Time for a New Look at Liquid Color?
Liquid colorants are growing more popular with processors looking for a competitive advantage. Though perhaps not for everyone, they can offer more economical letdown ratios and work especially well with heat-sensitive materials.
Gaining a competitive advantage has always been top-of-mind for plastics processors, and interest in one such solution has recently spiked. A growing number of processors are considering liquid colorants to take advantage of their potential to improve overall production efficiencies while reducing the total coloring cost.
Liquid color has seen its popularity rise before. So what is the reality behind the claims for this type of product? Are liquid color concentrates really a silver bullet that offers all upside with no drawbacks? Is liquid color the right solution for every application?
First, let’s define our subject: Liquid color concentrates are free flowing pre-dispersions of pigments in carriers that are compatible with the base resin being processed. They are most commonly produced using one of two methods.
The first and simplest method involves mixing base pigments in a liquid carrier with a high-speed mixer (think of a kitchen blender on steroids) to achieve the desired color. Additives are often used to minimize the tendency of the pigment to settle out of suspension. The suspension may also require agitation just prior to use to ensure good color consistency in production.
The second method involves milling or breaking down the pigments to very fine particles (think of a high-tech mortar and pestle), then dispersing the color into the liquid carrier. This method is recommended when working with organic colorants and achieves the best color dispersion possible while increasing shelf stability.
The use of liquid color concentrate requires equipment to meter and pump the material from its storage container into the process to be mixed with the resin material. There are various ways to accomplish this, ranging from simple volumetric systems using peristaltic pumps to more sophisticated and highly accurate gravimetric (loss-in-weight) systems employing computer-controlled metering. Whatever method is used, it is important to note that liquid color will require additional equipment to deploy the liquid into your system.
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