Coating Biobased or
Coating Biobased or renewable carbon based coatings O ne way for fashion, footwear, and upholstery manufacturers to improve their environmental footprint is to replace fossil fuel-based chemistry with renewable carbon-based materials. Stahl’s NuVera ® range of renewable carbon polyurethanes can help you do exactly that. The NuVera product range can help manufacturers increase their sustainability without compromising on quality and performance. The introduction of this portfolio is in line with Stahl’s Responsible Chemistry Initiative, with which they commit to speed up the transition from fossil carbon to renewable carbon for all organic chemicals and materials. The efforts are focused on aligning Stahl’s product portfolio to the future needs of their customers and the markets they serve while offering solutions that improve their environmental footprint. The company from Waalwijk, the Netherlands does this by using low-impact manufacturing chemicals, contributing to a more circular economy and, in the case of Stahl NuVera, replacing petrochemicals with renewable resources. The Stahl NuVera Range Stahl NuVera modern carbon based products are derived from plant-based biomass (typically vegetable oils or sugars), alternatively, they can also be made from captured carbon, where CO 2 released from industrial processes is captured and used as a feedstock for producing polymeric building blocks. The NuVera range of sustainable polyurethanes has been tested and certified using the ASTM 6866 radio-carbon (C 12 / C 14 ) method for biobased carbon content. The NuVera D range of polyurethane dispersions consists of four products: RU- 94-226, RU-94-227, RU-94-225 and RU-94-414. The company is currently developing additional solutions as part of its commitment to responsible chemistry. The first two solutions – NuVera D RU-94-226 and RU-94- 227 – are the two harder resins in the portfolio. They are ideal for use as a pre-skin component in transfer coating processes or as a top-coat component in finishing or lacquering of flexible synthetic articles, which may be used in consumer articles such as shoes, garment or fashion bags, and accessories. NuVera D RU-94-225 is a softer PUD that can be used as adhesive or alternatively as a mix component to make a chosen pre-skin formulation more flexible. It is a soft PUD that can also be used in a transfer-coating process as a skin layer or as a soft resin component in finishing or lacquering formulations that use a combination of biobased and captured carbon-based raw materials. NuVera D RU-94-414 is a soft polyester dispersion. It can be used in adhesive formulations or alternatively serve as a soft component in basecoat finishing or lacquering. Introducing new Stahl NuVera Q HS-94-490 high solids resin An important factor for creating high renewable carbon content in any synthetic article will also depend on the availability of a flexible high solids resin that offers biobased content. In many transfer coated articles, the middle layer (skin) is the thickest layer, which typically determines mostly the handle and flexibility. In some cases, this can be selected from WB PUD offering, but in most synthetic articles it needs the use of a bigger quantity or thicker layer to be applied, due to boost performance. The use of a high solids resin is often bringing the solution. With the introduction of NuVera Q HS-94-490, Stahl can now offer a product that can be used for applying thick layers in one pass. HS-94-490 is available as an approximately 100 % solids resin with very soft film characteristics, ideally suited for creating flexible articles like upholstery or shoe upper. This new NuVera product addition is currently in the pre-industrialization phase, available for small scale prototyping. ZDHC MRSL Compliancy It goes without saying that all NuVera renewable carbonbased products comply with the latest standards and regulations, including the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Version 2.0 Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL). In addition to these four water-based polyurethane dispersions, R&D engineers at Stahl are also looking at expanding their portfolio of products in other directions. They soon hope to announce the introduction of a 100 % solids prepolymer resin. MT www.stahl.com Type of use Product code Type Status Solids 100% (Mpa) Pre-skin or Top Coat resin General PUD resin or Mix component Adhesive or Base Coat Skin High solids resin E @ break (%) VOC %1 Bio-based content Total renewable content Sustainable source NuVeraTM D RU- 94-226 TM PE/PC Launch 40 12 475 0.5% 46%2 46% Sugar Crop NuVeraTM D RU- 94-227 NuVeraTM D RU- 94-225 NuVeraTM D RU- 94-414 NuVeraTM Q HS- 94-490 PE Launch 35 4 730 0.8% 66%2 66% Sugarcrop PE Launch 35 1.5 > 1,000 0.3% 53%2 54% Sugar crop, CO 2 PES Launch 45 1.1 840 0.8% 48%2 48% Oil crop PE/PES Pre- Launch 1: VOC content is according to the definition of EU directive 2004/42/EC 2: Measured ASTM6866 Method B 3: Calculated based on mass balance 100 1.6 860 < 0.1% 45%3 45% Sugarcrop 14 bioplastics MAGAZINE [06/21] Vol. 16
Clean-up ships fuelled by garbage Millions of tonnes of synthetic plastics are released to the environment each year. Of this, a fraction ends up in one of several oceanic gyres, natural locations where the currents tend to accumulate floating debris – including plastics. The largest and best known of these is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), which is estimated to cover an area roughly the size of the state of Texas (or France), and which seems to be increasing in size over time. Removing this plastic from the oceanic gyres has promise to return the ocean to a more pristine state and alleviate the associated burden on wildlife and the food chain. Current methods to remove this plastic use a boom system to concentrate the plastic and a ship to harvest it and return to port to unload the plastic cargo and refuel [1]. Plastic is a natural energy carrier, which suggests the question: is there enough energy embodied in the plastic to power the ship and eliminate or reduce the need to return to port? If so, then can a process be devised to convert plastic into a form of fuel appropriate for modern diesel engines that are used to power ships? Thermodynamic analysis of the energy available in plastics answered the first question – yes, there is enough energy in the ocean plastics, provided that they are first concentrated using A booms and that the ship is small and efficient enough to minimize its fuel consumption. The next question was answered by designing a process to convert plastics into a liquid fuel precursor. The most important step of the process is a high-temperature reaction called hydrothermal liquefaction or HTL. HTL depolymerizes plastics at high temperature (300–550 °C) and high pressure (250–300 bar), thereby converting it into a liquid form. Oil yields from HTL are typically >90 % even in the absence of catalysts and, unlike pyrolysis, yields of solid byproducts – which would need to be stored or burned in a special combustor – are less than 5, thus conferring certain comparative advantages to HTL. Current data on the GPGP indicates that it contains mainly polyethylene and polypropylene, a mixture that is especially Great Pacific Garbage Patch C ~ 1900 km San Francisco Port Current with Plastic Boom 600 m appropriate for HTL. By-products include a gas that might be used as a cooking fuel; a solid that could be burned on board or stored; and process water that is cleaned prior to release. Further analysis indicated that the use of plasticderived fuels could reduce fuel consumption, and effectively eliminate fossil fuel use. The HTL derived fuel could be termed blue diesel, to reference its marine origin and in contrast with both traditional marine diesel and green diesel, derived from land-based renewable resources. The full feasibility study is available for free online (link below [1]). Future work will construct the process and test it at pilot-scale for realistic feeds, to ultimately transition to shipboard use. AT [1] Belden, E.R.; Kazantzis, N.K.; Reddy,C.M.; Kite-Powell, H; Timko,M.T.; Italiani, E.; Herschbach D.R.: Thermodynamic feasibility of shipboard conversion of marine plastics to blue diesel for self-powered ocean cleanup; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2107250118 www.wpi.edu California 0.5 knots B D Current 14 cm s -1 Boom Array System Reactor 15 knots Overview of the process for plastic removal out of the GPGP showing (A) the total system overview, (B) part of the system of collection booms, (C) a single collection boom, and (D) the HTL reactor. Science and Research San Francisco Port Current bioplastics 14 cm s MAGAZINE [06/21] Vol. 16 15 -1
