Elastomer conference planned for Frankfurt

Rapra Technology's fourth elastomer conference will bring together material suppliers, engineers, compounders, manufacturers, processors and end users of high-performance elastomers.

Rapra Technology, a subsidiary of the US-based independent testing, consulting and contract research organisation, The Smithers group, is holding its fourth high-performance and speciality elastomers conference in Frankfurt on 5th-6th December 2007.

Demand for high-performance elastomers continues to grow, driven by higher technical, specification and legislative requirements in sectors such as the automotive, defence and petrochemical industries.

In fact the Freedonia group forecasts US demand for fluoroelastomers, just one of the many performance rubbers, to grow by 5.4,% bringing the market to US $365m by 2011.

As always the future of the elastomers sector depends on the creation of new materials which deliver a better price/performance ratio for speciality and niche markets.

Furthermore the adoption of European Reach legislation will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in shaping the market as problematic raw materials are replaced to comply with environmental regulations.

Rapra Technology has developed the latest high-performance and speciality elastomers conference to bring together material suppliers, engineers, compounders, manufacturers, processors and the all important end users of high-performance elastomers to discuss new materials, manufacturing processes, application requirements and legislation.

Now in its fourth year, the programme covers a broad range of subjects including developments in fluoro and perfluoroelastomers, innovations in fluorinated liquid silicone rubber, processing and reprocessing of high-performance elastomers and case studies demonstrating their uses in subsea and sealing applications.

Martin Lee from Clywd Compounders will open the conference with an overview of the high-performance elastomers market, including data on volumes, performance, applications and market segments.

This will be followed by a paper from Rhein Chemie, looking at the impact of Reach and the safe replacement of problematic curing agents and stabilisers in high-performance elastomer applications.

The conference will continue with a section on the latest developments in fluoro and perfluoroelastomers with insights from Solvay Solexis, Daikin Chemical and AGC Chemicals Europe.

Increasingly more amines are being used in marine and general automotive oil formulations to prolong service life.

These more aggressive formulations require elastomer seals to guarantee the longer warrantees, with fewer oil changes.

Phil Spencer of AGC Chemicals will discuss the structure, properties and formulations of TFE-P elastomers and introduce a brand new Aflas grade development that has been introduced to withstand these conditions.

A range of other performance polymers will be discussed during the afternoon - from HNBR and EPDM to fluorinated liquid silicone rubber and AEM polymers.

Dr Klaus Kammerer of DuPont will describe a series of new AEM polymers that have been developed with extended lower and upper temperature limits to meet the continuing trend of increasing under-hood temperatures and use of more aggressive fluids in the automotive industry.

Dr Herman Dikland will talk about a novel EPDM product that DSM Elastomers has developed that can be cured efficiently with peroxide and is able to resist high-temperatures.

A number of disadvantages hamper the wider application of peroxide cures.

For instance, the cross-linking efficiency that can be obtained with peroxides is fairly low, therefore relatively large amounts of expensive peroxides are required to achieve an acceptable crosslink density.

Dr Dikland will discuss further some of the practical applications of this new EPDM material.

Day two of the conference will involve presentations on the varied applications of high-performance elastomers, fillers and processing technologies.

The morning will include papers on the low-temperature sealing capability of elastomer O-rings, developments in the use of elastomer technology and practical installation for cavitation resistance and protection, and the use of high-performance elastomers as sealing solutions for modern fuels.

Alexandra Torgersen of FMC Kongsberg Subsea will describe the challenges represented by the extended service-free life expectancy of polymers and elastomers used in oilfield environments.

Temperature, pressure and chemical exposure puts high demands on the materials properties, with the added risk of mechanical abuse either during equipment installation or transport.

Since there is no universal soft seal material that can tolerate all environments in the typical subsea production equipment, a number of different elastomers need to be identified, tested and qualified before use.

Alexandra will also cover the phenomenon called "rapid gas decompression" which is caused by high-pressure gas permeation into the soft seals; rapid gas decompression causes ruptures in the seals, and thus severe risk for leakage.

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