A weekly look at new products, innovations

Editor's Note: Each week, Rubber & Plastics News will take a look at some of the rubber industry's new products and innovations on www.rubbernews.com. Does your company have a new product or new innovation? To be considered for inclusion in this recurring feature, email [email protected].

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has released its Haake Viscotester iQ rheometer, which the company said can increase efficiency and reduce user error when analyzing rheological properties of fluids at high pressures.

The Haake Viscotester iQ, designed for measurements under pressure of up to 600 bar, is used for determining the rheological behavior of crude oil and drilling and fracturing fluids, the company said. The machine features a cylindrical temperature control unit and pressure cell to accommodate high pressure applications, according to Fisher Scientific, and the instrument can be disassembled and packed into a case, shipped, unpacked and reassembled within minutes, without requiring any adjustments before running tests in the field.

The rheometer features a modular design, allowing users to exchange accessories and customize the instrument to suit their needs, according to the company. The software automatically recognizes the pressure cell model to minimize errors and measures procedures including data evaluation and quality control criteria, the company claimed.

Other options available, according to Fisher Scientific, include liquid temperature module, designed for uniform temperature control; electrical temperature module for temperatures up to 300°C; additional titanium pressure cell models, for standard applications up to 600 bar; hastelloy pressure cells, for tests on chemically aggressive samples up to 175 bar; and a broad rotor portfolio, for testing low viscosities up to inhomogeneous samples containing larger particles.

For more information, go to www.thermoscientific.com/viscotesteriQ.

DeWal Industries Inc. has introduced a silicone-free a line of high temperature, adhesive tapes for the aerospace composite industry. The firm said the tapes are ideal for low out-gassing applications requiring EMS 595, which includes woven glass tape, a foil/glass laminate tape, a red polyester tape and high density PTFE.

DeWal said it has formulated the most popular tapes in versions that contain no silicone, and they can be used in automotive and electronic applications where silicone can also be a concern.

Dewal said its new polyester tapes for composite lay-up, DW 915-1 and DW915-2, are 100 percent silicone free, offer a high temperature, high bond and clean release acrylic adhesive. It said both pass the ASTM E595 low outgassing test for no outgassing contamination.

Dewal said its PTFE tape for use as composite tool coat is DW716-2HD. The printable glass tape, DW379, is used in aerospace blanket seaming and as a wire harness and transformer wrap, DeWal said.

The fourth tape is the series, DW417, is a flexible dead soft foil supplied on a release liner, DeWal claimed, and its aluminum laminate makes it an ideal heat shield tape.

As with the polyester tapes, the other three tapes also pass the EMS 595 requirement and offer low out-gassing, silicone free operation, the company said.

For more information email DeWal at [email protected] or click here.

Flexicon Corp. has unveiled a new tip-tite mobile drum dumper that the company said allows dust-free transfer of bulk materials from drums into process equipment and storage vessels.

The machine is mounted on a mobile frame with quick-action floor jacks for stable operation anywhere in the plant, the company said. A hydraulic cylinder raises the drum carriage, sealing the drum rim against a discharge cone, after which a second hydraulic cylinder tips the carriage-hood assembly and drum, stopping at a predetermined dump angle of either 45, 60 or 90 degrees with a motion-dampening feature, Flexicon claimed.

As the assembly approaches its fully-tipped position, the outlet of the discharge cone mates with a gasketed receiving-ring inlet fitted to existing process equipment or to the lid of an optional hopper with integral pneumatic, tubular cable or flexible screw conveyor, creating a dust-tight seal, Flexicon said.

Once the discharge cone is seated against the gasket, a pneumatically-actuated slide gate valve opens, allowing material to enter the receiving vessel, the company said, and the unit accommodates drums from 30 to 55 gallons (114 to 208 liters) weighing up to 750 pounds (340 kilograms) and measuring 36 to 48 inches in height.

An optional pneumatically-actuated vibrator on the discharge cone promotes complete evacuation of non-free-flowing materials, Flexicon said.

For more information, contact Flexicon at 888-353-9426, email [email protected], or go to www.flexicon.com.