloitte India said the upward movement in ranking is as expected.

“Overall reforms under taken by the government have led to significant process improvement,” he said. Industry chamber Ficci said the new ranking reflects the depth of reforms been undertaken by the government not just at the Centre but also at the state level with the support of the state governments.

“Going forward, we hope to see further improvement in India’s ranking next year and achieving the target of 50 looks very much feasible now, said Ficci President Rashesh Shah. “This is a very welcome news which denotes the positive impact of various gover nment polic ies led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Assocham Secretary General Uday Kumar Varma said.

Jaxay Shah, the president of real estate developers’ body CREDAI, said there is still a long way to go in order to susta in t his momentum and the government should expedite implementation of the single window clearances to accelerate the revival of Indian real estate.

The improvement in trading across the border by 66 places in one go shows how trade facilitation has helped in cutting down time and cost, said Ganesh Kumar Gupta, the President of exporters’ body FIEO.

Gautam Mehra, a tax expert with PwC India, said the jump in ranking for the second year in a row is welcome news and an additional ratification that the reforms, both on laws and on process simplification, are showing results.

“The efforts by the Government to simplify customs processes would have been a factor which contributed to the large jump in the rank around cross-border trade,” he said.

India was ranked 142nd among 190 nat ions when the Modi government came to power in 2014. It rose to 100th spot in the last ranking from the 131st rank in the previous year.

New Zealand topped the list of 190 countries in ease of doing business, followed by Singapore, Denmark and Hong Kong.

The United States is placed eight and China has been ranked 46th. Neighbouring Pakistan is placed at 136.

World Bank put India among the top 10 economies to make the most improvements.

ht tps://www.business-standard.c o m/a r t i c l e / e c o n o m y - p o l i c y /india-inc-cheers-jump-in-world-bank - ea s e - o f - d o ing - bu s in e s s -ranking-118103101502_1.html


ECONOMIC UPDATE

Why Blockchain could be as Revolutionary as SmartphonesAndrew Ross Sorkin | NYT News Service

This is bonkers. A new so-called blockchain company is selling virtual real estate

online with prices as high as $120,000 for a 10 -meter by 10-meter piece of virtual land. You can buy a plot of virtual land in a vir tual city, with certain neighbourhoods costing more than others, like in a real city. Except that it isn’t a real city. It is all virtual. Follow? Me neither.

S o m e h o w t h e c o m p a n y , Decentraland, raised $26 million in 30 seconds from investors last year. That money isn’t “virtual” – it’s real.

Welcome to the world of blockchain, the latest technological revolution to those in the-know – and what seems like the latest get-rich-quick gibberish to the layperson.

You’ve probably hea rd t he blockchain is a technology that is going to change the world – it is the backbone of Bitcoin, the now infamous cryptocurrency. You might even have heard someone t r y ing to e x pla in blockchain by describing it as a “trusted distributed ledger.”

If you’re like most people, that’s when you stopped understanding – or even trying to understand – what this whole blockchain thing is all about. (Stick with me for

NOVEMBER 16, 2018

a moment and I promise you’ll understand it very soon.) It all feels a bit like 1999, circa the dot-com bubble. In Cannes, France, in June, at a gathering of advertisers, there was a “blockchain yacht” and a “blockchain v illa.” In Davo s , Sw i t z e r l a nd , t he re was a “ blockchain lounge.”

M e a n w h i l e , F o r t u n e 5 0 0 companies are investing billions in the blockchain. IBM has a whole d iv i s ion foc used on blockchain, as do the consultancies Accent u re a nd P w C . Ja mie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, has dismissed Bitcoin, but says “the blockchain is real.”

Silicon Valley venture capitalists have already sunk more than

$1.3 billion into blockchain technology just this year. And in June, Andreessen Horowitz, one of the most prominent technology firms founded, in part, by Marc Andreessen – who is credited with inventing the modern Web browser – announced a $300 million “cr ypto” fund to exc lusively invest in blockchain technologies.

“For t hose of us who have been involved in software for a long time, it feels like the early days of the internet, web 2.0, or smartphones all over again,” Andreessen and his colleagues said when introducing the fund.

That explanation of where this new technology sits within history feels right: While prognosticators


New models of computing have tended to emerge every 10 to 15 years:

mainframes in the ’60s, PCs in the late ’70s, the internet in the early ’90s, and smartphones in the late 2000s,” Andreessen

said. And now blockchain.

There aren’t multiple copies of a document and

different versions – there is only one trusted document

and you can keep track of everything that’s ever

happened to it.

ECONOMIC UPDATE

love to talk about crypto and blockchain as a bubble, it is likely just very early days. And while 1999 marked what seemed like a high point for the internet before a precipitous fall, it proved to only be the first stage of the its rise.

And what was arguably considered wild overspending in the 1990s on i nte r ne t i n f r a s t r uc t u re and experimental companies, ultimately set the foundation for the modern era we live in today.

Think about blockchain like this: There will be huge failures and misspent money – and yes, scams (the US Securities and Exchange Commission can hardly keep up), but a decade from now, when you look back at 2018, it ’s more likely than not that blockchain will be embedded in our day-to-day lives in ways that, today, we can’t even imagine.

“New models of computing have tended to emerge every 10 to 15 years: mainframes in the ’60s, PCs in the late ’70s, the internet in the early ’90s, and smartphones in the late 2000s,” Andreessen sa id . A nd now bloc kc ha in.

The easiest and most basic way to think about the underlying technology is to think about a technology that keeps a master list of everyone who has ever interacted with it. It’s a bit of an oversimplif icat ion, but if you’ve ever used Google Docs and allowed others to share the document so they can make changes, the programs keep a list of all the changes that are made to the document and by

whom. Blockchain does that but in an even more secure way so that every person who ever touches the document is trusted and everyone gets a copy of all the changes made so there is never a question about what happened a long the way. There a ren’t multiple copies of a document and different versions – there is only one trusted document and you can keep track of everything t hat ’s eve r happened to it .

The blockchain is, of course, being used to create all sorts of cryptocurrencies, led by Bitcoin and Ethereum. But more important, it is touching all different industries.

The advertising industry plans to

use it to track ads on the internet; the music industry is planning to use it to track songs; banks and mortgage companies want to use it to track the deeds of homes and the complex process of tracking all the documentation; shipping companies are investing in blockchain technology to track bills of lading, the pharmaceutical industry wants to use the technology to verify the drug supply chain.

If it is successful, blockchain technology will bring a new level of enhanced trust to business and will also cut out the middlemen that have historically tracked – and profited – from the complexity of so many dif ferent systems t r y ing to communicate with each other. That could lower prices for goods and services.

At the same time, for all the promise of blockchain, there are real questions about whether it may be applied to solve problems that don’t exist. Databases already exist and, in cer tain cases, a centralised database might actually be preferable to the blockchain.

Blockchain is about solv ing society ’s ult imate challenge: trust. Or rather, lack of trust. It’s about using technology to create a shared sense of trust in a group of disparate participants.

The biggest question is whether the hundreds of projects like Decentraland, where individuals are using real money to buy virtual property, will end well or badly – and whether that experience will ultimately instill or undermine trust in this emerging technology.



SAFETY HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT

SATIRE FROM THE BOROWITZ REPORT

Scientists: Earth Endangered by New Strainof Fact-Resistant Humans

By Andy BorowitzMay 12, 2015

Scientists have discovered a powerful new strain of fact-resistant humans who are threatening life on Earth.

PHOTOGRAPH BY NASA EO/REX/FEATURES VIA AP

MI N N E A P O L I S ( T h e B o r o w i t z R e p o r t) –S c i e n t i s t s h a v e

d iscovered a power f u l new strain of fact-resistant humans w h o a r e t h r e a t e n i n g t h e ability of Earth to sustain life, a sobering new study reports.The researc h, conduc ted by the University of Minnesota, ident i f ie s a v i r u lent s t ra in of humans who are vir tually immune to any form of verifiable knowledge, leaving scientists at a loss as to how to combat them.“These humans appear to have all the faculties necessary to receive and process information,” Davis Logsdon, one of the scientists who contributed to the study, said. “And yet, somehow, they have developed defenses that, for all intents and purposes, have rendered those faculties totally inactive.”More worryingly, Logsdon said, “As facts have multiplied, their defenses against those facts have only grown more power ful.”While scientists have no clear understanding of the mechanisms that prevent the fact-resistant humans from absorbing data, they theorize that the strain may have developed the ability to intercept and discard information en route from the auditory nerve to the

brain. “The normal functions of human consciousness have been completely nullified,” Logsdon said.While reaffirming the gloomy assessments of the study, Logsdon held out hope that the threat of fact-resistant humans could be mitigated in the future. “Our research is very preliminary, but it’s possible that they will become more receptive to facts once they are in an environment without food, water, or oxygen,” he said.

• Andy Borowitz is the New York Times best-selling author of “The 50

Funniest American Writers,” and a comedian who has written for The New Yorker since 1998. He writes the Borowitz Report, a satirical column on the news, for newyorker.com.h t t p s : / /w w w.n e w y o r k e r. c o m/

humor/borowitz-report/scientists-e a r t h - e n d a n g e r e d - b y - n e w -st rain-of-fact-resi stant-humans


Alarming Portents from Global Warming Report

Jacob Koshy

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 08, 2018

1.5 deg. C rise in temperatures w i l l b e c a t a s t r oph i c for coastal nations and

agricultural economies like IndiaCoastal nations and agricultural economies l ike India would be the worst affected. Decline in crop yields, unprecedented climate extremes and increased susceptibility could push poverty by several million by 2050, said the ‘Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C,’ commissioned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that saw as many as 91 authors and review-editors from 40 countries, convene in Incheon, South Korea and, over the last week, assess the scientific evidence, feasibility and benef it s f rom countr ies striving to keep the average global temperature from rising above 1.5 C from pre-industrial times.“Even at a little over 1.0°C warming, India is being battered by the worst climate extremes – it is clear that the situation at 1.5°C is going to worsen. The new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has served us a final warning that we must get our act together – now and quickly,”

said Sunita Narain, direc tor general, CSE, in response to the release of the Panel’s latest study.O f f i c i a l s f rom t he Un ion Environment Ministry, the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Indian Institute of Human Settlements and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences were part of the Indian delegation at Incheon. One of them, who didn’t want to be identified, told The Hindu that the report gave a more comprehensive assessment of the differences in a 1.5C world and 2C world and quantified the carbon dioxide that would need to be removed from the atmosphere to achieve this.India hadn’t made any scientific cont r ibut ion – in te r ms of model l ing possible c l imate change-impact to its agriculture, monsoon, urban dwellings – to this report but gave critical inputs

to the scientific basis underlying these assessments. “We discussed, for instance, how much land would need to be diverted from agriculture to forestry (for creating carbon stocks) for captur ing carbon, or growing biofuel,” the person told The Hindu. “These are impossible targets but will contribute to future discussions.”

The next major climate discussions are scheduled in December in Katowice, Poland where countries are expected to discuss rules to implement the Paris agreement.

h t t p s : / / w w w . t h e h i n d u . c o m /n e w s / n a t i o n a l / a l a r m i n g -por tent s-f rom-global-warming-r e p o r t / a r t i c l e 2 5 1 6 0 3 1 2 .ece?utm_ campaign=soc ia lf low

SAFETY HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT


PEOPLE

Mr. Siddhar th Malani, Managing Director, Shree Malani Foams Private

Limited, was confer red with Young Business Leader award by Zee Business in association with Federation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry on 31st October 2018 at a function held in Hyderabad.

Shree Malani Group – comprising Shree Malani Foams Private Limited and Centuary Fibre Plates Private Limited – is one of the leading manufacturers of high quality polyurethane foams for comfort and technical applications along with complete range of mattresses and Sleep products. Under the leadership of Mr. Purshottam

Mr Siddharth Malani Bags Young Business Leader Award by Zee Business

M a la n i , C h a i r m a n , Shree Malani Group has grown over 200 times in the last 25 years.

Shree Malani Foams Pr ivate L imited was s t a r ted in t he yea r 2008 and has the best in c la s s tec hnolog y plat form to cater to various requirements o f t he m a r ke t a nd i ndu s t r y i nc lud i ng automotive packaging, acoustic, foot wear and other technical foams.The Company strongly b e l i e ve s t h a t “ T he Future is Foamtastic”®.

Mr. Siddharth Malani, Managing Director, Shree Malani Foams Private Limited, being conferred with the Young Business Leader award by Zee Business in association with Federation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Brieux BoisdequinVice PresidentAutomotive Businesses, Strategy & New Business Development

Brieux is a Senior Executive in the downstream chemical industry, having developed

through a variety of international assignments up to his current role as VP Automotive Businesses, S t r a t e g y & N e w B u s i n e s s Development at BASF.

His experience includes key account management, business development, business performance analysis, M&A, postmerger integration,

investment projects (scouting, strategic rationale, negotiations), cont rac t manufac tur ing and purchase contract negotiations, quality management, technology t ra ns fe r , produc t por t fol io management, costing.

In his prev ious role, Br ieu x contributed to position BASF as a global market leader in battery materials for the EV (Electric Vehicle) industry.

Brieux has lived and worked in 5 Asian countries (Japan, Hong Kong , Singapore, China and India). He is currently based in Mumbai, managing the automotive businesses and leading strategy and new business development for BASF in South Asia.

He holds an Executive MBA from INSEAD (Singapore / France) and a master degree in Business and Commerce from Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.


TWITTER TRENDS

Innovation in Polyurethanes


PU Elastomers with Extremely High Elongation

Aliphatic TPU with Reduced Effloresence

Patent Tit le: Poly urethane Elastomer with High Ultimate Elongation

Number/Link: US2018/0312623

Appl ic a nt /A ss ig nee : UN I V PENNSYLVANIA

Publication Date: 1 November 2018

“ G i s t ” : L o w h a r d b l o c k polyurethane-polyurea elastomers

are prepared from low unsat diols, HDI and a bulky diamine chain extender

Why it is Interesting: The current invention relates to PU elastomers which are said “to have the highest reported elongation-at-break among known polyurethane elastomers“. The materials are prepared from an NCO-ended prepolymer consisting of a low unsaturated, low dispersity diol and a symmetric diisocyanate (i.e.

no 4,4 -MDI), which is reacted with a “bulky” diamine chain extender. In the examples Acclaim 4200 (polyether diol with OHv 28) is used together with HDI and 2-methyl-1,5-pentanediamine. The elastomer showed an elongation at break of more than 2000%.

Because these materials have a low-and non-aromatic hardblock content, it is my opinion that they show creep rather than elasticity.

2-methyl-1,5-pentanediamine

P a t e n t T i t l e : A l i p h a t i c Thermoplastic Polyurethanes, Production And Use Thereof

Number/Link: WO2018/192936 (German)

Applicant/Assignee: CovestroPublication Date: 25 October 2018

1,10-diisocyanatohexane (DDI)


TWITTER TRENDS


Polyurethanes from Bisphenol-Based Polyols

Patent Title: Oligomeric Polyol Compositions

Number/Link: WO2018/190891

Applicant/Assignee: Presidium USA

Publication Date: 18 October 2018

“Gist”: Polyurethanes from high

functionality bisphenol-based polyols

Why it is Interesting: The invention relates to high functionality (and high viscosity) polyols that consist of bisphenol moieties and aliphatic polyol moieties and that can be prepared by reacting a bisphenol-based polycarbonate with a short-chain, high functionality polyol in the presence of a suitable

catalyst or promotor. In the examples a bisphenol-A based polycarbonate powder is reacted with propoxylated pentaerythritol and a tetra – OH – functional tert-amine that acts as a promotor. The polyols are said to be useful for high stiffness polyurethanes that show improved heat distortion and a relatively low reaction exotherm.

Catalytic tetrol used in the invention

“ G i s t ” : T P U b a s e d o n 1,10-decanediisocyanate shows reduced blooming

Why it is Interesting: Aliphatic thermoplastic polyurethanes, based on hexanediisocyanate

(HDI) can show “blooming” i.e. the formation of a white precipitate on the surface of the material. It is believed that this is caused by the formation of cyclic oligourethanes migrating to- and forming crystals on the surface. According to this

invention, this blooming behaviour can be prevented by using long-chain aliphatic diisocyanates like 1,10-diisocyanatodecane or 1,12-diisocyanatododecane instead of HDI.



PREVIEWS & REPORTS

UTECH North America Announces New Dates and Location for Its 2020 Conference and Exhibition

DE T ROI T – Nov. 13, 2018 – Organizers of UTECH North America,

the independent polyurethanes conference and trade show, today announced that the next edition of the event will take place May

19-21, 2020, at the Renaissance S c h a u m b u r g C o n v e n t i o n C e nt e r Hot e l i n C h ic a g o.

“Our attendees and exhibitors spoke, and we listened,” said Debbie Hershfield, Trade Show and Events Director, Crain Global Polymer Group. “The show’s new location will make travel easier than ever for polyurethanes professionals and suppliers traveling from across North America. We’ve already had

a lot of positive feedback on the new location and are confident this will be one of our best events to date in North America.”

UTECH North America draws from a broad range of polyurethane

profe s s ion a l s r e pre s e nt i ng numerous industries innovating with polyurethane. This includes automotive, aerospace, building and const ruct ion, elec t r ical, furniture and bedding, footwear and textiles, mining and offshore, pipes and pipelines, refrigeration a nd i n s u la t ion a s we l l a s specialist surgical and medical.

Held in conjunction with the conference, the independent

UTECH North America trade show connects suppliers and buyers from across the polyurethane industry for two days of networking , learning and identifying new

business opportunities. As the only show that is 100 percent poly urethanes, at tendees can e xpec t to meet with leading suppliers, including REPI, Chromaflo, Frimo and Ma x Process Equipment .

To stay up-to-date with the latest information and details for UTECH North America 2020, please visit the event website at: http://www.utech-north-america.com. Images and v ideo f rom U T ECH North America 2018 are also available on the event website.

Join the UTECH LinkedIn Group at: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3869236 or like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/UTECHPolyurethane2/. For news and updates, follow UTECH North America on Twitter at: w w w. t w i t t e r. c o m/u t e ch _ PU. You can also follow the event hashtag #UTECHNA to see the latest news about the event. UTECH Las Americas returns to Centro CitiBanamex, Mexico Cit y on Apr i l 10 -12, 2019.


Saip Equipment Invites you to Visit Its Stand at PU Tech Africa 2018

November 20-21 | Sandton Convention Center | Johannesburg, South Africa

PREVIEWS & REPORTS

NOVEMBER, 7TH 2018

SAIP EQUIPMENT is glad to announce its participation to 1st edition of PU TECH

AFRICA 2018, the exhibition and confe rence foc used on polyurethane and foam industries of African regions, where SAIP will meet its local customers and present latest developments of i t s t e c h n ic a l solut ion s :

l CONTITECH & DITECH, comple te l i ne s for t he continuous and discontinuous produc t ion of sandwich panels (wall panels, roof panels, cladding panels, civil and industrial sectional doors, air conditioning ducts, etc.);

l REFTECH, complete foaming

l ines for t he insulat ion with polyurethane foam of ref r igerators’ cabinets a nd door s a nd va r ious solutions for cold chain;

l F O A M D I S P E N S I N G M ACHINES, high & low pressure dispensing units for a wide range of applications

a n d N E W GENER ATION O F M I X I N G H E A D S ;

l E L A S T O M E R C A S T I N G S Y S T E M S ,

de s ig ne d a nd bu i l t t o dose and mix MDI based prepoly mer e la s tomers;

l OVAL CAROUSELS & MULTI-STATION ROTARY TABLES;

l H Y D R O C A R B O N S O L U T I O N S i n t h e discontinuous and continuous polyurethane r ig id foam p r o c e s s i n g m e t h o d s ;

l P I P E T E C H , c o m p l e t e solutions for pre-insulated p i p e s p r o d u c t i o n a n d p ip e j o i n t i n s u l a t i on .

Visit SAIP stand and discover a 40 year experienced Company and its performing solutions.


PREVIEWS & REPORTS

VISIT SAIP EQUIPMENT AT PU TECH AFRICA

Hall Ballroom, Stand G-5About SAIP

About SAIP (www.saipequipment.it) SAIP is an Italian designer and manufacturer of polyurethane processing equipment. Its solutions are used in several industrial sectors

such as building & construction, f u r niture , professiona l and domestic refrigeration, automotive and oil & gas, to name just a few. Since its foundation in 1978 SAIP has been committed to always develop high quality and innovative technological solutions which aim at improving customers’ performances. SAIP avails of agencies and affiliated

companies all over the world which can provide commercial and technical support locally. Our customers can count on the Technical Assistance Team which ensures focused assistance, directly on site and in remote.

SAIP is a company of the POZZI INDUST R IES GROUP (www.pozziindustriesgroup.it).


UTECH Las Americas Polyurethanes Conference and Trade Show Returns to Mexico City April 10-12, 2019

MEXICO CITY — Dec. 4, 2018— Organizers of UTECH Las Americas,

the region’s only polyurethanes conference and trade show, today announced its full speaker program for its upcoming conference at Cent ro Cit ibaname x , Me x ico City on April 10-12, 2019. Visitor registration for free entry to the three-day exhibition is also now open at www.utechlasamericas.com

T h e U T E C H L a s A m e r i c a s conference will address industry trends affecting the region and surrounding NAFTA market area it supplies. The program covers a wide range of subjects including automotive, construction, footwear, coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE), flexible foams, rigid foams, composites, blowing agents and release agents. Papers also cover key industry themes including sustainability, machinery innovat ion a nd adva nces in polyurethanes science.

Steve Bur ns , V ice P resident , Americas, Huntsman Performance Products - Polymers & Resins will deliver the conference’s opening keynote address on Wednesday, April 10.

Papers addressing automotive uses of polyurethanes include Development of polyurethane foams in automotive under the hood applications by Ernesto Román Calderón, Technical Service and Development, The

Dow Chemical Company, and TPU injection as an efficient alternative to cast molding in the automotive industry, by Rodrigo Chinen, New Business Development Manager, Lubrizol.

Among papers looking at the circular economy will be Novel polyester polyols based on recycled PET, given by Netza Lopez, Senior Account Manager NAFTA Region, Carpenter Co. In addition, Alvaro Ballesteros, Technical Service and Development, The Dow Chemical Company will present two sustainability-themed papers to the conference, Sustainable construction: polyurethane as an enabling element of a faster, cleaner and energy efficient industry and Versatile, environmentally friendly formulations for compliance and performance.

Other program highlights include Luis Garcia Correa, Technical Service and Development, The Dow Chemical Company who presents on Water-based “cool touch” technologies for the flexible foam market and Salvador Mejía G óme z , L at i n A me r ic a PU R Foam Application Development Manager, Honeywell presenting on Comparative performance of Honeywell’s Liquid Blowing Agent (LBA) and other alternatives in the appliance industry.

Held in conjunct ion with the conference, the UTECH Las Americas trade show connects suppliers and

buyers from across the polyurethane industry for three days of networking, learning and ident if y ing new business opportunities. Exhibiting companies include both local Mexican and major global names in t he poly uret hanes market including BASF, Cannon, Carpenter, Chromaflo, COIM, Covestro, Dow, Elastomeros Taza, Evonik, Grupo Valfer, Hennecke, Huntsman, Krauss Maffei, Polylubex, Productos Eiffel, Quimica Sagitario, Wanhua and many more.

UTECH Las Americas draws from a broad range of polyurethane p r o f e s s i o n a l s r e p r e s e n t i n g numerous industries innovating with polyurethane. This includes a u t o m o t i v e , b u i l d i n g a n d construction, furniture, footwear, insulation as well as specialist applications such as medical.

To stay up-to-date with the latest in for mat ion a nd de t a i l s for UTECH Las Americas 2019, please visit the event website at: www.utechlasamericas.com J o i n t h e U T E C H L i n k e d I n Group at: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3869236 or like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/UTECHPolyurethane2/. For news and updates, follow UTECH Las Americas on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/utech_PU. You can also follow the event hashtag #UTECHLA to see the latest news about the event.

PREVIEWS & REPORTS


International

10 April, 2019 to 12 April, 2019

U TECH LAS AMERICAS Mexico City - Mexico

03 April, 2019 to 04 April, 2019

PU TECH ASIA 2019Bangkok, Thailand

07 Sept, 2019 to 09 Sept, 2019

PU CHINAGuangzhou, China

07 Oct, 2019 to 09 Oct, 2019

CPI CONFERENCE Orlando, USA

EVENTS & TRENDS


BOOK REVIEW / READERS’ FEEDBACK

Return of the Hypotenuse By Priya Fonseca

This book has nothing to do with Polyurethanes. However, it’s safe to assume that you have studied

science and maths quite extensively which is why Sunil Mishra’s ‘Return of The Hypotenuse’ is a book you must read.

Mishra calls the 100 page book, ‘Poetry in Math and Science’ and it comprises not just 27 wonder ful poems but 23 explanatory essays as well. The poems feature concepts like Theorems and Laws of Einstein, Pythagoras, Newton, the universe and many more. It also covers topics from addition and subtraction, inventions, geometry, algebra, computers, electricity, gravity, money, Nobel winners, to the human body and speeds of Usain Bolt.

The book is a fun, un-put-downable read that will have you revisiting concepts you learnt in school and college. In a way this book will take you down Memory Lane. You will remember the teacher who taught you the concept, the friends you learnt it with and all the fun and games that went with that time. That’s what makes this book even more exciting. It’s a conversation starter that will have you sharing stories and anecdotes with family and friends. You may even want to reach out to your old school or college buddies. What you will definitely do is hand over the book to your 8+ year old children, nieces, nephews and friends so they can enjoy math and science concepts presented in an appealing, often funny manner. When packaged like this, seemingly difficult concepts might be easier to grasp, understand and enjoy.

The poems and essays can make you ponder about philosophical questions such as our place in the universe on reading The Universal Rhyme. They also open avenues for discussion with children on topics otherwise considered ‘dry’ that are not easy to chat about. Take for example this poem:

Eureka – the Wonder Buoy

This is the tale of the ManWho ran naked on the streetsCrying, “Eureka, Eureka”No towel, No sheets.

So what did he find outWhich filled him with delight?That made him so forgetWas it day or was it night?

He had laid down in his bath-tubAnd seen the water riseIt was then that the fact had struck him.And he ran naked but so wise.

“The weight of the displaced waterWith my stepping into the bathEquals the upward push I got from the water.That showed me the path.

Buoyancy pushed me upwardsNothing high or mighty fancy”.And this fact discovered by ArchimedesWas…. His Principle of Buoyancy.

Mishra has added short essays that further explain the concepts. These are light and easy to understand with the last few serving as inspirational pieces for youngsters with themes like ‘Becoming a Noble and Global Citizen’ and ‘Being a Young Leader.’ The book also includes a comprehensive index of all science and math topics covered, and a chart depicting the t imeline of impor tant inventions and discoveries to help appreciate the histor y of science and maths. Illustrations by Tridib Ghosh add to the charm of the book.

The Foreword has been written by Wg Cdr (Retd) Rakesh Sharma, Ashoka Chakra, the only Indian citizen who has travelled in space. In praise of the book he says, “However, to use the poetic genre to explain and convey deductive logic is a compelling and bold thought. To use an emotional and soul-uplifting

vehicle to explain complex concepts while demystifying the mystique of mathematics and science is truly a path-breaking idea and that, precisely, is what the author has managed to do in this book!” The author studied engineering at VJTI, Mumbai University and went to business school at the IIM, Bangalore. He has worked and lived in India and in the UK. Currently, he works in the financial services sector of India and is based in Mumbai. While having studied at top institutions, he credits his work life and home life with his real education when he says:

“If all my learning was what I got from school,I am afraid I would have remained a monumental fool;To know Who’s true, What works & What are the trends,I have replied on Family, Colleagues and Friends!”

These lines probably resonate with us all. As will his essay, ‘The Last Lecture…. Remembering What Your Childhood Dreams Were.’ To read that beautiful note and all the poems, order this book online and take a guess as to why it’s priced at Rs. 314/- .You’ll need to put your creative math thinking hat on or just wait till you read the poem on page 12.

Mishra has a special message for Pu Today readers when he says, “Fellow industry practitioners, in our work lives, we all may be using 10-20% of the Math and Science we studied in school. But we will acknowledge that the structured approach to problem solving we have is largely due to that grounding. And we can always proudly say as Aamir Khan said in Three Idiots, ‘Hum Math and Science ki taraf se aayein hain.’ :) ”


68 P U T o d a y d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 8 FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY. Edited by Ms Medha Bhuta Published by K. Ramamurthy for Indian Polyurethane Association

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P U T O D A Y D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 1ipuatc.com/pdf/pu_today_dec2018_issue_final.pdf · 2019-02-07 · Mr Isaac Emmanuel - Covestro India Pvt Limited [email protected]