around the globe and holds a
number of long term strategic
partnerships with leading universities in the UK, US, China, Russia.
The University of Manchester is already
home to BP’s Projects and Engineering College and a major collaborator member
within BP’s Inherently Reliable Facilities
Research Programme and includes a BP
funded research laboratory in corrosion.
The University of Cambridge has a
long association with BP. Since 2000, the
BP Institute for Multiphase Flow has
formed an important part of the relationship and in 2010 BP funded the new
McKenzie Chair in Earth Sciences.
Imperial College, London, conducts a
wide range of research for BP including in
the areas of reservoir characterisation,
process modelling, climate change, seismic
imaging and urban energy systems. In
2009 the start-up company Permasense,
providing wireless corrosion and non-de-structive monitoring technology, was
formed based on BP funded research.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is one of three partners supporting the BP Energy Biosciences
Institute (EBI), a 10 year, $500 million
program supporting BP’s Biofuels business. The EBI was launched in 2007.
BP p.l.c. is a British multinational oil
and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest
company in the world measured by 2011
revenues and is one of the six oil and gas
“supermajors”. It is vertically integrated
and operates in all areas of the oil and gas
industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation
and trading. It also has renewable energy
activities in wind power and biofuels.
ASTM proposes test method
for dirt pick-up resistance of
architectural paints and stains
A proposed new ASTM International test
method will combine existing in-house
methods for dirt pick-up resistance for architectural paints and stains in an effort
to standardize testing for dirt repellency
throughout the industry.
The proposed standard, ASTM
WK38233, Test Method for Dirt Pick-Up
Resistance for the Films of Architectural
Paints and Stains, is currently being developed by Subcommittee D01.42 on Architectural Coatings, part of ASTM International
Committee D01 on Paint and Related Coatings, Materials and Applications.
According to Amanda Andrews,
chemist, Wacker Chemical Corp., and a
D01.42 member, the proposed standard
will focus on: Standardizing a dirt composition; how to apply dirt; the removal
of dirt; and a rating technique for an exterior coated substrate compared to many
years of outdoor exposure.
Andrews notes that primary users of
ASTM WK38233, once approved, will be
coating suppliers and manufacturers.
Andrews invites all interested parties
to participate in the ongoing development
of ASTM WK38233. “We are particularly
interested in participation from those who
already have in-house dirt pick up test
methods with formulated dirt,” said An-
drews. “We are also looking for partici-
pation from anyone who has interest in
appropriate accelerated methods such as
artificial UV and water conditioning.”
In addition to its work on ASTM
WK38233, D01.42 is currently working
on a revision to ASTM D4446, Test
Method for Anti-Swelling Effectiveness of
Water-Repellent Formulations and Differ-
ential Swelling of Untreated Wood When
Exposed to Liquid Water Environments,
as well as another proposed new standard,
ASTM WK32143, Test Method for Visual
Assessment of Water Beading on Hori-
zontal Coatings.
Luvata breaks ground on its
Mexican plant that will offer
coatings for HVACR equipment
Luvata, a provider of metal solution
manufacturing, heat transfer technology
and engineering and design services, has
broken ground on its latest facility—a
coatings plant in Ramos Arizpe,
Coahuila, Mexico. The plant will offer
two protective coatings for HVACR
equipment—ElectroFin E-coat and Luvata Insitu. ElectroFin E-Coat is used internationally by HVACR equipment
manufacturers as a corrosion protection
coating in coastal environments.
The new facility, located 40 miles from
an existing Luvata facility in Monterrey,
Nuevo Leon, is the company’s fifteenth facility in North America. Located between
Monterrey and Saltillo off the Monterrey
bypass highway 40, this area is also home
to Lennox International, Carrier de Mexico and Whirlpool.
Construction of the new multi-million
dollar facility includes 50,000-square feet
of manufacturing space and 7,000-square
feet of office space. The building will have
four loading docks and one ground level
drive in door that can accommodate a
full-size tractor and trailer. The plant is expected to be operational in the second
quarter of 2013 and Luvata estimates 45
employees will be needed to operate the
plant at full capacity.
Luvata Ramos joins Luvata’s two
other full service coil-coating centers in
Louisville, Kentucky and Jacksonville,
Texas in offering the factory applied corrosion solution ElectroFin E-coat as well
as the spray applied coil corrosion protection Insitu.
Luvata’s protective coil-coatings extend the lives of HVACR systems, maintaining operating efficiency while reducing
maintenance and operating costs. Luvata
coil coatings are widely used by manufacturers of HVACR equipment and contractors all over the world.
Luvata’s spray applied Insitu is also
available through its other locations in
Tampa and Pompano Beach, Florida and
San Leandro and Temecula, California.
ElectroFin E-coat and Luvata Insitu both
come with a five year warranty and are
water-based.
BASF expands its adhesive
coatings center with a newer
lab for coating and lamination
BASF expanded its coating center recently
by adding a tailor-made and flexible laboratory coating and laminating facility.
The new coater facilitates the development of adhesive systems for flexible
packaging, labels, tapes and functional
film coatings. It increases the capacity for
customer tests and speeds up the development of new products as well as the
adaption of existing adhesive formulations to new carrier materials.
