ASSOCIATION NEWS 1
1. Fired up! Erich Seeger of the SABS is anked by visiting international speakers Stephen Grayson of Fire Testing Technology (FTT) of the UK and Kasturirangan Kannah of Great Lakes, based in Germany
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2. David Poxon, general manager of the Fire Protection Association of SA, gave an interesting presentation about the frequency of ďŹ res in the country. Every ďŹ re is different said, so it’s not always easy to draw clear conclusions
to increase escape time ‌ and allow for manual intervention. Effective FR systems can increase the escape time from two to as much as 20 minutes. FRs operate by a variety of means, charring being just one, which create the delay allowing for escape. Complexity of the problem The presenter of the industry keynote address, Dr Juergen Troitzsch of Fire and Environment Protection Service of Germany, was unfortunately unable to attend due to, of all things, a skiing accident. Troitzsch was 42
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3. Stephen Grayson of Fire Testing Technology (FTT) of the UK on is company’s exhibition stand
to have given an address on ‘Global Trends in Fire Safety and Standards in Plastics,’ which would have been interesting. Kasturirangan Kannah of Great Lakes then gave an address on ‘Flame Retardants in Plastics: Regulatory and Environmental Challenges’. At once the complexity of the topic became clear. Achieving an effective FR solution is an illusive target, due partly to the complexity of materials in use as well as
APRIL / MAY 2012
CHEMFIT INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IN POLYMER ADDITIVES
Fire Retardants  X† {___ ^X ' ‡ ' $ `  X† ˆ___ ^X ' ‡ ' $ `
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4. Michael Kearns of Great Lakes Solutions with Tania Postlethwaite of ChemďŹ t, the global group’s SA agent. Great Lakes was one of the exhibitors at the ďŹ re conference
the wide variety of applications of moulded products. Kannah pointed out that FR additives are produced from a variety of natural products, including nitrogen, aluminum, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus and bromide. Finding the correct balance for any speciďŹ c application is hence complicated. He outlined various examples – including enclosures, printed circuit boards, cables and connectors – and the varied solutions reached. The audience at once began to absorb the complexity of the problem. Slowing down combustion creates the opportunity to maintain a viable atmosphere, said Kannah. The man factors for plastic product manufactures include: • efďŹ cacy of ame retardants in chosen polymer system; • cost vs beneďŹ ts of feasible alternatives; • environmental considerations. Of these, cost is obviously an important consideration, but cost of litigation due to failure of products you’ve supplied could on the other hand be highly damaging. Great Solutions Kannah’s colleague at Great Lakes group, Michael Kearns, then entertained delegates with a lively presentation titled ‘Greener Innovation: An Update on Great Lakes Solutions’ Flame Retardants’. Founded in 1933 in Michigan, USA, Great Lakes is arguably the world leader in FRs for polymers. Its purchases of bromine-rich wells in Arkansas as well as a phosphorus source have clearly given it a competitive advantage in the area. Great Lakes actually changed its name in 2005 to Chemtura, after it merged with another additive supplier, Crompton, but then returned to its source name as Great Lakes Solutions in 2010 to ‘fully brand what it is’. As the name suggests, the business is literally focused on solutions. Great Lakes’ produces the Emerald™ range for FRs and has solutions, well, for virtually every polymer material, from polyamides and polycarbonates to unsaturated polyesters, styrenics and epoxies. www.greatlakes.com
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GLOBAL INTERGRATION
LOCAL INNOVATION
10. Piet Makhubela of Sasol, Sipho Khumalo of Aberdare Cables, Anton Hanekom of PlasticsSA and Vincent Khumalo of CSIR