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FORSTERK-Forsterkningsmidler

Ny teknologi gjøres tilgjengelig for norskproduserte applikasjoner og markeder.

Awarded: NOK 1.0 mill.

Project Number:

310194

Project Period:

2020 - 2021

Funding received from:

AgChem: Entering the Norwegian agrochemical market is very challenging. Several attempts to offer samples for testing have had limited success. On the other hand, there is quite huge interest outside Norway. We hope the increasing international interest will have effect on the domestic market. The potential is huge regards to: -Exilva in stabilisation of suspension concentrates in crop protection. -Exilva in adjuvant systems to improve liquid fertilizer and crop protection, product compatibility as well as provide stable tank mix over time. -Exilva in biobased microplastic free seed coatings; stabilises and forms film for dust reduction and improved coating. We have contacted professionals in Norway, but we understand that they can mainly help with testing technical solutions under Norwegian conditions/environment. We therefore have ongoing development work in collaboration with a contract laboratory abroad and hope to be able to develop a seed coating technology that can be tested in Norway. Corrugated: Glomma Papp has been using Exilva in their regular glue on native wheat for all qualities. With Exilva, the glue ability and bond strength are improved and a significant increase in corrugator productivity and volume produced has been measured. Reduced warp and less delamination in- and post process have increased the productivity in the converting department. Several factory trials with Exilva have been performed during this period, including glue recipes with new Exilva-products; replacement of boron and new dosing solutions of Exilva. Since q1 2021, a boron-free Exilva glue recipe that gave very satisfactory results in trials, was implemented, and is now used regularly in Double Wall qualities. Continued to work very actively with testing of demanding qualities and with a strong focus on collecting sustainability data, which requires production over time to be able to verify the data basis. Concrete: Most of the resources (70-80%) spend on the Norwegian market has been on this application, concrete. Focus and reason for using Exilva has been environmental and cost impact. It is possible to play around with different materials/additives. During the last year several trials have been conducted in all phases; from lab-scale, pilot to industrial scale. In September 2021 industrial scale trials were conducted with promising results. This was regarded as the first part of the qualification. Second part will be to make more batches and follow up with concrete pump tests, this will take place end of this fall. We have demonstrated that Exilva can be added under standard industrial conditions. The pump trial has been postponed due to Covid, closed concrete factories and construction sites. A total of 12 factory tests have been performed, which forms a good basis for preparing more accurate business calculations. The calculations are ongoing, and together with the customer we have decided to assess and involve an additive supplier in the project that currently provides service to this industry. Resins: We have ongoing business (in Europe) within resins for engineered wood products and we are trying to expand into the wood board industry. Despite the challenging situation with Covid we have been able to do several plant trials (two this period) at a particle board producer in Europe, using a resin expert company. We were also preparing for a plant trial at a Norwegian particle board producer, but we faced challenges with the flexibility of the glue technology set-up with Exilva. The supplier was not able or willing to adapt to necessary changes for enabling plant trials. This project is on hold for the moment, but not closed. The situation is unchanged and 2021 has been very demanding for this industry with reduced raw material supply with highly increased prices. Covid, in addition to the raw material situation, has created unstable production conditions and taken away focus from innovation in favor of qualifying new raw materials (e.g. Exilva) and alternative operation of the factories. As for corrugated board, longer test production periods are required under normal conditions to obtain good data, which has not been possible in the current situation either.

At norske aktører innen ulike bransjer har fått noe kjennskap til EXILVA med dets egenskaper og forsterkende effekter som et biobasert alternativ til oljebaserte additiver.

For å gi flere norske aktører tilgang til kunnskap opparbeidet i H2020-prosjektet og forsterke virkningen av prosjektet nasjonalt mot forskning, samfunnsliv og næringsliv, vil vi offensivt oppsøke norske aktører innenfor markedssegmentene og bransjene vi har opparbeidet og erfart positive resultater fra.

Funding scheme:

FORSTERK-Forsterkningsmidler

Funding Sources