Sep 14 2005
Carrying heavy gas cylinders for use in outdoor cooking will soon be easier, thanks to an innovation from Amtrol-Alfa of Portugal, the largest European manufacturer of gas cylinders. In partnership with DuPont Polymer Powders in Bulle, Switzerland, and Saint-Gobain Vetrotex International in France, Amtrol-Alfa recently invented a new generation of portable gas cylinders based on thermoplastic composite technology. This allowed Amtrol-Alfa to achieve a 50 percent weight reduction versus traditional steel cylinders.
While Amtrol-Alfa's objective was to develop a lighter and fully recyclable solution that delivered the mechanical and safety performance of traditional steel cylinders, their main technical obstacle became a coating challenge. After unsuccessfully testing a wide range of liquid and powder coatings, they turned to DuPont for help.
Olivier Magnin, manager, research and development, DuPont Polymer Powders, said, "The recyclability requirement was not a problem at first as our thermoplastic polymer technology is recyclable by essence. The tricky part of the job was to combine the need for strong adhesion and water permeation on Twintex®, a novel thermoplastic composite matrix from Saint-Gobain."
A solution resulted in new DuPont™ Abcite® thermoplastic powder, specifically formulated for this application through the support of DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers research and development at the DuPont European Technical Center in Meyrin, Switzerland.
Positioned for growth, this new Abcite® thermoplastic coating is being considered for other metal substitution applications such as water tanks and brake fluid containers for trucks.