Sometimes knowing exactly how a certain ingredient will affect a formulation is not quite as clear as you might think. At other times, it is critical to understand what additive must be part of the mixture to provide a certain property that the final product needs to exhibit. But, how can you be sure when faced with these scenarios?
A new three-part Adhesive and Sealant Council webinar series should go a long way in helping chemists and other technical associates understand the important role that eight different additives play in general formulating. This critical information will then be followed by two presentations that will discuss the art of formulating itself-every chemist will tell you there is a certain art involved-and how to begin to design testing procedures that will show you if your final product actually does what it is supposed to do.
The additives that will be looked at in the first two webinar segments (February 16 and 23) are: plasticizers/humecants; polyvinyl alcohol, tackifiers, surfactants and defoamers; waxes; antioxidants/stablizers; silanes; and kaolin and carbonates. Each presenter represents a manufacturer of these raw materials and brings years of experience and insights into the uniqueness of their products that attendees won’t get anywhere else. Think of it as an opportunity to have each of these raw material experts visit your plant and talk to your formulators and chemists about their particular products.
Raw material instructors include Bill Arendt, Emerald Kalama Chemical; Robert Baker, JM Huber; Kurt Davidson, BASF; Misty Huang, Momentive Performance; Ken Kumaki, Kuraray America Inc.; Dawn Mason, Eastman Chemical Co.; Bill McNamee, Croda Inc.; and Michael Orzech, Sasol Wax. These presenters will not only provide technical knowledge, but also tips and best practices for making additives a successful part of any formulation process.
The final segment of the webinar series (March 9) will feature Dave Horwat of Wacker Polymer and Mark Anderson of Stat-Ease. Mr. Horwat will address the basics of formulation by drawing on his more than 25 years of experience in formulations development and technical service to adhesive manufacturers. Mr. Anderson will provide attendees with practical expertise on designing experiments that will help formulations meet your expectations and, more importantly, those of your customers. It is this vital, final step to formulating and testing the feasibility of an adhesive or sealant that contains an additive that makes this webinar series unique. It takes the course one step further by adding a practical application to complete the formulation process.
Knowing the strengths and limitations of the various additives you utilize every day in your formulations is critical to producing a successful product. I invite you to take advantage of this unique opportunity to participate in theAdhesives & Formulating 101webinar series and learn some of the “tricks of trade” that will take you one step closer to creating a product that answers the needs of your customer in any given situation.
