India To Keep Import Duty

Friday, August 27, 2010 Kottayam. India - The Hindu reports India’s Rubber Board chairman Sajen Peter said that the Union Commerce Ministry has ruled out any cut in the import duty of natural rubber from the present 20%.

Peter said that the assurance was given by Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to a group of MPs from Kerala. According to him, in the case of import duty, the Union government will be implementing the recommendations of an expert panel constituted by the government on a directive of the Delhi High Court to look into the demands raised in a petition filed by organizations representing rubber consuming industries. The expert committee had made a recommendation to retain the import duty at 20%, but to fix a ceiling of Rs. 20.46 a kg. The panel had arrived at this figure considering the average price of natural rubber during the past three years, which is Rs.102.32 a kg. The import duty cap would be allowed in a phased manner, in lots of 25,000 metric tons.  

Glove Selection For Cleam Room Application

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PVA Emulsion Plasticised with Polyvinyl Alcohol

Manufacturer:  Most of our range of adhesives are based on PVA (polyvinyl acetate) stabilised with polyvinyl alcohol. Can you comment on our choice of the base emulsion, effect of it's molecular weight, pH, particle size, solvent tolerance and plasticisation?
 
John Woon (Senior Latex and Rubber Consultant):  PVA (polyvinyl acetate) stabilised with polyvinyl alcohol is widely used as the based polymer for adhesives with satisfactory performance. It usually has quite a high inherent viscosity which allows it to be compounded into low-cost adhesives with high water content. But you have to bear in mind that emulsion with maximum solid content and low viscosity is required for fast drying and setting.

Extra care has to be taken when using it for bonding transparent films or sheets since it has quite poor gloss and clarity.

Although high molecular weight is desirable for high cohesive strength of the bond, it would give poor heat sealing property due to high softening point. Particle size is important in that the penetration of the particles into porous substrates would be lower and hence resulting in weaker bond if the particle size is too coarse.


pH of PVA emulsion ranges usually from 4 to 5 due to the acetic/acetate effect. Although you could make it more alkaline especially when adding this to natural rubber latex (pH of about 10.0) as an additive or a blend, there would be a gradual drift towards the lower range of pH due to hydrolysis of the polymer on storage.


Solvent resistance should be sufficiently high since we often add some level of solvent to enhance the initial tack.


Plasticiser is usually added to impart flexibility of the dried adhesive. However, you should not exceed certain level beyond which the bond strength would be reduced.


If you don't already know, PVA is sometime added to adhesives based on natural rubber latex as a reinforcing agent.
 

Training For Surgical Glove and Balloon Factories

Manufacturer:  We are in the process of reopening a Surgical glove and balloon plant.

We would like to use your services in the following areas:

1)  To explain the process of manufacturing latex surgical gloves and
balloons and to explain the ingredients we will require for this
process.
2)  To find the best price for the latex raw materials and other raw materials from Malaysia.
3)  To be our technical expert who will also train us in the latex production process.
4)  To help us with calculating costs for the production of latex
gloves, balloons and condoms.
5)  To get us the total cost of a surgical glove plant from Malaysia, both new and second hand. 

I would very much need the training.  Could you give me an indication of cost for training on the surgical gloves manufacturing process as well as how long you would require to properly train someone.  What level of education should this person require or do they not need to be very technical.

John Woon (Senior Latex and Rubber Consultant:The fee for the training is USD…..which covers the following:

1.1) Latex properties
1.2) Latex stability
1.3) Latex compounding (preparation of curing chemicals and recipes)
1.4) Dipping technology for medical gloves (including all stages of the dipping process)
1.5) Defective Gloves and remedial solutions
 
Depending on how fast the trainees could absorb, the training duration could be from 2 to 3 days or longer. Follow-up trainings could be included at lower cost.

Preferably, the trainees should have a basic degree or at least some knowledge of A-level chemistry. However I could also tailor my training to suit non-technical people such as accountants and economist as well.

Latex Foam Insoles for Footwear

Manufacturer:  We manufacture latex foams for the bedding industry and insoles for the shoe industry. Our foam insole quality is not as good as we expected. Over the years we have tried to improve the product but haven’t managed yet to do so. Is this an area of your expertise, or is there another consultant you can recommend me?


John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant):  I’ve studied your latex formulation and the samples you sent me. The following are my observations:

1) Competitor’s products have smoother surface compared with yours  i.e. the smoothness when rubbed with fingers.
2) These also have comparatively very small cell structures (pore size) compared to yours. Also, they have more even pore size. This is only visible under microscope or magnifying glass.
3) The competitor’s product also has superior wetting property and breathability compared with as it absorbs water (and hence sweat from the feet) at a very much faster rate. You could confirm this by dropping water drops onto the insole.
4) The superior wetting property and breathability could be the results of deliberate addition of wetting agent (i.e. surfactant) or higher level of foaming agent. When I washed the sample with water, soapy and foamy water was obtained. After drying the washed sample, the wetting property and breathability had markedly reduced.
5) The smoothness mentioned above could be due to both smaller cell structure and the presence of wetting agent/surfactant. This was confirmed by the observation that after washing, the smoothness has reduced.

My recommendation:

1) Increase the level of Terric N20 for your non-gel foam for wetting property.
2) Addition of wetting agent in your gelled foam might affect the gelling. This is therefore best added by spraying onto the foam before the final drying stage.
3) For finer cell structure (pore size) you should adjust your foaming machine to have a longer foaming time during the refining stage at slow speed. Potassium soap of castor oil would give finer pore size and therefore you might want to replace potassium oleate with this in your gel foam recipe.
4) You could also look into the possibility of using silicone-based surfactants either in the recipe or by spraying to achieve the surface smoothness. These surfactants are available from Dow Corning.

International Rubber Glove Conferences and Exhibitions - Gloves - The Frontline of Barrier Protection

"Gloves ~ The Frontline of Barrier Protection"
International Rubber Glove Conferences and Exhibitions
28 - 30 September 2010
Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A 2-day Conference & Exhibition with an optional Post-Conference Programme.
The forthcoming 5th IRGCE will highlight updates on the latest process innovation in the glove industry and aims to bring updates on regulations and standards, besides looking at the issues of competitiveness in the industry. 

For details please visit: http://www.margma.com.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=18&Itemid=69

Bondexpo: Trade Fair for Industrial Bonding Technology

 






When: September 13-16 2010, Germany
Where: Exhibition at New Exhibition Center , Stuttgart
For more information: Tel : +49 7025 9206-0; Fax : 49 7025 9206-620;
Web: http://www.bondexpo-messe.com/en/bondexpo
Why attend? The 4th BONDexpo will mediate the state-of-the-art and current know-how between R&D, actual use and materials application.