Privately owned Spanish speciality chemicals producer Merquinsa (Gran Val 17, E-08160 Montmeló) has developed a new range of thermoplastic polyurethanes especially for the powder slush moulding process, which it plans to introduce at the Utech 2000 conference, scheduled for 28-30 March in The Hague.

The thermoplastic “Pearlcoat” grades are designed to replace PVC in automotive interior applications such as instrument panels, consoles and glove door boxes. Merquinsa says its products are compounded with special additives and pigments so that they can fufill the “extremely severe” requirements of the automobile industry. Supplied in high flowing powder form, they can be processed on existing slush moulding equipment.

In addition to their halogen-free structure, the manufacturer says the physical properties of TPUs present a number of advantages compared with PVC, including resistance to cold, heat and UV rays, light weight and “aesthetic competitive edges” such as a leather-like look, soft touch and higher flexibility. At its main site outside Barcelona, Merquinsa produces 12,000 t/y of TPUs, 7,000 t/y of speciality water-based polymers (urethanes), 10,000 t/y of polyester polyols and 4,000 t/y of urethane prepolymers.

• Plasteurope.com Service: Merquinsa company portrait brochure (English): PIE-No. 44442.