Dow Polyurethanes UK facility to host workshop on new REACH-compliant elastomer

Dow Polyurethanes will introduce customers from across Europe to a new, REACH-compliant elastomer system when it hosts a workshop at its UK facilities next month.

The company, a global business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, recently launched the latest addition to its ‘Hyperlast’ Elastomers family, especially developed to help the industry address concerns over the upcoming regulatory ban of the use of MbOCA in polyurethane elastomers throughout Europe.

The new Hyperlast 153 Series elastomer system does not contain mercury catalyst, does not need MbOCA as a curative and is REACH 2018 compliant, which the company says offers customers a proven and generally suitable alternative.

Hyperlast elastomers have already proved their functionality in many applications over the years, from dynamic bend stiffeners used in harsh offshore environments to a variety of industrial components, such as timing belts, rollers and tooling parts.

This latest addition to the family is a multi-component material that enables the processor to select tough and durable elastomers over a hardness range from 55 Shore A to 75 Shore D with just four components, which can also help reduce the number of materials in inventory.

The system components are processed at lower temperatures than the full prepolymer countertypes, allowing for energy savings in production. Keeping processing time at optimum levels, Dow’s latest elastomer allows processors to have control over the pot-life and demould time, providing flexibility in terms of the size of parts that are being produced; and is thus designed to give optimal throughput.

Dow’s engineering elastomer customers across Europe will have the opportunity to learn more about these developments at the company’s seventh Polyurethanes ‘Come and See’ Workshop on 16th-17th May at the Company’s Birch Vale, UK facilities.

In keeping with its commitment to high standards of quality and safety, Dow says this year’s event will also include a dedicated session around the topic of industrial hygiene, which will focus on the safe handling and monitoring of isocyanates in the workplace.

Paul Fitzgerald, EMEAI Marketing Manager -Engineering Elastomers, for Dow Polyurethanes comments: “As an industry leader in the development and formulation of fully-formulated polyurethane systems, Dow is dedicated to providing innovative, tailor-made solutions and unrivalled technical service to help customers stay ahead of the game in a challenging and ever-evolving industry landscape.

“At the workshop we aim to provide our customers an in-depth look into how our latest developments, particularly the new Hyperlast 153 Series elastomer system can help them meet today’s and future challenges.”