Page 48 - Plastics News July 2017

PRODUCT NEWS

Milliken Chemical introduces ClearShield® UV absorbers

illiken Chemical introduced its ClearShield® enabling greater use of more natural and uncolored PET,
MColorless UV Absorbers bring value to PET packaging ClearShield helps to reduce or eliminate the need to use
by effectively protecting UV-sensitive contents from dark or colored containers to protect the contents which
degradation while maintaining the material’s clarity can make recycling more difficult and lessen the value of
and transparency. ClearShield offers an efficient way to the reclaimed product.
protect beverages and other UV-sensitive contents against
harmful light exposure by incorporating the UV blocker
into the PET package itself. These absorbers filter 95% Conair introduces EarthSmart™

of UV light at up to 390 nanometers and are effective at Adiabatic Cooling Towers
very low loadings, enabling the use of more highly UV-
sensitive natural colorants in the packaged products.To onair has introduced EarthSmart™ Adiabatic Cooling
ensure product consistency, and hence brand integrity, the CTowers With improved, multi-mode controls that
conserve electricity while dramatically reducing water
consumption providing a cost-efficient process-cooling
solution. The new adiabatic towers eliminate the constant
water consumption and treatment requirements of
conventional evaporative towers, utilizing closed-loop
cooling that isolates process water from contamination,
cycling it through finned heat exchangers where ambient
air absorbs process heat and cools it for recirculation. Like
conventional evaporative towers, adiabatic towers take
advantage of evaporative cooling, but do so in a different
and more resource-efficient way. During periods where
contents of PET packaged goods must be protected from ambient air is warmest and maximum cooling capacity is
exposure both to sunlight and to indoor lighting during needed, adiabatic towers use top-mounted fans to draw
storage, distribution, retail display and post-purchase
storage. Due to the photo-oxidation effect, most vitamins
are sensitive to light, heat and oxygen in the presence of
light. Vitamin degradation can lead to off-flavor and color
shift in the beverage formulation.

PET bottles made with these ClearShield® Colorless
UV absorbers offer impressive results when it comes to
extending ingredient shelf life (defined as 80% of initial
concentration). Approved for food-contact applications by
the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), ClearShield
overcomes the deficiencies of traditional technologies,
including unwanted color, migration and bloom. These
additives are easy to handle and meter and, since they
are incorporated into the PET itself, do not extract into
beverages. PET preform producers and bottle converters,
meanwhile, will especially appreciate that the use of warm air through wetted adiabatic panels located in
ClearShield-modified PET as it simplifies processing by front of the finned heat coils. As air passes through these
resisting plate-out onto injection molded preform and panels, the water within them evaporates, pulling latent
bottle molding surfaces. Formulators can use more heat energy from the passing air. The tower’s controls
natural ingredients with confidence, while also eliminating
concerns about toxicity or wastewater contamination automatically manage this adiabatic process, varying
water volume and fan speed to reduce the temperature
by some of the chemicals traditionally used in other UV
stabilizers. Additionall better contents protection and of the ambient air passing through the heat exchangers
extended shelf life help to reduce product waste. And by and provide the additional cooling capacity required.

Plastics News | July 2017 48