Covestro has developed a sustainable cast elastomer solution that enables the offshore industry to reduce its environmental impact and carbon footprint. The polyurethane elastomers are based on so-called cardyon^® brand polyols, which contain CO₂ and offer the same good performance as corresponding petrochemical-based elastomers. A new technology from Covestro makes it possible to produce these precursors from carbon dioxide in a proportion of up to 20 percent by weight, thereby replacing some of the fossil raw materials used up to now. The development contributes to recycling carbon and underlines Covestro’s intention to focus all its activities on the Circular Economy.

In its search for a more sustainable solution for the offshore industry, molding company Polarttech opted for a Desmodur^® elastomer system containing cardyon^® polyols. This cast polyurethane elastomer offers the following advantages:

• The part produced with this system shows very good hydrolysis resistance, as expected from such an offshore application, and is more durable than other elastomers such as rubber.
• The polyurethane system enables the production of elastomers with high-performance or even better mechanical properties such as tensile strength and tear resistance than corresponding conventional cast polyurethane systems made from fossil raw materials.
• The solution offers the possibility to reduce the carbon footprint and dependence on fossil raw materials.

“The use of CO₂ in chemical raw materials is a groundbreaking innovation that is in perfect harmony with our vision of recycling,” comments Thomas Braig, Head of Covestro Elastomers. “What is important to us, of course, is a successful application in practical use. We are pleased when manufacturers choose this sustainable solution, and appreciate the trust they place in our innovations, especially in our Desmodur^® elastomer system, which contains cardyon^® polyols.”
“Our goal is to provide our customers with the quality products they need,” adds Arthur Brouwers, CTO of Polarttech. “The tests we conducted confirmed both the property profiles and the processing conditions of the system developed by Covestro.” The newly developed solution surpasses Polarttech’s previous system in terms of resilience and abrasion resistance. Moreover, its processing is easier thanks to a long pot life and excellent detaching wen the part is demoulded. “The use of cardyon^® polyol in our system rounds off this project and makes it a perfect solution for everyone involved,” says Arthur Brouwers, “especially for the environment!”
About Covestro:
With 2019 sales of EUR 12.4 billion, Covestro is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials 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 industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 17,200 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2019.
Covestro.com

Back in 2018, Kistler achieved a breakthrough in industrial charge amplifier technology by introducing its 5074A digital charge amplifier. Launched on the market as the world’s first digital charge amplifier, the 5074A is the ideal solution for control and monitoring of industrial processes such as press-fit, assembly and joining operations. It was the only amplifier on the market with communication consistently based on Industrial Ethernet (IE): for the first time ever, it gave plant and machinery manufacturers the possibility of integrating any desired piezoelectric sensors directly into their real time-capable Ethernet systems. Users could comfortably make settings on the measurement amplifier via the control – something that was never possible in the past. Maximum flexibility was ensured by an extremely wide measuring range – from 20 to 1,000,000 pC – coupled with an extensive range of measurement functions for diverse applications, opening up virtually unlimited operational possibilities. All these advantages made the 5074A amplifier the perfect product for applications requiring dynamic and quasistatic measurements via Industrial Ethernet. Another key benefit: high performance by today’s standards, allowing acquisition rates of up to 50 kSps per channel and real-time transmission of measurement data with cycle times as low as 100 μs.

 
“The new 5074B digital charge amplifier, available as of now, supersedes the 5074A – and it retains the range of tried-and-tested benefits offered by its predecessor,” says Stefan Affeltranger, Product Manager for Production Monitoring at Kistler. But the 5074B also comes with two features that deliver major operational improvements. The new amplifier is ready to operate within around six seconds, as compared to the previous time of 30 seconds for each startup procedure – so users save valuable time. This improvement has a direct impact on plant availability, especially for modular plants with swappable hot-plug modules. Another innovation: the two energy paths in the M8 connectors are now separated so that additional standard devices can be connected as per the industry standard without extra considerations. This also makes it possible to switch off the peripheral power. “With the new 5074B, additional devices can be installed in the machine very easily and reliably – and what’s more, this doesn’t result in any further functional restrictions,” Affeltranger explains.

Simple implementation at low cost

Like the 5074A predecessor model, the 5074B can also be implemented simply and at low cost. Integration into an existing Ethernet does not require any additional software. Complex and costly cabling for analog and control signals is also eliminated. Configuration via the control means that industrial processes benefit from excellent data security. “The newly available 5074B is a major addition to the family of charge amplifiers from Kistler, which includes analog and digital models as well as a miniature charge amplifier with IO-Link technology,” Affeltranger points out. “We’re continuously developing our portfolio so that we can respond to users’ widely varying requirements by offering innovations and cutting-edge technologies. And this also opens the way for digitalization of the measuring chain in many areas where such a step did not seem technically or economically viable until now.”
https://www.kistler.com/

Reinach, Switzerland, 23 November 2020 – Archroma, a global leader in specialty
chemicals towards sustainable solutions, has been recently ranked number 1 in the
“industrial chemicals” list published by the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE)
for driving transparency in their supply chain.

Archroma also entered the Top 50 of companies in IPE’s Green Supply Chain CITI
Evaluation, at the 47th position. The evaluation dynamically assesses brands on the
environmental management of their supply chains in China.
Archroma supplies industries as diverse as textiles, fashion, packaging, paper, adhesives,
paints, and construction, with innovations and solutions that can be found in many
consumer goods, from paper and packaging, to home décor paints and textiles, to clothing
and car seats.
With a wide array of products used every day, everywhere, the company is committed to
operate along the principles of “The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient,
enhanced, it’s our nature”. The Archroma team is therefore committed to sourcing safe and
sustainable raw materials and intermediates from like-minded partners.
Archroma’s efforts in this area have been noticed and rewarded earlier this year with the
EcoVadis Gold award.
Heike van de Kerkhof, CEO of Archroma, recently delivered a message at the IPE 2020
Green Supply Chain Forum online, and commented: “As industry leader, we have the
responsibility to keep on addressing the climate challenge, and to do everything we can
together to reduce our impact on the environment. This is where the approach of the
Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs supports us. They encourage us to challenge
our suppliers in terms of safety, health and environment, and to go even beyond our own
strict policies and processes.”
“We congratulate Archroma for its excellent acceleration of supply chain oversight during
2020”, said Linda Greer, Ph.D., IPE’s Senior Global Fellow, “and we are delighted to
welcome them into our Top 50 in their very first year. We hope that companies sourcing
chemicals for manufacturing take note of this leadership in sustainability, as it is so rare to
see in the chemical sector.
https://www.archroma.com/
 

• EUR 6 million investment in novel filtering system at production facilities in Schwechat, Austria, further minimises risk of plastics loss
• ­Collaboration helps produce custom-built, multi-stage filtering system
• ­Step-change filtering system uses best technology and is now fully operational

Borealis announces that the upgraded wastewater treatment system at its integrated production location in Schwechat, Austria, is now fully operational. Successful tests of the sophisticated new multi-step system, which was installed in November 2019, show that the facility is now even more effective than before in reducing the risk of unintentional plastics spillage or loss. Borealis invested around EUR 6 million in the custom-built filtration system, which is the result of extensive and productive collaboration with Austrian universities and technology providers.

New filtration system utilises best technology
As a responsible company, Borealis is committed to enhancing sustainability in its own operations and across the entire supply chain by striving to eliminate plastics loss altogether.
The new filtration system in Schwechat is the most recent example of concrete measures taken at an operational level to achieve “Zero Pellet Loss,” the umbrella term for Borealis and industry efforts to reduce spillage. Regular internal monitoring of wastewater flows ensures that emissions always remain within stringent regulatory parameters.
Borealis collaboration with the Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien) and Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) provided a way forward in the upgrade of the Schwechat treatment system. After determining at the start of the project that there were no off-the-shelf solutions that offered better performance than the existing equipment, Borealis engineers first worked closely with scientists from these universities to find novel ways to measure the presence of plastic matter in water before proceeding to design and construct its own new systems for removing such matter from wastewater.
The custom-built filtration infrastructure installed on the Schwechat grounds towards the end of 2019 includes two separate filtration systems for the multi-stage treatment of clean water. This novel system is able to filter a broad range of particle sizes of total suspended solids (TSS), from several millimetres to extremely fine – in the low micrometre range. The equipment is installed downstream from existing polymer separators and acts as an additional layer of protection. A study of the TU Wien confirms that the filtration system has enabled us to make a step change in the purity of our wastewater.
Borealis has and will further leverage learnings from the study as well as the development of this custom-built filtration system not only in all its production locations to further improve its operations, but also the whole value chain to foster the European “Zero Pellet Loss” and Operation Clean Sweep goals.
“The purification capabilities we had in place in Schwechat were already good, but the upgraded system boasts a level of sophistication that is leading in all of Europe’s plastics industry,” says Borealis CEO Alfred Stern. “Innovating for more sustainable living together with our partners in science and making substantial investments in such upgrades enhances our operational excellence. We intend to deliver on our commitment to reducing plastics loss in order to achieve our ‘Goal Zero’ of no losses whatsoever.”
Alongside operational measures, the Borealis “Zero Pellet Loss” effort encompasses a wide range of activities within the industry. Borealis was an early signatory to Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS), an international programme initiated by the Society of the Plastics Industry and the American Chemistry Council. In Europe, this programme is coordinated by PlasticsEurope, and in 2019, Borealis contributed to the drafting of stringent new requirements. In Austria, Borealis is also a signatory to the “Zero Pellet Loss” pact, which shares similar goals to the OCS programme.
www.borealisgroup.com | www.borealiseverminds.com