Netherlands hosts UTECH Europe.

UTECH Europe 2006 will take place March 28-30 at the Maastricht Exhibition and Conference Center in Maastricht, the Netherlands. ISOPA, the European Isocyanate and Polyol Producers Association, is also organizing a major conference session discussing the environmental, health and safety issues in the sector.

The UTECH conference, with more than 50 presentations from internationally recognized experts, is also said to be a key opportunity for all polyurethane processors to hear of the latest technical developments. The conference opens with a major plenary session focusing on emerging markets of eastern Europe, India and China, where senior commercial managers will detail the opportunities these growing markets offer.

There will be ten sessions detailing the advances in all key applications sectors, including automotive, rigid and flexible foams, footwear and CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers), as well as a separate section on innovation.

UTECH Europe 2006, the triennial showcase dedicated to the polyurethane industry, is again on track to deliver the largest forum in the world for this specialized sector, according to the sponsors.

Over 80 companies will be exhibiting at UTECH Europe 2006, including major suppliers of raw materials and processing equipment, representing all segments of the polyurethane industry. Industries involved include automotive, aerospace, electrical and electronics, building and construction, and furnishings, as well as the medical field.

Plenary presentations, including a major global market overview from Angela Austin of IAL Consultants, will be presented by senior commercial specialists in companies with a high level of activity in the regions concerned, including Dr. Soltan Demjen, managing director of Elastogran Kemipur, Hungary; Jiten Desai, marketing specialist with Narmada Chematur Petrochemicals Ltd., India's only isocyanate maker; and Martin Casey, corporate vice president of strategic planning at Huntsman Chemical, Belgium.

In the afternoon following the plenary session on Tuesday, March 28, the technical program will commence. This will comprise over 50 presentations over the three days, reporting on all the latest developments in polyurethanes technology for automotive applications, appliances and rigid foams, and flexible slabstock foam, as well as coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers. An innovations session will round off the proceedings.

As the general economic recovery gathers pace, the global polyurethanes business, already in excess of 10 million metric tons, is projected to grow at approximately 5% per year, according to the sponsors. Against this background, optimism within the industry is said to be evident, both in new application developments and renewed interest in areas such as the use of reaction injection molding for thin-walled structural components, and specialty developments such as PU systems for use in footwear manufacturing, rigid foam construction products and new, high-performance flexible foams.

Concern and opportunity are said to come to the rigid foam sector with the phase-out of CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) blowing agents and the commercialization of third-generation HFCs (hydrofluorocarbon). While more expensive than their predecessors, these new blowing agents will enable polyurethane to maintain its present leadership in thermal insulation performance, and consequently, its market share, according to the sponsors. UTECH Europe is said to provide the platform on which these and many other guiding issues will be examined and their advantages identified, as well as the exhibition of new PU solutions and ancillary services.

Plenary presentations on Tuesday, March 28, will include the following: "Global overview of the polyurethanes industry: Prospects and possibilities," Angela Austin, IAL Consultants Ltd., U.K.; "Opportunities and challenges for eastern Europe," Zoltan Demjen, Elastogran Kemipur Ltd., Hungary; "India: The elephant begins to rise," K.A. Shah, Narmada Chematur Polyurethanes Ltd., India; and "The People's Republic of China: Will the boom continue?" Martin Casey, Huntsman Polyurethanes, Belgium.

Session 2 on automotive will include the following presentations: "Latest technologies for the production of high-quality interior trim surfaces," Ludwig Jung, Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftecnik GmbH; "PU heavy-layer spray technology drives cost savings in automotive applications," Piero Corradi and Christian Cairati, Cannon Group; "Acoustic absorbers: A third way for the management of sound in automobiles," Chris Skinner and Johan Peters, Huntsman Polyurethanes; "Novel dendritic polymer polyol with unique balance between low compression set and high firmness of molded automotive foam," Anders Magnusson and Joseph Fahlen, Perstorp Specialty Chemicals AB; "Advanced Comfort seating: A revolution in seating performance for the automotive industry," Chris Skinner and Christophe Ponce, Huntsman Polyurethanes; "Best technology for low VOC," Kai Klockemann and Michael Bader, Werner Klockemann & Cornelius Wehman, Nitroil Europe GmbH; and "Low-emission amine catalysis for automotive applications," G. Felber, E.L. Rister, D. Ridgway, G. Wiltz and R.A. Grigsby, Jr., Huntsman Polyurethanes.

Session 3 on rigid foams will include the following presentations: "New foam formulations for PIR in construction applications," Jacqueline Kusan-Bindels, Bayer MaterialScience AG; "Advances in polyurethane and polyisocyanurate solutions for the metal-faced insulating panels industry," Paolo Golini, Peter Keller, Ingo Stuckemeier, Luigi Bertucelli and Francesca Pignagnoli, Dow Italy; "Novel high performance PIR-systems for continuous panels with easy processing," Allard van der Wal, Resina Chemie BV; "Novel polyester polyols--helping MDI go further in rigid foams," Rob Sewell, Roger Stubbs, Leo Hickey and Dave Norberg, Stepan; "A revolutionary new blowing agent for Europe," Dennis Jones, BOC Ltd., and Todd Keske, Foam Supplies; and "Methylal's use as a blowing agent for polyurethane foams: An overview," Michel Beaujean, Lambiotte & Cie SA.

Session 3 on the environment, safety and health will include the following presentations: "ISOPA product stewardship program: Why the program is needed and how it will be delivered," Rosella Bronzi, Dow Chemical, and Denis Hicks, Huntsman Polyurethanes; "Polyurethane recovery and recycling: Position of the flexible foam industry," Hubert Creyf, Europur; "Flame retardants used in polyurethane foam: An update on regulatory and fire safety issues--directions in the 21st century," Eric-Jack Gerard, Albemarle; "Blowing agents--do we still need fluorinated gases?" Christoph Meurer, Solvay GmbH; "REACH--three years after UTECH Europe 2003," Christina Arregul, Cefic; "North American EHS issues: Will they migrate to Europe?" Stephanie Bernard, Alliance for the Polyurethanes Industry; and "Polyurethane versus competitive materials: Sustainability considerations," John Garbutt, Kingspan Ltd.

Session 4 on flexible foams will include the following presentations: "Strategies for the production of TDI high-resilience foam," Laurent Brami, Repsol YPF; "New cell-opening strategies for TDI 80 viscoelastic foams," Ruediger Landers, Wilfried Knott and Tammo Boinowitz, Degussa AG; "Novel polyol for low-resilience foam," Masakazu Kageoka, Toshiaki Moriya, Katsumi Inaoka and Hiroshi Ueda, Mitsui Takada Chemicals; "Hypernova, feather-weight flexible PU foam," Manfred Naujoks, Bayer MaterialScience AG; "Production benefits with Voranol Voractiv polyols from Dow," Helve Wullay, Dow Europe GmbH; "A highly efficient stabilizer for polyester flexible slabstock foam," Robert Eiben, Rhein Chemie; "Ecomagination development of new silicone surfactants for FR and non-FR polyether foams," Joelle Fis, Jose Godoy, Marie-Christine Desnier and Lee Lawler, General Electric Advanced Materials; "Novel polyols based on renewable resources," Stephan Bauer, BASF Group/Elastogran GmbH; "The application of halogen-free flame retardants in flexible polyurethane foam," Joop Wuestenenk, Supresta Netherlands BV; and "MDI-based viscoelastic molded foam systems with excellent durability, enhanced comfort and superior processing for furniture applications," Sabrina Fregni, Dow Italia Sri.

Session 5 on rigid foams will include the following presentations: "Innovative trimerization catalyst systems for polyisocyanurate foams," Hiroyuki Kometani, Katsumi Tokumoto, Yutaka Tamano, Roger Van Marls and Kenneth M. Gay, Tosoh; "Rigid polyurethane foams modified with vegetable oil-based polyols," Aleksander Prociak, Cracow University of Technology; "Water-blown polyisocyanurate foams from vegetable oil (oleochemicals) polyols," Uldis Stima, Ugis Cabulis and Ilze Beverte, Latvian Institute of Wood Chemistry; "Novel spray foam development," Josep Gimeno, Jesus Santamaria and Carlos Fernandez-Liamazares, Synthesia Espanola SA; "New surfactants for Pentane-blown rigid foams able to minimize surface voids for continuous and discontinuous technologies," Pierre Chaffanjon, Vittorio Bonapersona and Kunj Mehta, GE Silicones; and "Computational techniques for benchmarking OCF cell structures and textures," Dr. Ricardo Simoes, University of Minho, Portugal, and Aster de Schrijver, Attachem NV.

Session 6 on rigid foams will include the following presentations: "Strategies for flame-retarded rigid polyurethanes foam problems and solutions from the perspective of an additive supplier," Christian Eilbracht, Carsten Schiller and Manfred Klincke, Degussa AG; "Determination of the blowing agent content in polyurethane foams," Mary Bogdan, John Welch and Rajesh Dubey, Honeywell; "Development of environmentally friendly refrigerator in Taiwan," Lucky Lee and Chingchih Lai, Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute; "Innovation and development of refrigeration technology," Gianmario Bossi, Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftechnik GmbH; and Blowing agent solution sets: Performance/economic impact analysis," David J. Williams, Clifford Gittere and J.M. Bowman, Honeywell.

Session 7 on flexible foams will include the following presentations: "Room-temperature emanations from flexible foams," Ruediger Landers and Tammo Boinowitz, Degussa AG; "Emanation reduction using novel, non-fugutive additives for flexible polyurethane foams," James Tobias, Steve Hulme, John W. Mitchell and Stephan Wendel, Air Products and Chemicals; "Innovation in color delivery," Wouter Verbouwe, Milliken Chemical; "Innovative on-line process control for flexible foam production," Hubert Ehbing, Bayer MaterialScience AG; "State of the art in slabstock foaming," Stephan Wester, Hennecke GmbH; "Automated cutting lines: New ways of foam treatment," Harald Kullmann, Albrecht Baumer GmbH; and "Latest advances in continuous slabstock production technology," Jonathan Rayner, Cannon Viking Limited.

Session 8 on innovation will include the following presentations: "Palm oil-based polyol for flexible polyurethane foams," T.L. Ooi and A. Salmiah, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, K.K. Tan, Wansern Foams Sdn. Bhd., and Y.C. Chong and J.T. Eulitz, Intermed Sdn. Bhd.; "Trans-1, 2-dichloroethylene and HFCs for integral skin foam," Vincent Enaux and Laurent Latil, Arkema Group; "PU spray technology: A cost-effective way to foam and reinforce thin-walled parts," Piero Corradi and Christian Cairati, Cannon Group; "PUR composite spray molding (PUR-CSM), PURe Spray technology for highest demands," Dr. -Ing. Ingo Kleba, Henneeke GmbH; and "Trends for trimming operations in the polyurethane industry," Heinz-Peter Wego, Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftechnik GmbH.

Session 9 on footwear and CASE will include the following presentations: "New additives for today's low-density PU shoe sole technology," Roland Hubel and Fabio Bonzoni, Degussa AG; "Novel technology for polyester polyurethane shoe soling with excellent hydrolysis resistance," Paul Cameron, Uniqema; "Recent advances in polyurea technology," Ray Scott, Dudley Primeaux and Lee Hanson, Polyurea Technology, The Hanson Group; "Polyurea: Early developments to maximum hydrolysis stability," Kai Klockemann and Michael Bader, Nitroil Europe GmbH; and "Urethane elastomers for high-temperature applications," Zhenya Zhu, Ronald O. Rosenberg, Vince J. Gajewski, George H. Nybakken and Mark R Ferrandino, Chemtura.

Session 10 on footwear and CASE will include the following presentations: "Highly effective hydrolysis stabilization in coatings and adhesives," Bernd Kray and Ana Maria Cano Sierra, Rhein Chemic; "Continuous reaction: A new approach to reactive hot melt manufacture," Colin Reed, Rosehill Polymers Ltd.; "Evaluation of the effect of thermal history on HTPB-based polyurethanes microstructure," Gity Gir Mohamad Sadeghi, Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran; and "New classification of NMP (n-methylpyrrolidone): NEP (n-ethylpyrrolidone) as the suitable substitute," Karl Ott and Tobias Wabnitz, BASF AG.

Registration information on UTECH Europe 2006 is available from the registration manager, tel.: [phone]; fax: [phone].