BASF One of Eight Companies Honored by Society of Manufacturing Engineers
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Micronal® phase-change materials named to list of "Innovations That Could Change the Way You Manufacture"
CHARLOTTE, NC, August 18, 2010 -- BASF's Micronal® phase-change material
(PCM) technology was recently named by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), Dearborn, Michigan, as one of eight "Innovations That Could Change the Way You Manufacture."
Micronal PCM is a microencapsulation technology for interior building materials, such as plaster boards and gypsum boards, that reduces energy costs and increases room comfort. It applies an established technique used in space exploration technology for interior temperature management in buildings.
Polymeric capsules are filled with a wax that absorbs and releases energy by melting and solidifying. When integrated within an interior plaster or plasterboard wall, the capsules increase the thermal capacity of the material and act to dampen temperature swings.
As a result, buildings constructed with Micronal modified plaster materials provide greater comfort for the occupants, and reduce air conditioning system energy needs by up to one-third, depending on the overall design of the construction.
Sridhar Iyer, PhD., Technical Advisor, Construction, for BASF in North America, represented the company at the SME awards ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, in June. Iyer and Mike Guibault, Business Manager, Construction, for BASF in North America, have been promoting the use of PCM in construction materials to help keep homes more temperate, reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, and decrease home energy costs.
"The majority of construction projects in the United States use lightweight building materials that lack adequate thermal mass. As a result, in the summer months, heat diffuses quickly into the interiors, and indoor temperature needs to be regulated via the use of air conditioners. PCMs offer an energy-efficient solution to achieve comfortable living conditions with intelligent temperature management," Guibault said.
BASF has already achieved notable commercial success in the United States with the launch of the ThermalCORE(TM) wallboard by National Gypsum ( www.thermalcore.info).
SME's Innovation Watch Committee compiles an annual list of "eight game-changing innovations," and its members serve as "innovation researchers" who seek and publish information about technology such as PCM.
A list of this year's award winners is available at http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/get-press.pl?&&20100032&PR&&SME&.
For more information contact:
John C. Schmidt
BASF Corporation
Tel: (973) 245-6405
E-mail: john.schmidt@basf.com
BASF - The Chemical Company.
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has approximately 16,000 employees in North America, and had sales of $13 billion in 2009. For more information about BASF's North American operations, or to sign up to receive news releases by e-mail, visit www.basf.us.
BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals and oil and gas. As a reliable partner, BASF creates chemistry to help its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges, such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than 50 billion in 2009 and had approximately 105,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.
