Abstract
The Society of Plastics Engineers Annual Technical Conference 2014 (SPE ANTEC 2014) was held in Las Vegas, Nevada this year. Of special note are the three plenary speakers who gave excellent and informative presentations. They are:
Challenges in nanocomposites: mixing obstacles and opportunities Professor Ica Manas-Zloczower – Case Western Reserve University Sustainability and plastics: innovation from Dow performance plastics drives sustainable solutions Dr Robert Maughon – The Dow Chemical Company Looking forward into a 21st century plastics age Dr Donald V Rosato – PlastiSource, Inc.
Professor Manas talked about nanofillers which have attracted significant attention in recent years due to their remarkable mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. Carbon nano tubes (CNTs) are different from other carbon materials, such as graphite, diamond and fullerene (C60, C70, etc.), and CNTs are one-dimensional carbon materials which can have an aspect ratio greater than 1000. Depending on the process for CNT fabrication, there are two types of CNTs (Figure 1):
single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs). Single-walled CNT (a); multi-walled CNT (b).1
She described applications, mixing and opportunities for CNTs.
Dr Maughon reminded us that it is nearly impossible to go a day without touching a polyolefin polymer. These materials are used in many products and will likely remain the chosen polymer for most applications in the foreseeable future. He discussed sustainability as a growing area of discussion and helped us understand sustainability and understand the life cycle which covers integrating knowledge of production, processing, use and end-of-life. Sustainability is not an intrinsic property of a material. You cannot know by just looking. Which is more sustainable:
a plastic bag or a paper bag? burning an incandescent light bulb for 10 h or driving a car one mile?
Dr Maughon took a financial approach to looking at the benefits of sustainability. Figure 2 shows that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for global food waste is third behind the emissions by China and Unites States of America.
Impact of food waste on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.2
He showed several examples of where adding packaging can actually reduce waste. He also showed that plastic packaging can reduce energy consumption versus alternative materials such as cardboard, glass and metal.
He concludes that plastic packaging benefits are:
Reduces material use – 2 lbs of plastic deliver the same amount of liquid as 3 lbs of aluminum, 8 lbs of steel or 27 lbs of glass. Saves energy – one truck of empty flexible packaging replaces 25 trucks carrying cans for the same amount of food. Reduces emissions – organic waste in landfills emits methane: a GHG with 23 times more global warming potential than CO2 and plastic packaging helps keep food out of the landfill. Saves resources – by preventing food from spoiling and protecting consumer goods from damage during distribution. Reusable resource – can be recycled to polymer or for energy at the end of its initial life.2
Dr Rosato asked us if we could imagine a world without plastics. The plastics industry is a very innovative worldwide industrial sector and has crossed into virtually every end use market sector. Dr Rosato looked at the future for:
Bio plastics Barrier solutions Light weighting in automobiles Electrical application Wind energy Photovoltaic applications Green building practices Medical applications Conductive applications High heat applications. Two mile Belgium rail line tunnel fitted with 16,000 solar panels.3
Among the many intriguing opportunities mentioned, photovoltaic transportation end use applications were interesting. Plastics are important materials for protecting solar cells. Figure 3 shows a Belgium rail line tunnel fitted with 16,000 solar panels.
These talks are available as a PDF download from the SPE web site: http://www.4spe.org/Resources/index.aspx?navItemNumber=634 in the latest technical resources column. As this page is continually updated, you may have to search for them or contact me [jpfs-editor@rochester.rr.com] for the files.
Manas-Zloczower, Ica “Challenges in Nanocomposites: Mixing Obstacles and Opportunities” ANTEC® 2014 -- Proceedings of the Technical Conference & Exhibition, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA April 28--30, 2014. [On-line]. Society of Plastics Engineers, ISBN 978-0-9850112-4-6, pp. 000--000. Available: http://www.4spe.org. Maughon, Bob “Sustainability and Plastics: Innovation at Dow Performance Plastics Drives Sustainable Solutions” ANTEC® 2014 -- Proceedings of the Technical Conference & Exhibition, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA April 28--30, 2014. [On-line]. Society of Plastics Engineers, ISBN 978-0-9850112-4-6, pp. 000--000. Available: www.4spe.org. Rosato, Donald V., Looking Forward into a 21st Century Plastics Age: ANTEC® 2014 -- Proceedings of the Technical Conference & Exhibition, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA April 28--30, 2014. [On-line]. Society of Plastics Engineers, ISBN 978-0-9850112-4-6, pp. 000--000. Available: www.4spe.org.
Calendar of future events
Plastic Industry Exhibition & Conference 2014
Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center (BITEC)
Bangkok, Thailand
For further details: http://www.technobiz-asia.com/PIEC2014/
SPE FOAMS® 2014 – Tutorial (September 8–9) & Conference (September 10–11)
Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel
Iselin, NJ, USA
For further details: http://www.4spe.org/
23rd Annual Thermoforming Conference
Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel
Schaumburg, IL, USA
For further details: http://thermoformingdivision.com/
Contact Lesley Kyle, Conference Coordinator
Phone: 914-671-9524
Email: thermoformingdivision@gmail.com
SPE Bioplastic Materials 2014-Tutorial (September 30) and Conference (October 1 and 2)
Embassy Suites Hotel
Schaumburg, IL USA
For further details: http://www.4spe.org/Events/event.aspx?EventID=12162
AIMCAL Web Coating & Handling Conference 2014 – USA
SPE FlexPackCon 2014
Marriott Grande Dunes
Myrtle Beach, SC – USA
For further details:
AIMCAL – Association of International Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators
803-948-9470, aimcal@aimcal.org
SPE – Society of Plastics Engineers 203-775-0471, info@4spe.org
http://www.4spe.org/Events/event.aspx?EventID=14608
ANTEC 2015/NPE 2015
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, FL, USA
For further details: