Coatings World - October 2012

unique chemistry stabilizes the sorbate in liquid preventing its degradation. This benefit enables us to deliver enhanced product preservation in-formula or when topically sprayed. The enhanced product preservation means using less active ingredients, which results in cost savings to our customers. That’s why we say, “Think of Preservor as sorbate on steroids.”

Chemark: Why did BenTech feel com-
pelled to bring Preservor to the coatings
market?
Dyer: To date, all Preservor sales have
been generated by direct application to
substrates leading to success in the food,
animal feed and construction sectors.
Some of our bakery and fruit and veg-
etable contacts asked if we could achieve
similar results by applying Preservor to
packaging paper or film to provide sim-
ilar preservation. Initial testing looks
very promising.

resulted in faster drying of the kibble. The faster drying resulted in higher throughput—better absorption of capital costs—as well as a 30 percent decrease in energy usage. This revelation was news to us and led us to testing different grains and pulp and paper at several universities with similar results. We now have a patent pending on the improved dewatering technology. Last May, we completed a molecular modeling project at North Carolina State University where we were able to confirm the effect and understand the mechanism. We’re now trying to optimize our formulation but, needless to say, we’re very excited. As an additive, preliminary bench-top testing shows paints and coatings will dry faster. If dewatering is part of the manufacturing process, we may save energy costs and increase throughput.

Chemark: How are you going to market
with Preservor?
Dyer: Ben Tech is primarily a research and

development company. Our strategy to date has been to partner with companies who have the expertise, infrastructure and relationships in place to successfully commercialize our technology and we’re looking for the same fit in the coatings market. We’re also flexible as to the structure of any partnership.

Chemark: How can interested parties get
in touch with you?
Dyer: You may call Ben Tech at 910-974-4466
or e-mail me at mdyer@bentechonline.com.

For future articles, Chemark would be pleased to review new coatings, paints, adhesives, sealants, formulated products or product ingredients that have an opportunity to have an impact on the status quo of our served industries. Please contact us by phone at 910-692-2492; by email at john@chemarkconsulting.net; or visit us on the web at www.chemarkconsulting.net. CW

Chemark: What are the main features that set Preservor apart from its competition? Dyer: There aren’t many products that have the broad benefits of Preservor. Using it as an additive to a paint or coating, you could achieve mold inhibition, corrosion resistance, preservation and faster drying all with one product. And, by the way, it’s environmentally friendly.

Use grind gages more consistently.

Chemark: You mentioned rust inhibition
as well. What applications fit in this mar-
ket today?
Dyer: We have a separate patent for rust
and corrosion. Based on testing to date,
we could use Preservor as a “green” flash
rust inhibitor. One of our more interesting
ideas was to mix Preservor with concrete
instead of water to see if we could prevent
corrosion of the rebar. More work needs
to be done but the rebar showed signifi-
cant improvement.

Chemark: Are there other applications for
this potential workhorse?
Dyer: You mentioned “potential game-
changers” and I believe Preservor may fit
this definition. I’ve heard it said that many
of our greatest discoveries come by acci-
dent. During a pet food processing trial, we
observed that adding Preservor in formula

Little Joe Industries offers the ADM Automatic Draw-Down Machine for use with grind gages. The ADM automates the draw down process controlling scraper angle, speed, and force. Since these aspects are no longer operator dependent your grind gage draw-downs will be more consistent while requiring less operator training and supervision.