ICO Polymers' One-Shot foam system for rotational moulding outperforms aluminium in chemical application

DÜSSELDORF, October 25, 2001 – ICO Polymers is a subsidiary of ICO Incorporated (NASDAQ: ICOC), which was founded in 1970 as a small oilfield services company. Today, it is a leading provider of specialised processing and distribution services to the petrochemical industry worldwide, with facilities in North America, Europe and Australasia. ICO Polymers is Europe's leading supplier of speciality polymers for rotational moulding, metal coating, carpet backing, masterbatch production, lamination and many other applications.

Denios AG recently consulted ICO Polymers in its quest for a solution in plastics so that it could expand its portfolio of innovative environmental protection products. In this case, a loading ramp for pallets used for storing hazardous materials. The previous ramp was made of aluminium, which was expensive to manufacture and has limited chemical resistance. The key requirements were a high load-bearing capacity and mechanical strength with low weight and superior chemical resistance.

Based on the customer’s designs and specifications, ICO came up with a recommendation of the optimum material, rotationally moulded LLDPE. This was based on a calculation of the expected material consumption in a first analysis of cost-effectiveness and design recommendations for mould details. ICO Polymers' solution used its One-Shot Foam system. This system uses a special LLDPE powder component for moulding the skin of the ramp, and a granular component which creates the internal foam. Both components are processed in One-Shot with two heating cycles. This process allows foam to be used for even the most complicated of parts. The foam density of150 kg/m2 reduces the weight of parts, yet delivers high rigidity.

After the mould was completed, ICO Polymers conducted the first production trials with Denios AG, so that the properties and efficiency of the One-Shot foam system could be evaluated in series production. A little fine tuning and optimisation work was carried out in conjunction with Denios AG, to ensure that the end product met their exacting quality standards. As ICO Polymers had expected, its One-Shot foam system had met all the key requirements for this application, namely light weight, wide chemical resistance, heavy duty capability and a lower price than the aluminium alternative.

Denios AG not only gained a valuable new addition to its product portfolio, it also acquired valuable processing and material know-how within a short period of time. As result, it is already considering the use of ICO speciality polymers in other forthcoming products.

If you would like more information about ICO Polymers' One-Shot Foam System or any of its other speciality products, visit ICO Polymers on Stand 3E79-5 at the American Pavilion in Hall 3, at the K 2001 exhibition.