- Email: [email protected]
Silvergate collaboration yields bio-based calcium carbonate filler
STRATEGIES
Silvergate collaboration yields bio-based calcium carbonate filler
B
ritish custom colour masterbatch producer Silvergate Plastics has teamed up with food processing company Just Egg Ltd to develop a bio-based calcium carbonate filler produced from crushed waste egg shells. Just Egg, which operates a manufacturing facility in the UK’s East Midlands, processes more than 60 million eggs per year in the production of hard-boiled eggs, egg mayonnaise and egg-related products. Sending the discarded egg shells to landfill was costing the company £50 000 per annum, so Just Egg founder Pankaj Pancholi turned to Leicester University to help identify an alternative solution that was both innovative and ecologically sound. The university suggested the concept of using the egg shells to produce a calcium carbonate bio-filler for plastics. Silvergate learned of the project’s findings at last year’s Plastikcity Conference in London and agreed to take on the processing of Just Eggs cleaned and crushed shells into filler for masterbatch. According to Silvergate, the ‘ground-breaking bio-filler’ can be used in any application to replace traditional calcium carbonate fillers, helping to reduce the amount of ground polymer used in the masterbatch formulation. The new filler can be used to create any colour, including black, the company reports. Contact: Silvergate Plastics, Wrexham, UK. Tel: +44 1978 661496, Web: www.silvergate.co.uk
Michelman partners with IACMI to develop advanced carbon fibre composites
I
n the USA, the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) is joining forces with Michelman and other key IACMI consortium members on a project focused on the optimization of vinyl ester resins and fibre sizings for the fabrication of carbon fibre composites. The aim is to identify styrene-free prepreg for-
July 2017
mulations with longer room temperature shelf life, shorter cycle times and reduced cost to increase productivity and, ultimately, catalyse the adoption of these materials by the automotive industry. IACMI is a Manufacturing USA institute driven by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the US Department of Energy. The project team includes Michelman, Ashland, Zoltek, University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), JobsOhio and Michigan State University (MSU). Researchers at MSU and UDRI will identify cost-effective combinations of fibre sizings from Michelman, resins from Ashland and carbon fibres from Zoltek that can be used to fabricate prepregs for compression-moulding into composite parts. The goal is to develop vinyl ester resin/fibre sizing/carbon fibre combinations that are styrene-free, with room temperature storage capability of at least three months and cure times less than three minutes. If successful, such technology innovations should prove to be an attractive value proposition for the multibillion dollar automotive industry and help it to meet its vehicle lightweighting targets. Michelman manufactures a broad portfolio of fibre sizings and resin modifiers [e.g. ADPO, October 2016] that are used by fibre producers and composite manufacturers to produce stronger, lighter and more durable composite parts. One of the other project partners, Zoltek, has recently undertaken a large-scale expansion project at its Mexican carbon fibre facility. When completed, capacity at the plant will have effectively been doubled to more than 10 000 tonnes of carbon fibre per year, taking Zoltek’s total global capacity to more than 20 000 tonnes/year. The company cites ‘rapidly growing demand for industrial grade carbon fibre for use in wind, automotive, and other commercial applications’ as the key driver in the decision to expand. Contact: Michelman, Inc, Cincinnati, OH, USA. Tel: +1 513 793 7766, Web: www.michelman.com Or contact: Zoltek Companies, Inc, Bridgeton, MO, USA. Tel: +1 314 291 5110, Web: www.zoltek.com
COMPANY STRATEGIES ...Continued from front page Huntsman’s current base in The Woodlands, TX, USA. Clariant and Huntsman would be equally represented on the combined entity’s board of directors. Huntsman’s president
Additives for Polymers
5
Silvergate collaboration yields bio-based calcium carbonate filler
B
ritish custom colour masterbatch producer Silvergate Plastics has teamed up with food processing company Just Egg Ltd to develop a bio-based calcium carbonate filler produced from crushed waste egg shells. Just Egg, which operates a manufacturing facility in the UK’s East Midlands, processes more than 60 million eggs per year in the production of hard-boiled eggs, egg mayonnaise and egg-related products. Sending the discarded egg shells to landfill was costing the company £50 000 per annum, so Just Egg founder Pankaj Pancholi turned to Leicester University to help identify an alternative solution that was both innovative and ecologically sound. The university suggested the concept of using the egg shells to produce a calcium carbonate bio-filler for plastics. Silvergate learned of the project’s findings at last year’s Plastikcity Conference in London and agreed to take on the processing of Just Eggs cleaned and crushed shells into filler for masterbatch. According to Silvergate, the ‘ground-breaking bio-filler’ can be used in any application to replace traditional calcium carbonate fillers, helping to reduce the amount of ground polymer used in the masterbatch formulation. The new filler can be used to create any colour, including black, the company reports. Contact: Silvergate Plastics, Wrexham, UK. Tel: +44 1978 661496, Web: www.silvergate.co.uk
Michelman partners with IACMI to develop advanced carbon fibre composites
I
n the USA, the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) is joining forces with Michelman and other key IACMI consortium members on a project focused on the optimization of vinyl ester resins and fibre sizings for the fabrication of carbon fibre composites. The aim is to identify styrene-free prepreg for-
July 2017
mulations with longer room temperature shelf life, shorter cycle times and reduced cost to increase productivity and, ultimately, catalyse the adoption of these materials by the automotive industry. IACMI is a Manufacturing USA institute driven by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the US Department of Energy. The project team includes Michelman, Ashland, Zoltek, University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), JobsOhio and Michigan State University (MSU). Researchers at MSU and UDRI will identify cost-effective combinations of fibre sizings from Michelman, resins from Ashland and carbon fibres from Zoltek that can be used to fabricate prepregs for compression-moulding into composite parts. The goal is to develop vinyl ester resin/fibre sizing/carbon fibre combinations that are styrene-free, with room temperature storage capability of at least three months and cure times less than three minutes. If successful, such technology innovations should prove to be an attractive value proposition for the multibillion dollar automotive industry and help it to meet its vehicle lightweighting targets. Michelman manufactures a broad portfolio of fibre sizings and resin modifiers [e.g. ADPO, October 2016] that are used by fibre producers and composite manufacturers to produce stronger, lighter and more durable composite parts. One of the other project partners, Zoltek, has recently undertaken a large-scale expansion project at its Mexican carbon fibre facility. When completed, capacity at the plant will have effectively been doubled to more than 10 000 tonnes of carbon fibre per year, taking Zoltek’s total global capacity to more than 20 000 tonnes/year. The company cites ‘rapidly growing demand for industrial grade carbon fibre for use in wind, automotive, and other commercial applications’ as the key driver in the decision to expand. Contact: Michelman, Inc, Cincinnati, OH, USA. Tel: +1 513 793 7766, Web: www.michelman.com Or contact: Zoltek Companies, Inc, Bridgeton, MO, USA. Tel: +1 314 291 5110, Web: www.zoltek.com
COMPANY STRATEGIES ...Continued from front page Huntsman’s current base in The Woodlands, TX, USA. Clariant and Huntsman would be equally represented on the combined entity’s board of directors. Huntsman’s president
Additives for Polymers
5