Category: Sin categoría

The project “Circular Economy through industrial symbiosis of strategic sectors in the Comunitat Valenciana (MEM4ALL)”, which took place in April 2019 until December 2020, presented the results that were obtained during the first year of the project.

The project aims to recover waste flows from various industrial sectors (ceramics, pigments and glazes, surface treatment and toys) using membrane technology and the trans-sectoral recovery of the flows derived from the use of this technology. The companies that took part in the project (SAMCA (coordinator), COLOR ESMALT, COLORTEC QUÍMICA, CREACIONES JOVIAR, MATRIDOS y NIQUELADOS GÓMEZ) are a clear representation of each of the sectors included in it. Therefore, the obtained results may be extrapolated to each of the sectors listed.

The most relevant tasks and conclusions to date have been
– The trends to be dealt with in each of the companies have been defined and characterised:

–  SAMCA: well and tap water used to obtain atomized powders, in which it is of interest to obtain low conductivity and hardness.
–  COLOR ESMALT: cleaning and manufacturing currents for the collection of ceramic frits and pigments, in which the recovery of ceramic compounds is of interest.
–  COLORTEC QUÍMICA: suction dust from the cleaning process of masterbatch formulation powders, in which the recovery of titanium dioxide is of interest, with the least possible interference of iron (Fe).
–  CREACIONES JOVIAR: water from the vibrating/polishing of zámak parts, in which the maximum possible amount of zinc (Zn) is recovered.
–  MATRIDOS: demetallised bath and subsequent demetallized rinse, in which it is important to recover the copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) that might be present.
–  NIQUELADOS GÓMEZ: pickling of racks and acid and basic electrolytic degreasing, in which it is interesting to recover the copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) present.

– Different membrane technologies have been selected and validated at a laboratory scale for the recovery of the previously mentioned compounds, such as microfiltration, nanofiltration and polymer-assisted ultrafiltration.

For the present year 2020, the possibility of developing “ad hoc” ceramic membranes for the membrane treatments that require it will be studied and different alternatives for intra- and intersectoral recovery will be defined among the participating companies. It is relevant to consider this information, without losing sight of the fact that the final objective of the MEM4ALL project is to obtain zero final waste by implementing a circular economy and industrial symbiosis between different industrial sectors in the Comunitat Valenciana.

This project is partially subsidized by the Agencia Valenciana de Innovación (AVI) within the program of Consolidation of the business value chain during the 2019-2020 call. The objective of this program is to support the development of solutions with an impact on the business value chain, which involves the application of novelty in products, processes, organisational systems, etc. in order to improve the exchange of information and work processes among the companies involved. In addition, the development and use of other key technologies to boost industrial and economic development is highly encouraged.

 

Financia:

 

Consorcio:

On October 16th the most internationally acclaimed trade fair in the world took place: K Messe Düsseldorf Fair. A great global exhibition, where thousands of companies in the sector cohabit. This year, many novelties on circular economies, recycling and biodegradable and biobased products were expected and meetings with certain export sales companies took place during the event. Besides, novelties regarding robotics, automatization and industry 4.0 were also introduced.

The biggest stands from raw material and machinery suppliers could be visited. Going through the inner aisles of the K-Fair pavilion organized by sectors and types of products is a very rewarding experience that makes us have a close contact with the plastics market and taking a close look at it from the inside. All displays and exhibitors, ranging from the stands of the biggest multinationals to the smallest stands, provide plenty of products and services from every part of the world. 

Colortec attended the fair in order to observe and analyse national and European trends in the colorants and additives for plastics. Besides, we had the chance to meet most of our national and international customers that were exhibiting their products and had the chance to congratulate them for their great success. We also established new contacts with companies to which we could offer our pigments and additives. We had time to visit some of our suppliers with whom we keep close ties. We discussed and exchanged ideas about next year, which led us to the conclusion that our service and innovation are a valid way to face the challenges that await us in the future.

In March 2019, a part of Colortec’s technical staff took part in a course delivered in the headquarters of the local organization IBIAE by the Spanish Plastics’ Centre (CEP in Spanish), in order to understand and obtain a 360º vision of the latest injection techniques. Some relevant companies in the plastics sector were present and enhanced the attendees’ perspectives with the experience of their workers. Some important and innovative issues about the injection of thermoplastics were discussed, such as the following topics:

• Contractions, deformations and breaks.
• Post-contraction problems due to inner tensions.
• Pinholes and deformations due to a bad design of the pieces and their computer simulation.
• Alterations in deformations by applying reinforcements (fibreglass).
• Mechanical properties of the pieces according to their level of crystallization and how mould temperature and the thickness of the pieces have an effect in the contraction.
• Design of nerves in order to grant robustness to the piece, instead of flection and torsion.
• Solutions to breaks and location of injection inflows.
• Moldflow simulations.
• Flow index (MFI/MVR) and its relation to mechanical properties.
• Study and optimisation of the parameters of maximum influence in the injection process.

With these and many other training activities, our objective is to keep our technical staff focused on the future and oriented to our customer, in order to offer the best service in our sector.

In January 28th, part of Colortec’s technical team visited the University of Alicante in order to receive the necessary training to conduct our own plastic overall migration tests. This training aims at becoming a service that provides additional safety to our customers and an enhancement for innovation and the knowledge of the company. Thus, certain verifying processes of some of our formulations may be sped up and keep the required quality level of our masterbatch. The course was taught by professors and researchers of the Analytic Chemistry and Food Science unit of the University of Alicante. A brief and advanced introduction on the new national and international regulations was conducted, by highlighting the main problems of several sectors, such as packaging, household products, toys, etc.

After this theoretical part, the rest of days were dedicated to conduct practical tests in the facilities of the Analytical Chemistry Department, where our staff could verify and learn about the different testing methods and the whole process. This was conducted several times with different conditions and stimulants. Our internal tests were expected to start in April and our new laboratory has been equipped with all necessary elements to conduct them with maximum guarantees. The design was based in the laboratories of the University of Alicante, adapting them to the needs of Colortec and our customers’ and enabling certain areas both for migration tests and for colorimetric comparisons, specific quality control tasks and spectrophotometry tests.

Colortec moves forward to help their customers achieve the desired success in their products and pieces with purposes for the packaging, toys and food industries.

Colortec expands their team.

In this second post we will focus on a very common issue that appears in injection processes: the emergence of black spots in the surface of plastic pieces. These spots are visible in the surface of these pieces and there may be many of them, as well as appear randomly, which hamper processes and threaten their efficiency levels.

What are these black spots?

They are usually small pieces of dirt or charred material that were dragged from the injection machine’s spindles or cylinders. These are incorporated as visible defects in the final piece.

Why are they caused?

• Contamination of the natural plastic material.
• Degradation of the plastic, as it is being injected in an excessively high temperature inside the machine for too long.
• Degradation of previous waste materials that were not cleaned properly and were adhered in the walls of the cylinder or in the spindle.
• Use of not suitable colorants for the kind of material that is being used.

Solutions

• Use as much non-contaminated material as possible. Conducting a visual inspection of natural chippings is an effective and simple method that can prevent these kinds of problems.
• Make sure to clean well the residues of the previous material when there are changes of materials in the same machine. We could clean the machine with the same natural material or with products with this purpose that make cleaning tasks and the change of materials easier, as the cleaning masterbatch X-999. With a 10% or 20% dose, we could achieve optimum cleaning levels in the operations involving a change of material.