Called Liquid Vehicle Technology (LVT), the innovation has been developed by Clariant’s Masterbatches business, and the company claims that the innovation should help packaging players to eliminate the colouring problems that have plagued this category in the past.
The new liquid vehicle technology was developed and thoroughly tested in North America but is now being rolled out through Europe and China.
The company says that testing in monolayer containers made from extrusion blow molded polyoleins incorporating the technology allows for higher pigment loadings and lower usage rates, while also almost eliminating challenges relating to screw slippage.
Improved resin compatibility
All this results in an improved resin compatibility that leads to strong weld lines for the finished container, which the company said was in evidence during by scores in standard burst and compression-loading tests.
Those tests also underlined better overall processing characteristics and faster colour changes that resulted in greater productivity, the company’s testing showed.
“So far, testing has been completed in several types of monolayer containers and we are confident that similar results can be achieved in multilayer applications involving both opaque colour and pearlescent effects,” said Raymond Sloan head of liquid colour at Clariant Masterbatches.
Liquid vehicle system
The technology incorporates a liquid vehicle system that contains suspension aids and binders to allow for higher pigment loadings, which in turn can lead to lower usage rates, and ultimately cost savings.
Likewise, additional components in LVT enhance colour flow and makes for what the company describes as ‘dramatically faster colour changes'.
The enhanced flow means that colour changes that had once taken hours to achieve, can now be seen in a matter of minutes, leading to much less time producing scrap for regrind and more time to concentrate on the production process and associated enhancements.