Development of Next Generation Eco-valve for Aerosols

液化石油气是最受欢迎的气溶胶推进剂，占全球MKT的84%，但它是不可持续的，因为它是从枯竭的、不可再生的资源(天然气和石油)中提取的；它是VOC排放的主要来源；它高度易爆和易燃，因此受到H&S法规的限制，这推高了所有相关活动的成本。压缩惰性气体(空气或氮气)是一种替代气溶胶推进剂，具有LPG的主要优势：可再生资源，非易爆/易燃，H&S法规因此不再适用于较低的生命周期成本。然而，当它与标准的气雾阀一起使用时，它的使用是有限的：使用产品时，罐内的压力会下降，因此喷雾特性会恶化(颗粒大小和流量的变化是不可接受的)。为了解决这个问题，索尔福德阀门公司开发并申请了ATLAB Scale的专利，这是一套独特的气雾阀“生态阀”，使标准的气雾剂能够在不需要特殊技术的情况下，使用压缩气体推进剂有效地发挥作用。优点包括：在罐的生命周期内具有出色的喷雾特性；与当前技术相比，在性能上逐步改变；标准灌装技术和组件&可以安装到标准罐中；自1以来适用于所有应用和工业部门。计量和连续流动。公司现在寻求将3种生态阀门类型从台式提升到试生产样机(适用于约90%的气雾剂应用)：超级单垫片、计量和低泄漏。扩大规模将涉及阀门和试生产模具的进一步设计和开发，以确保阀门可以按全球MKT要求的水平批量生产。随着全球气雾剂阀门MKT已经成为6.17亿美元的行业，以及环保和安全消费产品的重要政策驱动因素，Eco-Value的开发提供了一个重要的商机，MKT预计将于2015年第四季度进入

Liquefied petroleum gas is the most popular aerosol propellant c.84% of global mkt, howeverit is unsustainable as it extracted from depleting, non-renewable resources (natural gas & oil);contributes substantially to VOC emissions; & it is highly explosive & flammable & thussurrounded by H&S regulations which drive up the cost of all associated activities.Compressed inert gas (air or nitrogen) is an alternative aerosol propellant offering majoradvantages over LPGs: renewable resource,non-explosive/flammable, H&S regulations nolonger apply therefore lower life cycle cost. However, its use is limited when used inconjunction with a standard aerosol valve: the pressure in the can drops as product is used &thus spray characteristics deteriorate (unacceptable variations in particle size & dischargeflow rates). To address this issue, The Salford Valve Company has developed & patented, atlab scale, a unique suite of aerosol valves ‘Eco-valve’, which enable a standard aerosol tofunction effectively using a compressed gas propellant without the need for specialisttechnology. Advantages include: excellent spray characteristics over lifecycle of the can; stepchange in performance compared to current technology; standard filling technique&components & can be fitted to a standard can; suitable for all applications & industry sectorsincl. metered & continuous flow.The company now seek to advance 3 Eco-valve types from bench top to pre-productionprototype (applicable to c.90% of aerosol applications): Super Single Gasket, Metered & LowLoss. Scale up will involve further design & development of the valves & pre-productionmoulds to ensure the valves can be mass produced at levels demanded by the global mkt.With the global aerosol valve mkt already a $617M industry & with significant policy driversfor environmentally friendly & safe consumer products, the development of the Eco-valverepresents a major business opportunity, with mkt entry expected in Q4 2015