The 11th International Coatings for Plastics Symposium, which will be held in Chicago, IL, April 21-23, is seeking papers that explore emerging technologies and case studies in the coatings for plastics industry.

The British Coatings Federation (BCF) and the Chemical Industry Association’s (CIA) REACHReady subsidiary will hold a seminar on “What REACH Means for Importers,” January 24, 2008, at The Gateway Hotel, Nottingham, UK.

Chemetall Oakite has introduced three new surface treatment chemistries for the finishing industry: OXSILAN® 9810, a non-hazardous prepaint treatment for all-ferrous and most multi-metal surfaces; Chem Cote 3010, a pre-paint treatment for iron and steel; and Pyrene US 1002, an alkaline detergent that is specially formulated to remove metalworking fluids from ferrous substrates.

No. 878 is a 350°F gas-heated tunnel oven from Grieve, currently used for drying water from aluminum parts hung on a monorail pass-through conveyor. The workload passes through a 24-in.-long insulated, unheated entrance vestibule, a 144-in.-long insulated heat zone with recirculated airflow and a 24-in.-long insulated, unheated exit vestibule.

Global Warming Solutions, Inc., a developer of technologies aimed at mitigating the effects of global Warming , has developed a new and more efficient solar energy conversion technology. The increased conversion efficiency comes about as the result of the company's novel organic polymer coating for solar cells.

Kemira Coatings (Tikkurila), which is responsible for Kemira's paints and coatings business, has developed in cooperation with Phoseon Technology a new UV-curing coating method, called UVITEC® 2D, for parquet boards, doors and other furniture components made of wood or wood-based materials.

Air Products has introduced a new thermal spray cooling technology to the North American market that uses cryogenic nitrogen vapor (-320°F) to maintain part temperature during thermal spray coating applications. The company’s U.S. patent-pending technology makes high-quality thermal spray coatings possible by maintaining part temperature within a pre-defined narrow range, even for heat-intensive spraying processes. The technology can enable the user to apply coatings faster and at a lower cost than traditional cooling methods.

GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Co., recently presented Roper Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric that manufactures cooking appliances, with a 2007 ecomagination leadership award for achieving substantial reductions in water and energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and nutrient levels in wastewater effluent - much of which was achieved by using GE’s ecomagination-certified Permatreat Enhanced Performance Pretreatment (EPP) Program to prepare metal parts for painting.

When the Windgap Bridge in Western Pennsylvania was last painted in 1986, the Allegheny County Department of Public Works Bridge Division hoped their choice of an experimental paint system would deliver long-term performance. But they had no idea the new aliphatic polyester polyurethane coating system they selected would far exceed their greatest expectations.

Victrex Technology Center in the United Kingdom has installed its first atmospheric plasma surface treating system. The company selected Enercon’s Plasma3™ surface treater to enable downstream converting of its high performance APTIV™ film made from VICTREX® PEEK™ polymer.