March 22

This months newsletter announces Silicone Expo's latest show news, industry and exhibitor
news, exhibitor spotlight, and product showcases.

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Welcoming our latest show exhibitors, supporters, conference speakers and Silicone Expo's new
co-located show, Tape & Functional Film Expo.

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We're excited to share a selection of our latest conference speakers.
With 35 speakers finalized, the Silicone Expo USA conference is coming together nicely.

The agenda at a glance will be released on April 7th.

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Introducing Tape & Functional Film Expo co-locating with Silicone Expo USA and
Europe starting 2023.

Tape & Functional Film Expo is the first dedicated exhibition and conference for the industrial Tape & Functional Film industries within Europe and North America. Given the crossover and relevance, Silicone Expo is the perfect show to be co-located with.

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Founding exhibitors & supporters

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READ PRESS RELEASE


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Meet Silicone Expo Advisory Board Member Randal Hill of Kodiakhill Consulting LLC.
A silicone expert with a desire to educate and mentor young scientists following his successes innovating the silicone industry.

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Featuring USA exhibitor, Uniquechem Solutions who specialise in chemical distribution with a focus on Silicone chemistry including Siloxanes, Silanes and Silane Terminated Polyethers.

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Uniquechem Solutions Inc– a specialty chemical distribution company aiming to improve your supply of key raw materials through connections, transparency, and quality.   With the current state of the Global supply of Silicone materials we strive to provide multiple manufacturing partners, providing complete transparency to the manufacturing source. Our goal is to over communicate with our partners, customers and manufacturers, to ensure our business ecosystem can plan and deliver on their individual business goals.

We work with customers across North America and the Globe. They manufacture key materials for the Construction, Automotive, Aerospace and DIY markets. These include manufacturers of Adhesives, Specialty Coatings, Spray Foams, Gypsum, Insulation, Rubber, Tires, Plastics and Composites and Surface modified materials.

Our raw material product offering includes UNISIL - Siloxanes, UNISIL - Silanes, UNISIL STP Silane Terminated Polyether’s (STPE/SPURS), UNISIL FS - Fumed Silica, UNISURF PPG series, UNICAT – Catalyst and UNIPLAST – Plasticizers.

We look forward to meeting you at the Silicone Expo USA, join us at Booth 351.


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Showcasing European Exhibitor Teufel Prototypen and their silicone fish for converting machines, and US exhibitor ENTEX Rust & Mitschke GmbH and their Planetary Roller Extruder.



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The silicone fishes are used as dummies for a converting machine to avoid food waste during development.

Die Silikonfische werden als Testdummies für eine Zerlegemaschine eingesetzt, um bei der Entwicklung die Verschwendung von Lebensmitteln zu vermeiden.

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More and more silicone manufacturers rely on the process principle of the ENTEX planetary roller extruder (PRE). Its modularity enables all process steps of silicone production.

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Figure: Modular configurable universal laboratory extruder L-WE 70-M4

Quick reaching of target viscosities

During silicone production, two or more basic components with very different viscosities are mixed together among other processes.

The PRE ensures optimum results here thanks to the special geometry of its mixing chamber and its mode of operation based on the principle of a continuous rolling mill. Depending on the size, up to 48 kneading gaps are possible – this equals approximately 50 individual working cycles on a classic 2- roller mill, which is traditionally used in the silicone sector.

Optimum dwell time control

That is what matters: The modular design with effectively separate process zones as well as tight temperature control enables good dwell time control for the reactive linking of large filler volumes.

The mixing in of low bulk density fillers is possible without any problems.

A head start through reactive extrusion processes

Unique: An internal exchange surface up to 10 times higher than, for example, conventional mixing units like twin-screw extruders, makes the PWE ideally suited for chemical reactions. Reactants can also react well on short process routes. The crucial factor here is the geometry of the system with the rotating planetary spindles.

Degassing at the highest level

Fission products and other volatile substances from the reaction can be evacuated efficiently. The PRE can constitute process zones with a vacuum of less than 1 mbar to efficiently degas the extrudate. This is, for instance, how storability is achieved in the first place because no fission products remain that could lead to further reactions. In addition, odors and possible toxic gases are removed, thus making a valuable contribution to quality assurance and increasing occupational safety. This is made possible by a self-contained continuous manufacturing process in the PRE, which replaces the batch process still often used in silicone production.

Individual solutions that convince

Depending on the customer's requirements, additives, coloring by liquid injection or solids can be introduced into the process via a gravimetric dosing system with coupled side feeders. “Due to its modularity, the PRE offers very high flexibility and can be adapted to the individual needs of customers and their processes,” Dr. Thomas Birr summarized.

Conclusion: Everything is perfectly coordinated

On the whole, compounding silicone with the planetary roller extruder creates the possibility of producing silicones – on an industrial scale with up to several tons per hour – in a continuous process with consistent first-class quality at a very high degree of automation and high occupational safety.

ENTEX is continuously expanding its expertise in the compounding of silicone with the planetary roller extruder and offers an attractive ROI due to the advantages mentioned.



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                        Minnesota Rubber and Plastics Acquires Primasil Silicones Ltd.


Minnesota Rubber and Plastics (MRP), announces its acquisition of Primasil Silicones Ltd., a UK-based custom silicone rubber compounder, mixer, and manufacturer specializing in the medical, HVAC, and specialty industrial end markets.


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Jay Ward, CEO of MRP shared his excitement “We're thrilled to add Primasil, a company with four decades of silicone materials science expertise, to our family. Primasil's custom material formulation, mixing, and molding expertise will complement Minnesota Rubber and Plastic’s renowned materials science and molding capabilities. It will also provide a wide variety of new solutions for our clients.”


German chemical supplier, Wacker Chemie reports record breaking sales in 2021, with all-time high for sales and earnings.

Wacker stated its silicones business reported 16% higher year-on-year sales at €2.60 billion. The increase was attributable to higher selling prices, volume growth and product-mix effects.

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