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Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (President: Shinya Ishizu) and Ube Industries, Ltd.
(President: Kazumasa Tsunemi) announced that they have
jointly developed SUNBESTATM, a two-layer fuel tube system
which requires both the fluoropolymers produced by Asahi
Glass and the Nylon 12 resins produced by Ube Industries.
Asahi Glass has sold fluoropolymers (Fluon®) for years,
as Ube Industries has sold Nylon 12 resins (UBESTA®).
The companies succeeded in developing a special type of
ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) polymer and Nylon
12 resin and combined them in a fuel tube system that
is the first of its kind in the world. The companies are
marketing the tube system primarily for automobile fuel
tubes.
Fluoropolymers form an excellent permeation barrier to
fuels and are highly resistant to chemicals, while Nylon
12 resins have excellent flexibility and resistance to
low-temperature impact and chemicals. Utilizing these
qualities, automobile manufacturers have for many years
employed a multi-layer fuel tube system made up of both
materials to comply with increasingly stringent automotive
emissions regulations and to facilitate the use of alternative
alcohol-based fuels.
However, existing systems require an adhesive layer between
the fluoropolymer and Nylon 12 layers, and because the
adhesive lacks sufficient strength and durability, performance
deterioration has been a problem. Asahi Glass and Ube
Industries have resolved these problems by making the
most of the characteristics of their respective resins
while developing them to strongly adhere to each other
in co-extrusion.
The two companies have already begun supplying samples
for customers in Japan and other countries, and are obtaining
evaluation results far superior to existing systems. The
system can be used not only for automobile fuel, but also
for various kinds of industrial tube hoses. The companies
plan to continue developing the product for a wide range
of applications.
The special features of the SUNBESTATM system are as follows.
(1) Fluoropolymer and Nylon 12 two-layer structure requiring
no adhesive layer.
(2) Excellent adhesion strength maintained even after
immersion in alcohol-based fuel. No interface detachment
even after 1,000 hours of immersion.
(3) Little fuel permeation or vaporization. Compliant
with US CARB LEV-II environmental regulations.
(4) Can be co-extruded and offers excellent machinability.
(5) Excellent chemical resistance.
Asahi Glass has manufacturing and sales base of fluoropolymer
in Europe and the U.S., and Ube Industries is considering
production of Nylon 12 resins in Spain in addition to
existing production in its Ube factory. Both companies
are actively developing markets in the U.S. and Europe
as well as within Japan. In particular, there has been
a rapid increase in demand in the U.S., where fuel vaporization
regulations are becoming more stringent. Asahi Glass and
Ube Industries expect sales of 7.5 billion yen and 3.5
billion yen, respectively, in 2007.
SUNBESTATM will be exhibited at the Asahi Glass booth
at the "2003 Automotive Engineering Exposition"
to be held at the Pacifico Yokohama from May 21-23. It
will also be exhibited by Ube Industries at the NPE 2003,
the largest plastics show in the U.S., to be held June
23-27 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
[Exhibition Web Sites]
2003 Automotive Engineering Exposition
http://www.jsae.or.jp/2003expo/
NPE 2003
http://www.npe.org/
Please use the inquiry form to send us your inquiry.
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