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(LANXESS) -- Substantial amounts of
hydrocarbons leak through the walls of plastic fuel tanks in gasoline engines to
the outside and pollute the atmosphere – a phenomenon known as permeation.
Lanxess is therefore working on special blow-moldable grades of polyamide 6
that act as an extremely effective barrier against gasoline fuels. One example
of such a material is Durethan TP 142-011. “The polyamide 6 is so effective in
suppressing fuel permeation that test results are well below the upper limit for
motorcycle tanks, which was recently tightened considerably by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is also impact-resistant, a quality it
lends to the blow-molded tanks it is used to make,” said Maik Schulte, a
development engineer at LANXESS. The material is an especially good alternative
to high-density polyethylene, which has been used to make
many plastic tanks for gasoline engines until now. It also has considerable
advantages over other tank materials, such as aluminum, sheet steel and
multi-layer plastic composites.
mrcplast.com
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