CPT International 02/2021

NEWS
WATER-BASED COATINGS
Controlling formaldehyde emissions with Semco FF
Environmental sustainability is high on
everyone’s agenda. Foseco is committed
to set the benchmark for sustainability
in the foundry industry, complying
with new, more stringent and
revised regulations –and supporting its
customers to do the same.
The new Semco FFrange of water-based
coatings clearly demonstrates this
commitment. Designed to reduce evolved
formaldehyde emissions, these coatings
support foundries’ compliance
with the latest EU regulations.
Water-based coatings are amore
environmentally-friendly alternative to
solvent-based coatings, but this brings
new challenges, most notably the
susceptibility of water-based coatings to
attack by microorganisms such as bacteria
and fungi. These microorganisms can
negatively influence the performance
of the coating and even lead to health
issues amongst operators. To protect
against microorganisms, biocides are
built into the formulation of water-based
coatings. Typically, these biocides
provide aslow release of formaldehyde,
which isaneffective antibacterial and
antifungal agent. However, inmany
regions, formaldehyde is classified as a
potential carcinogen and mutagen. In
this context, the EU has recently tightened
its regulations to reduce airborne
With the help of acolor change, the coating can indicate that the coating is dry.
mass concentration limits of formaldehyde.
Semco FF coatings do not use
biocides that release formaldehyde,
especially within the coating drying
process, when emissions are most concentrated.
They therefore support
foundries in complying with the new
regulations and avoid the need for costlier
and more complicated investments
in new orupgraded gas treatment systems.
Inaddition to cutting formaldehyde
emissions, these coatings can be
specified to incorporate colour change
on drying technology. This allows operators
to easily see when coatings are
dry, enabling the optimization of drying
cycles and energy consumption. This not
only reduces costs but also the carbon
footprint of foundry operations.
The new coatings come with the existing
beneficial properties and performance
of the Semco SIL coating range,
including afast drying process, reduced
energy consumption and VOC, improved
foundry efficiency and CO 2
emission
reduction.
www.foseco.com
Photo: Foseco
GEORG FISCHER
Good result in challenging times
The Georg Fischer Corporation took
stock of the Corona 2020 financial year
at the beginning of March. Sales fell by
14.4 percent to the equivalent of 2.8
billion euros. Net profit amounted to
105 million euros. However, Georg
Fischer views the result positively in
view of the ongoing pandemic and
believes it is still in aposition to master
the crisis with its strategic positioning,
financial stability and focus on innovation.
The operating result ofthe GF
Casting Solutions division showed a
loss.
All employees, whether in production,
logistics or administration, quickly
adapted to the new situation, a GF
media release said. They demonstrated
their flexibility by adapting to challenging
working conditions and adopting
new digital tools. The Corporation
reported asignificantly better result in
the second half of2020 than in the first.
At the end of 2020, GF had 14,118
employees working in the three divisions
GF Piping Solutions, GF Casting
Solutions and GFMachining Solutions
compared to 14,678 employees in the
previous year. The biggest changes took
place at GFCasting Solutions due to the
strategic transformation of the division.
Based on the net profit of around 105
million euros (2019: 157 million euros)
in 2020 and the good positioning of the
Corporation, adividend payment is still
planned.
GF is continuously shifting its focus
to less cyclical market segments, thus
increasing its resilience to cyclical fluctuations.
All three divisions are responding
to the challenges of global megatrends,
it says. These include providing
clean water to agrowing world population,
lighter automotive components to
reduce CO 2
emissions, and high-precision
components to reduce energy
consumption.
At GF Casting Solutions, 2020 continued
the evolution into aglobal company
with international production sites
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