North African Coatings Congress – 2012 – CALL FOR PAPERS

Morocco takes centre stage – CALL FOR PAPERS FOR NACC 2012

In Casablanca from October 17-18, 2012 the 7th North African Coatings Congress will take place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Following on from the success of the 2010 event, we would be delighted to hear from previous speakers and new to present a technical paper to delegates at this important congress. To whet your appetite, the report covering the 2010 congress is published here.

The conference title is: Addressing trends and challenges – back to basics

If you would like to present a paper then please contact: Kevin Lloyd, kevinlloyd@quartzltd.com or Sue Tyler, suetyler@quartzltd.com, who will be happy to provide you with further information on how to proceed.

The 2010 report:

Moroccan Marketplace
On October 13 and 14 the sixth North African Coatings Congress was held in the Hotel Hyatt Regency in Casablanca, Morocco. With high profile companies providing informative and interesting presentations over the two days, the 70+ delegates were given an insight into current methods to attain cost effective and sustainable coating solutions in this environmentally aware world. The 11 speakers held the attention and even spurred delegates into asking pertinent questions on specific topics of interest to their company.
Under the conference title of ‘Coatings 2010: A new decade of solutions’, presentations included titanium dioxide usage; functional fillers; binders for low emission paints; cellulose esters; formulation of interior and exterior photocatalytic coatings; waterborne coatings; mineral fillers; vinyl acetate and versatate-based latex for water-based paints offering cleanability; advantages of white calcium carbone in water-based coatings systems; weathering tests; and coating of metal cans.
Jeff Montgomery, group sales manager, Coatings Group, Quartz Business Media, opened the conference by giving a brief overview of Quartz and the Coatings Group events.

Seeking Solutions
The first speaker was Johan Rommens of DuPont who spoke about the efficient use of TiO2 in paint and described the technical performance of TiO2 and how it assisted in being a benefit for both paint producer and end-user.
Following Mr Rommens presentation, a paper on spherical solid and hollow glass microspheres as functional fillers in paints and coatings applications was given by Marie-Christine Mauguin, EGM business development manager, Potters Group. Hollow spheres are finding a specific place in thermal insulating coatings for various construction and transpositions applications and acoustic insulation effects are claimed for some coatings. Recent innovations in glass technology have allowed the production of hollow spheres at 0.14g/cc true density and extremely fine particle size distribution.
Aqueous binders for low-emission paints and coatings was the subject of Celanese’s Dr Fernand Cuirassier’s presentation in which he discussed the growing worldwide market for these coatings. Two factors impacting on this market are the labelling regulations introduced to inform end-users of VOC and presence of solvents, which are criteria in the selection of products and the role of the media in promiting products that maintain indoor air quality during decoration work. The control of emissions is of major importance to ensure compliance with changes to legislation, so the production of these types of paint has been possible by the development of liquid emulsions, which combine an acceptable minimum film forming temperature with a suitable hardness of the polymer film.
The final presentation before lunch was given by Stefano Artina of Eastman, who spoke on the company’s cellulose esters as versatile coating additives. These esters are made from a green, sustainable and renewable resource that can be used as binders, additives, film formers or modifiers in paints, coatings, primers, lacquers and enamels for the automotive, wood and plastic industries to name a few. Typical applications were shown during the presentation illustrating the versatility of these esters.
During lunch delegates, speakers and exhibitors took the opportunity to discusss the morning’s sessions further and to obtain specific information from the stands to enable their companies to compete in this ever-changing marketplace.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond his control, Tom Mestdag of Shepherd Color International was unable to fly on to Casablanca, as his journey stalled in France and his tight business schedule meant he was not able to travel on to Morocco.
Umberto Chiodi of Impress Metal Packaging kindly stepped in to cover this session, with his presentation on his company’s activities and the advantages of using metal cans for the containment of paints.
The final presentation of the day was provided by Jay Adams of Evonik Tego Chemie, who discussed the difference in formulating interior and exterior photocatalytic coatings and putting special emphasis on the evaluation of parameters for manufacturing paints in order to increase the efficiency of the titanium dioxide as a photocatalyst.

Around the show
Following the final paper on the first day, delegates were invited to visit the exhibition to see the stands of some of the speakers and other exhibitors, such as Cristal, Datacolor, Eurocolori, Turkish company, Anadolu, Omya and Chinese companies, Guangzhou Chemicals and Ruichem. Looking around the hall, business was certainly being conducted, with stands almost overflowing with visitors interested in obtaining up-to-date information on the latest products, techniques and services.
Day Two commenced with Bayer MaterialScience’s Dr Jörg Schmitz speaking on high quality waterborne coatings. With the upcoming VOC legislations leading to an increased demand for coating systems with reduced content of organic solvents, coating formulators globally are looking for ways to reduce levels of VOCs, while maintaining high performance levels. Dr Schmitz discussed the major advantages of environmentally friendly waterborne coatings in different fields of application such as wood, construction and industrial coatings. This presentation raised questions from the floor from several of the delegates, wishing to learn more from their company’s points of view.
Sibelco was the next presentation, given by Simon Bussell on the use of hard mineral fillers in the formulation of cleanable wall coatings, whereby consumers are demanding higher performance from decorative paints and as a result producers are finding it necessary to reformulate their products.
An area whereby improved performance is often required is scrub and stain resistance. During the presentation Mr Bussell illustrated that alone or in combination with other fillers such as calcium carbonate or talc that they can improve the wet scrub resistance without affecting other properties of coatings.
After the coffee break Touria Gharrafi of Hexion discussed the development of vinyl acetate and vinyl versatate-based latex for water-based paints, which offer good cleanability. Again this subject was obviously close to some of the delegates hearts as questions came fast and furious.
Mustafa Senol of Micron’s Micronised Mineral Corp, was next at the lectern introducing his company’s Turkcarb grades of calcium carbonate for water-based coatings systems. He compared the Turkish Nodular talcs, with respect to other lamellar talcs and the performance and TiO2 effect of Turkcarb grades in paint formulations.
Last but not least, the final paper came from Labomat Essor’s Pierre Arnaud Laurent who spoke on weathering tests and the various techniques, ie natural test, accelerated UV or Xenon tests. He gave a short overview on each technique and the best way to run accurate and rapid tests.
Lunch took place by the pool, which proved very popular and an enjoyable way to network with the speakers and exhibitors alike.

NACC feedback
Responses from exhibitors and delegates alike agreed that the North African Coatings Congress was a success and the desire to be asked to participate at the next event in 2012 was stated. The quality of visitors proved to be right with business opportunities and prospects made during the two days. NACC is certainly reaching the right people to do business with.

NORTH AFRICAN COATINGS CONGRESS 2012,
OCTOBER 17-18, 2012,
HYATT RECENCY HOTEL,
CASABLANCA, MOROCCO