blog – Chroma Color Corporation

Chroma Color® Expands Footprint with West Coast acquisition of Spectra Color

chromacolorstg on December 20, 2024

Chroma Color and Spectra Color logos

<12/20/2024>, McHenry, IL: Chroma Color Corporation (“Chroma Color®” or “Chroma”) continues to grow its manufacturing footprint along with its portfolio of colorant and additive technologies with its recent acquisition of Spectra Color, Inc. (“Spectra Color” or “Spectra”) a custom manufacturer of colorants and pre-colored resin compounds. Spectra also manufactures a proprietary resin primarily made from linear low-density polyethylene, predominantly used in the rotational molding industry.

Located in Corona, California, Spectra is a leading provider of masterbatch and color-matching services with custom blending capabilities. Founded in 1976, they have supplied the plastic industry with high quality thermoplastic compounds, colorants, additives, and value-added resins for over 45 years. Spectra serves diverse end-markets, including medical, healthcare, agriculture, consumer products, among others.

Spectra CEO, Bob Shedd, said, “We are thrilled to join forces with Chroma Color. Chroma’s strong market reputation and shared vision for the business make this partnership a perfect fit. By combining our technological expertise, we can deliver a powerful competitive advantage, enhance performance, and create even greater value for our customers.”

“Chroma Color® is dedicated to driving growth through both organic initiatives and inorganic growth opportunities. The acquisition of Spectra Color underscores our commitment to expanding our geographic reach and enhancing our product offerings to better serve our customers,” stated Joe Herres, Chroma Color Corporation, CEO. “The entire team is fully prepared to support Spectra’s customers during this transition, and we are confident they will experience significant value from Chroma’s extensive capabilities and resources.”

Chroma Color®:

Chroma Color Corporation is a leading specialty color and additive concentrate supplier serving diverse markets, including wire and cable, packaging, healthcare, pharmaceutical, consumer products, among others. Chroma Color’s growth strategy includes a deep focus on organic growth as well as inorganic growth through several strategic acquisitions over recent years. Chroma’s extensive technical leadership and manufacturing expertise, coupled with its market-leading colorant, has delivered high value to customers for more than 50 years. chromacolors.com

The Power of G2 Color Concentrates for Large Plastic Molded Parts: A Game-Changer for Construction, Utilities, and Material Handling Markets

chromacolorstg on August 26, 2024

Chroma Color G2 for large construction products

In the world of construction, utilities, and material handling efficiency, durability, and cost-effectiveness are paramount. Chroma Color Corporation’s G2 color concentrates have emerged as a game-changer, providing a solution that not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of large -molded parts but also significantly reduces overall costs.

Unmatched Effectiveness

G2 color concentrates are designed to deliver superior performance in large-scale molding applications. Their advanced formulation ensures consistent and vibrant colors, enhancing the visual appeal of products ranging from construction equipment to safety gear and utility components. The high pigment load in G2 concentrates ensures excellent color strength and uniformity, even in the most demanding applications.

Chroma Color UV additives

In addition, Chroma Color’s G2 color concentrates can be enhanced with UV additives, providing superior protection against the harmful effects of UV rays from the sun. This added UV stability ensures that colors remain vibrant and do not degrade quickly, extending the lifespan and aesthetic appeal of large -molded parts used in outdoor environments.

Cost Efficiency

One of the standout features of G2 color concentrates is their ability to lower overall production costs. The concentrates are engineered for high dispersibility, meaning they blend seamlessly into various polymers, reducing the amount of colorant needed. This efficiency translates into cost savings on raw materials.

Additionally, G2 concentrates:

Minimizes the need for frequent color adjustments,
Reduces downtime
Enhances production efficiency.

Versatility Across Markets

Chroma Color G2 for Material handling products

Chroma Color’s G2 concentrates are versatile and adaptable, making them ideal for the diverse needs of the construction, safety, and utilities markets. In construction, they are used to mold durable and visually appealing components like pipes, fittings, and housing materials. The safety industry benefits from the high visibility and durability of G2-colored safety gear, ensuring compliance with safety standards while maintaining cost-effectiveness. In utilities, the concentrates contribute to the production of robust and reliable parts such as electrical enclosures and water management systems.

Environmental Benefits

Beyond cost and performance, G2 color concentrates align with sustainability goals. Chroma Color is committed to environmentally responsible manufacturing practices, and G2 concentrates are formulated to minimize waste and energy consumption during production. This eco-friendly approach not only benefits the environment but also appeals to companies striving to meet their sustainability targets.

Conclusion

Chroma Color Corporation’s G2 color concentrates are a testament to innovation in the field of large-scale molding. Their effectiveness, cost efficiency, versatility, and environmental benefits make them an invaluable asset in the construction, safety, and utilities markets. By choosing G2 concentrates, manufacturers can enhance their product offerings, streamline production processes, and contribute to a more sustainable future. Learn more at https://chromacolors.com/products/g-series/

Essential Guide to Color Concentrates

chromacolorstg on June 4, 2024

According to a report authored by Research Nester, the global color concentrate market will achieve a 7% CAGR during the 10 year-period of 2017-2027. This growth will lead to a projected market value of $6.5 Bn by 2027. The growing demand originates from various end-use industries including consumer goods, packaging, construction, and automotive. The packaging industry sub-segment continues to lead the growth demand for color concentrates.

https://www.researchnester.com/reports/color-concentrates-market/1149

What Are Color Concentrates?

Historically the most common form of Color Concentrates (a.k.a. masterbatches) are colored plastic pellets. These concentrated colored pellets are typically built to contain 15-50% of specially selected pigments and additives. The remainder of the recipe is a blend of carrier resin, process aids and binders to support consistency within the virgin base resin.

The initial consideration when designing a plastic component is ensuring the base resin AND the color concentrate are suitable for the selected forming process. Common process examples include injection mold, blow mold, injection stretch blow, compression mold and extrusion.

Why?

Each process example will introduce different performance stresses. For example, during the injection molding process the selected resins, pigments, dyes, and additives must withstand extreme thermal heat, along with increased shear heat generated as the molten material is injected into the mold.

The combined Resin/Color Concentrate blend must also be suitable for its environment. It might need additives to screen out ultra-violet rays, or antioxidants and other stabilizers to protect against polymer degradation, which can lead to discoloration and product failure.

Alternate Path… 100% Pre-Color Compound

Although not largely used, 100% Pre-Color Compound is considered the easiest path to achieve a colored plastic component. Pre-Color Compound provides the desired end-use color already incorporated within the base resin. This eliminates the need for material blending on the production floor. Pre-Color is often used for very small-size molded components, as the 100% use rate eliminates potential part-to-part color variation.

However, this convenience comes at a very high overall cost and often requires keeping considerable inventory on-hand due to typical industry minimum order requirements. Even with good forecasting, there is a looming threat a program reaches the end of its sales cycle before the pre-color compound inventory is fully depleted.

Color Concentrate Technology Options

The two most widely available choices for Color Concentrates (masterbatches) are either Pellet or Liquid delivery systems. The question for processors becomes, which is the better option?

Both technologies provide different advantages and challenges. Below is a brief overview of both liquid and traditional pellet options, followed by the introduction of new pelletized color technology solutions.

Liquid vs Pellet

LIQUID Colorant for manufacturing plastic products:

Advantages:

Effective at extremely low use rates, best suited for tints
Less heat history than pellet concentrates
Coloring costs can be lower than conventional pellet color

Challenges:

Specialized pumps are required
Several pigment and additive limitations
Production interruptions caused by container changeover
Screw slippage at high use rates, particularly with opaque and pearl
Limited application with engineered polymers
Not suitable for extrusion blow molding of HDPE bottles
Increased housekeeping issues related to spill cleanup and special storage of dedicated hoses
Limited shelf life due to product separation, leading to increased costs and wasted color
Issues with sustainability due to wasted/residual product and packaging that often requires landfill disposal which is a hidden additional cost

Plastics Technology Article

PELLET Colorant for manufacturing plastic parts and products:

Advantages

Pellets are easy to handle and can be dosed accurately through readily available volumetric and gravimetric feeding systems
Excellent dispersion
Reduced housekeeping and maintenance

Challenges

Conventional pellet colorants are typically more costly than liquid colorant due to high let down ratios (LDR)

Ideally, a winning program requires a colorant format that provides all the Advantages… without any of the Challenges.

Chroma Color G Series

Introducing Chroma Color Corporation’s patented G-Series technologies.

Chroma’s G2^®, UltraPET^TM and G3^® technologies provide vibrant, long-lasting colors essential to meet end-user demands within a convenient Pellet format at the price point in-line with Liquid.

Chroma Color G-Series

Key Attributes of G2^® Color Include:

Patented carrier system technology
G2^® provides substantial Cost-to-Color savings
Highest loadings of Organic and Pearlescent Pigments in the industry
Highest loadings of UV and AO custom colors in the industry
G2^® can provide greater than 10% cycle-time reduction
Reduced environmental impact, resulting from a decrease in production energy, packaging materials, and CO₂ emissions

Chroma Color Transparent

Chroma Color’s G Series for Packaging Applications

Key attributes of UltraPET^®

Color Include:

Innovative proprietary carrier system
UltraPET® technology allows for component processing at much lower temperature than conventional PET pellet concentrates. Lower process temperatures enable molders to significantly reduce potential heat stress on the pigments and dyes
UltraPET® offers exceptionally high loadings of Pigments and Dyes, allowing processors significant economic benefits from low use rates
The extremely low use rates (LDR) provided by UltraPET™ can often eliminate the need for drying and recrystallization common in conventional PET pellet concentrates
UltraPET® concentrates are available in Mini-Beads for applications sensitive to color dispersion, particularly low-level Tints. Mini-Beads provide higher pellets/gram, increasing pellet distribution, promoting faster incorporation rates, leading to improved color dispersion
UltraPET® concentrates are resistant to alcohol and can be formulated in both non-FDA and FDA compliant packages
UltraPET® pellet concentrates reduce housekeeping costs compared to the difficulties associated with liquid color
NEW – Chroma Color innovation has developed a unique UltraPET® explicitly designed for use with recycled materials. UltraPET PCR allows brand owners to further increase the levels of PET PCR within their package, supporting increased Sustainability Goals.

Key attributes of G3^® Color Include:

Patented manufacturing process technology
G3^® manufacturing process can be utilized across all major polymers AND carrier systems (standard, G2^® or UltraPET™) providing processors the ultimate cost-to-color savings opportunity
G3^® achieves a further 20% (or more) increased pigment loading levels in polyethylene and polypropylene – without compromising pigment dispersion
G3^® offers formulations with 40-45% loading of dyes in HIPs, PET, Nylon, Crystal Styrene and Acrylic
G3^® offers formulations with 50+% pearlescent pigment loadings, nearly doubling the historical industry standard of ~30%

Summary:

As your team reviews various color concentrate options or establishes new performance standards for your plastic products, turn to a trusted colorant supplier to guide you through the process. Chroma Color Corporation can support your successful product launch, with easy processing, and adherence to all environmental and regulatory requirements… using unique patented technologies that enhance aggressive cost conscience programs.

About Chroma Color:

Chroma Color Corporation is a technology-leading specialty color and additive masterbatch supplier delivering critical aesthetics, technical innovations, and sustainable solutions to plastics processors and brand owners. Chroma Color’s growth strategy includes robust organic and inorganic growth and having made six acquisitions over the last three years. Chroma’s extensive technical leadership and manufacturing expertise, coupled with its game-changing colorant and light management technologies, have delighted customers for over 50 years. https://chromacolors.com/

Jennifer Presnell, Quality & Regulatory Affairs, one of the distinguished winners of the Plastics News Sustainability Leaders Award

chromacolorstg on December 18, 2023

Chroma Color Notable Leaders In Sustainability Jennifer Presnell

The leadership team at Chroma Color Corporation is delighted to announce the recognition of Jennifer Presnell, Quality & Regulatory Affairs, as one of the distinguished winners of the Plastics News Sustainability Leaders in the Plastics Industry award! To qualify for this award, nominees must lead sustainability initiatives at their organization and make a measurable impact on the environment through their efforts. They must also demonstrate leadership through involvement in professional organizations and civic and community initiatives.

Jim Walsh, VP of Technologies at Chroma Color, remarked, “We are pleased that Plastics News acknowledges the efforts of individuals contributing to the sustainability of plastics companies. Our entire Chroma Color team has been diligently working towards becoming a reliable sustainable partner for our customers, with Jennifer at the forefront of our initiatives. This year, we witnessed the tangible outcomes of her dedication as we progressed from an EcoVadis Bronze medal to a Silver Medal in 2023, which is why she earned our nomination.”

In emphasizing the importance of responsibility and education, Jennifer stated, “We must be accountable for our actions and strive to educate ourselves, our customers, and the communities we serve for a better collective future. Progress is achieved one step at a time, building on each improvement.” She expressed pride in rallying the company management and employees to establish their sustainability program, which, despite being in its early stages, has already secured an EcoVadis Silver Medal. With ongoing efforts and active projects, the company is committed to reaching its sustainability goals while prioritizing the well-being of its employees and the broader community.

The Chroma Color team extends heartfelt congratulations to Jennifer, expressing gratitude for her steadfast commitment to steering the company towards a more sustainable future.

Click here learn more about Chroma Color’s sustainability efforts: https://chromacolors.com/sustainability-2/

#colorconcentrates #plastics #sustainability #plasticsnews #quality #regulatory #ChromaColor

Chroma Color Announces Award of the Silver Rating from EcoVadis for 2023

chromacolorstg on May 31, 2023

Chroma Color Corporation is proud to announce our recent award of the Silver rating from EcoVadis for 2023. Chroma Color joins tens of thousands of companies that partner with EcoVadis to collaborate on sustainability with a common platform, universal scorecard, benchmarks, and performance improvement tools.

A silver rating from EcoVadis demonstrates Chroma Color’s strong sustainability practices and measurements to reduce the company’s environmental impact, promote social responsibility, and ensure ethical business practices. It also signifies we are making significant efforts to integrate sustainability into our operations.

“After receiving the Bronze award last year for the beginning stages of our program, the Chroma Color team worked together to implement more policies, programs and improvements reflective of a solid ESG program that we are building. We implemented programs to become more cognizant of the use of our resources such as, reduction of water usage, improving air quality, reuse of scrap materials, and reduction of electricity usage. We will continue to identify additional areas where we can reduce our carbon footprint and become more socially mindful and responsible as it is the right and good thing to do for all of us and our future,” stated Jennifer Presnell, Chroma Color’s Corporate Quality & Regulatory Manager.

“The senior leadership team is very proud of our company and its ability to
make changes within our organization to earn a Silver award in 2023. As Chroma Color moves forward, our team will continue to focus on driving measurable improvements in each area,” stated Joe Herres, CEO, Chroma Color.

About

Chroma Color Corporation is a leading specialty color concentrate supplier serving diverse markets, including wire and cable, packaging, healthcare, pharmaceutical, consumer products, and others. With the recent acquisition of Epolin, Chroma is also the recognized leader in the near-infra-red (NIR) absorptive dye industry, producing proprietary blends to suit the eye protection and light management sectors.

D6 Lowers Cost and Improves Retail Shelf Appearance with Support from Chroma Color’s Technical Team

chromacolorstg on September 15, 2022

D6 Inc., founded in 2014, has become the fastest design-to-shelf packaging manufacturer globally by transforming the packaging industry through transparency in the recycling chain.

D6 has a solid network for a circular economy that takes waste and diverts it from landfills and up-cycles it into new containers, parts, and other products that go into consumers’ households or added to retail shelves. In addition, D6’s PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled Content) meets food-grade requirements and can create other kind of products.

The Challenge

One well-known fact for brands using recycled materials…they can have a slight gray tint, black spec, or other minor blemishes that can impact the look on shelves. To eliminate any negative perception from consumers, D6 reached out to Chroma Color Corporation for a solution. D6 chose a slight blue tint color concentrate to help the PCR thermoformed clamshell products look great on the shelves.

D6 was pleased with the results, but after some discussion, they wanted to see if Chroma Color could meet some new goals:

Reduce cost through lower let-down ratios
A lower amount of inventory needed to have on hand for production
A reduction in overall Labor cost
Lower transportation cost and carbon footprint
Lessen the overall environmental impact of the products produced

The Solution

Chroma Color’s technical team evaluated the current situation. They recommended the company’s environmentally friendly G-Series after some discussion and analysis.

By making the switch over to the G-Series for use with PCR, D6 was able to:

Produce PCR package that still looks great on retail shelves
Reduce production cost by lowering let-down rates by 1/3
Process products at a much lower temperature, thus decreasing overall energy cost
Lower freight cost by 1/3 due to smaller shipments sizes
Use less color concentrate
Reduce labor costs during shipping and processing
Lower some warehouse storage needs
This extra warehouse space could also provide for excess inventory during times of short supplies
Lower carbon footprint

Summary

By switching to the G-Series for PCR, D6 reduced cost, made the production of their containers simpler, and lowered their carbon footprint.

“D6 appreciated the time and effort of the Chroma Color Sales and Technical team to help us find a better solution for our PCR products,” stated Edward Dominion, Founder & CEO, D6 INC. “We now have a great PCR product to sell to our customers that looks great on the shelf, lowers our cost while offering additional sustainable benefits.”

To learn more about D6; https://d6inc.com/.

To learn more about Chroma Color G Series for PCR and other sustainable options

CLICK HERE

Chroma Color Announces Integration of Delaware, OH Facility into Other Manufacturing Sites

chromacolorstg on August 23, 2022

McHenry, IL: As Chroma Color Corporation has been successfully navigating the global crises, senior leadership has been improving the business and improving the way they serve their valued customers. Chroma has made significant progress in stabilizing its supply chain, optimizing manufacturing operations, shortening lead times, improving service to customers, and delivering on its “Drive to Zero” safety program.

Chroma Color‘s decision to establish Manufacturing Centers of Excellence was accompanied by significant investments in personnel, capital equipment, and business management systems that are designed to enhance their ability to seamlessly migrate production across manufacturing sites that are best suited for specific resins, markets, technologies, and regulatory compliance. These transformative changes have also created flexible capacity and agility in Chroma’s operations resulting in faster responsiveness and deeper connectivity to their customers and is reported to have already contributed to a greatly improved customer experience. With these improvements and capacity expansions through capital investments, the decision was made to transfer assets and absorb existing production into Chroma Color’s other manufacturing sites and cease operations at their smallest site located in Delaware, Ohio.

Chroma Color’s Senior Leadership Team notified Delaware, Ohio employees today that operations at the facility will cease later this year as assets and current production are integrated into its other Manufacturing Centers of Excellence located in Salisbury, NC; Asheboro, NC; Leominster, MA; Lambertville, NJ; Newark, NJ and McHenry, IL. It is expected that production in Delaware will end in late October with the facility fully closing by year-end.

We want to thank our Delaware employees for their years of service and are hopeful that as many of them as possible will transfer to open Chroma positions at other locations. For those who cannot, transition assistance will be provided. These are always difficult decisions and we do not make them without careful deliberation. Our goal is to ensure we are honoring our employees and our customers in the transition process. In addition to offering assistance to our affected employees at the site, we have established a focused support team to ensure a seamless transition for our valued customers, many of whom already have working relationships with the other Chroma locations where work is being transferred. Our sales team will be reviewing the detailed plans with our customers to ensure the transition is smooth and seamless. We are confident that this change will enhance our ability to serve our customers with excellence.

Questions can be sent to www.chromacolors.com/contact-us.

Chroma Color Corporation is Proud Supporter of the Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Advanced Technology Center

chromacolorstg on June 27, 2022

. Rowan Cabarrus Chroma Color

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Advanced Technology Center located at the North Carolina Research Campus is 55,000-square-foot state-of-the-art, adaptable labs and classrooms designed to meet industry growth for the next 50 years. A large flex lab on the ground floor provides space for industry partners to collaborate and innovate.

Programs at the ATC emphasize robotics, engineering and advanced technology, and the building even features a roving robot in the lobby area to welcome visitors, give directions and answer questions. Programs offered at the allow students to earn degrees, diplomas, industry-recognized certifications, and company-specific process training.

From Chroma Color’s leadership point of view, it is essential for us to continue to contribute to these local educational programs. As the workplace continues to evolve and adapt, the partnership with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is one way employers can leverage an excellent resource to stay abreast of and prepared for future trends.

For more information:

https://www.rccc.edu/

https://chromacolors.com/

Understanding Color 101

chromacolorstg on June 19, 2022

What is Color?

Color is a phenomenon so rich and complex in scope that it touches all human activity.

It is the attribute of visual sensation or, by extension, an object or light that can be described by such terms as red, green, blue, yellow, white, black, etc.

Color is as common in our environment as the air we breathe, in fact, it is so prevalent that we are not always aware of just how much we depend on it.

The Color Challenge

Color is much more than something physical. Color is what we see, the result of a physical modification of light by colorants as observed by the human eye and interpreted by the brain. This is an enormously complicated train of events.

With a basic understanding of color in the broad sense, we can approach some commercial problems involving color.

These problems are concerned with answering such questions as:

Does the sample match the one we made last week?
Do these two colors match?
What pigments do I use to produce a match to the target?
What pigments will perform satisfactorily in this process?

Subjective or Objective

Traditionally, questions like these and others have only subjective answers, based upon the skills and knowledge of the trained color matcher. As everything evolves, so has the art and science of color technology.
Color computers and software are being perfected, and higher quality training is available. Some universities now offer polymer science courses with color matching and processing. In the past, these skills were learned on the job by trial and error.

Color vision in humans is based on the additive color theory. This theory states that all perceivable colors can be made by mixing different amounts of red, green, and blue light, the primary colors of the additive color system. … The three additive primaries are at the center.

Subtractive color mixing is the kind of mixing you get if you illuminate colored filters with white light from behind, as illustrated at above.

The commonly used subtractive primary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow, and if you overlap all three in effectively equal mixture, all the light is subtracted giving black.

Color The Challenge:

It can be complex, elusive, powerful, fickle, and demanding.
Our Challenge is to control it, and to achieve consistent quality.
It stirs emotions, starts arguments, and sells products.
To respond to our customers quickly; producing products in an efficient manner that allows our customer to keep their product costs in line without sacrificing quality or consistency.

Light Source- Consistency is Critical

The color you see is also affected by the type of light source.

Artificial lighting comes in a variety of colors:
Illuminant A-tungsten, a red/yellow light source.
D-65 & Cool White Fluorescent, blue/green light, closest to noonday sun.
Normal Incandescent, a very yellow light.

These light sources were designed to bring consistency into color matching, and to accentuate the color of a product on display.

Metamerism – A Phenomenon

A term used in the color industry for the phenomenon exhibited by two surfaces/samples/targets that appear to be the same color under one light source (e.g. Daylight), but which do not match in color when viewed under a different light source (e.g. Incandescent).

Today’s color computer software provides the color matcher with tools to minimize metamerism and arrive at formulations that offer an acceptable match under a variety of lighting conditions.

Guide To Mixing Colors

Additive Mixing occurs when colored lights are superimposed to achieve a different color.

If the three primary additive colors (red, green, blue) are mixed evenly, white light is achieved. There is no black or gray in additive mixing. A color television screen is an example of additive mixing.

Subtractive Mixing is the most common type of color mixing. This occurs when pigments and dyes are mixed to achieve an object color.

If the three primary subtractive colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) are mixed evenly, all light is subtracted, producing black. Opaque objects are examples of subtractive mixing. The plastic industry works in this area.

Colorant Terminology

Because colors can evoke an emotional response, colors are often described in subjective terms such as “warm” or “bold” or “peachy”, which leads to confusion when people who work with color talk to each other.

Subjective Terms Often Used to Describe Color

“Make it Warmer”

“Make it Cooler/Colder”

“Try and make it Peachier”

“It Needs to be Bolder”

“Make it Have More Life”

“Needs to be Creamier”

“Add a Smidgen of Red”

The artist and art professor Albert H. Munsell recognized the need for objective, measurable terminology and published his Munsell Color Chart back in 1905. In the Munsell system, color is described in terms of three-color coordinates, “Hue”, “Value”, and “Chroma”.

Colorant Terminology…or lack of.

Color is “Hue”

Lightness is “Value”

Saturation is “Chroma”

These three attributes give color its three-dimensional characteristics.

Or, to put it another way…

“Hue” is red, yellow, green, blue – the actual color you see.

Apples are red, lemons are yellow, the sky is blue – and that’s how we all perceive color in everyday language.

“Value” is the lightness or darkness of the color; it relates the color to a gray scale between black and white.

“Chroma” is vivid colors and dull colors and everything between. Chroma can be described as the purity, intensity, or clarity of a color. An example would be – a lemon has more chroma than a pear.

Color Measurement

The 3 color dimensions introduced by Munsell, can be visualized using an L*a*b* chart, as shown to the right.

Lightness/darkness or “Value” is shown on the L* axis, which varies from 0 (black) to 100 (white).

Color or “Hue” is measured in the plane determined by the a* and b* axes. Positive values of a* indicate a red color, whereas negative values indicate a green color. Similarly, positive values of b* indicate yellow, and negative values indicate blue.

Color purity or “Chroma” is measured by the magnitude of a* and b*. “Candy Apple Red”, for example, has a very large positive a* value.

For more information on conducting a Color 101 training at your company contact: [email protected]

Download this full article as a pdf: Understanding Color 101

About Chroma Color Corporation

Chroma Color Corporation is a leading specialty color and additive concentrate supplier that serves a diverse range of markets, including packaging, healthcare, pharmaceutical, wire, cable, consumer products, and others.

Chroma Color’s strategy includes robust organic growth as well as inorganic growth, that includes eight acquisitions over the past three years. Chroma’s extensive technical leadership and manufacturing expertise, coupled with its game-changing colorant and light management technologies, have delighted customers for over 50 years. Chroma Color Corporation is an Arsenal Capital Partners portfolio company. For more information, please visit: https://chromacolors.com/

Overview of Coloring Plastic Pipe

chromacolorstg on May 10, 2022

The pipe market is very competitive. Pipe manufacturers are continually looking for ways to reduce cost while delivering products that meet performance expectations set by customers, codes and standards (ASTM, NSF, NEMA, etc.). Chroma Color Corporation develops pigments/colors through internal and industry partners related to research, education, technical expertise and trade associations like the Plastic Pipe Institute (PPI) https://plasticpipe.org/index.html allows Chroma Color to deliver superior and environmental (SUSTAINABILITY HMF) product to the pipe industry.

There are five major markets for a plastic pipe; each has its own unique needs and regulations. These five markets include:

-Building & Construction

-Drainage Pipe

-Energy Piping Systems

-Municipal & Industrial

-Power & Communications

Plastic pipe and conduit color-coded by their end-use application, such as:

-Blue = Potable Water

-White = Irrigation and Water

-Green = Sewer

-Purple (Lavender) = Reclaimed Water

-Gray = Electrical Conduit

-Orange = Telecommunication, conduit

-Yellow = Natural Gas (methane or propane) oil

-Red = Electric Power Lines, Lighting Cable

Plastic Pipe Resins:

One of the biggest challenges related to coloring a plastic pipe product is accurately matching the desired color in the specific resin. It is critical to establish a partnership with your color & additives supplier early in the development process to meet specific color and the performance attributes.

The colorant supplier must consider the unique resin, color, and performance requirements as they formulate for the application. Each resin is unique (viscosity, melt processing temperatures, natural resin color, and more). Your color supplier can assist with critical application decisions from the onset regarding the carrier resin, pigment systems, stabilizers, and other additives.

The resins primarily used for pipe include:

HDPE: High-Density Polyethylene

MDPE: Medium Density Polyethylene

PEX: Crosslinked Polyethylene

PE-RT: Polyethylene of Raised Temperature

PP-R and PP-RCT: Random Copolymerized Polypropylene

PEX-AL-PEX: Multilayer or Composite PEX Tubing

In general, the features and benefits of the high-performance high-temperature plastic-piping systems include:

Ease of installation (Coil Pipe)
Corrosion resistance
Safety of potable Water
Reliable fitting and joining options
Lightweight, ease of transportation and handling
Proof of long-term reliability with over decades of use around the world (100 year life expectation) with proper manufacturing and installation.

Types of Pipe and Resins

Municipal and Industrial Water Applications

For municipal and industrial applications, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe is recommended. HDPE’s heat-fused joints create a leak-free pipe structure. HDPE pipe is chemical, abrasion, fatigue, seismic, and corrosion-resistant.

Conduit

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) resin is also used for the conduit to protect electrical power and telecommunications cables. It is available in long coil lengths to reduce joints and installation time. HDPE conduit is also available in a variety of sizes, colors, dimensions, and lengths. Typical applications include:

–Telecommunications

-CATV

-Highway lighting

-Underground utilities.

–Premise (Riser and Plenum) conduit has specific characteristics and flame retardant ratings for use as nonmetallic raceways in buildings.

Color Selection:

After establishing the resin, your conversation moves to color selection. Typically, your supplier has color sample chips or Pantone color charts to pinpoint the desired color for each plastic product or part.

During this selection process, colors may differ depending on gloss, grain, filler, resin type, light sources, and other factors. Knowing this in advance allows the color supplier to choose high-performance pigments that are more light stable than typical workhorse pigments.

There is also much pressure to eliminate the use of heavy metals (HM) pigments in favor of more environmentally friendly options. You need to ask your color concentrate supplier if the pellets include Heavy Metal Free (HMF)* or Heavy Metal (HM) pigments.

*Chroma Color Corporation meets ASTM F2160 − 22 requirements that requires the use of HMF pigments and eliminates the selection of HM.

In addition, heavy metal-based heat stabilizers have traditionally been used with HDPE and/or polyethylene pipe. These include Lead and Cadmium Salts. Such environmentally unfriendly chemicals are rapidly being replaced with non-heavy metal stabilizers, such as calcium stearate.

A pipe that uses HMF (Heavy-Metal Free) stabilizers provides the end-user with the confidence of zero toxicity from heavy metals.. These include Lead and Cadmium Salts. Such environmentally unfriendly chemicals are rapidly being replaced with non-heavy metal stabilizers, such as calcium stearate. A pipe that uses HMF (Heavy-Metal Free) stabilizers provides the end-user with the confidence of zero toxicity from heavy metals.

Pipe exposed to Ultra Violet Light needs protection from the damage caused over time. Chroma Color’s patented G series can have a stabilizer with UV resistant material to provide some protection from UV damage.

Chroma Color’s patent G2 and G3 also provides a cost-effective solution for solid wall pipe and vibrant co-extrusion skin colors.

BASICS of PATENTED G2, G3 COLOR TECHNOLOGY

Highly loaded concentrates have become a cost-effective alternative to standard color products because they require less concentrate to achieve the same results and blend with resin more efficiently.

The patented G2 formulation ingredients enable Chroma Color to boost loadings of pigments and additives up to twice what was considered feasible in traditional color and additive concentrates.

– Typically, a G2 formulation contains up to about 80% active ingredients, some as high as 85%. For some pipe applications, we can load up to 60% additives.

– A high concentration of color and additives is just one aspect of G2 technology. The technology also allows us to dial in melt flow to enable the processor to produce uniformly colored parts with color use rates as low as half a percent.

Patented G3 reduces cost and eliminates processing headaches. It achieves even more significant improvements through a total system approach. Key attributes and advantages include:

– Used with any resin system except PVC

– It delivers 20% or more increased pigment loading than G2 in Polyethylene & Polypropylene without compromising pigment dispersion and distribution

– G3 offers formulations with 40% of dyes in HIPS, PET, Nylon, Crystal Styrene, and Acrylic.

– It offers formulations with 50% or more pearlescent pigment, nearly doubling the former industry standard of 30%

-Heavy Metal Free

CHROMARK® is Chroma Color’s laser marking additives to help control marking behavior over a broad class of resins and pigment chemistries. The Chroma Color team can help you select the right colorant and additive package to ensure you obtain the ideal laser mark for your product at an economical cost-to-color.

With our in-house NIR Laser, we help you optimize the marking behavior and laser settings for various resins, including ABS, PE, PP, LDPE, HDPE, Co-Polyester, PBT, Polysulfone, GPPS, HDPE, Nylon, Acrylic, PVC, Polyacetal, and Polycarbonate. Besides, Chroma’s patented G3 technology can also provide highly loaded concentrates with a laser-marking additive.

Chroma Color Plastic Pipe Case Studies

Wire and Cable Application:

A manufacturer of electrical wire was looking for a better color concentrate option for their product line. Our wire and cable research team developed a highly loaded PVC concentrate that is producing the following results:

1- Reduction in Let Down Ratio (LDR) with an LDR of 0.5% reduced inventories and upfront cost

The low LDR reduces the number of spark outs (if any) that reduces machine downtime and increases utilization
Black 508/2006 PVC unique formula reduced shear heat to allow increased line speeds on thin gauge products
The unique formula enhances the black appearance on a retail shelf by giving your coiled wire a shine instead of a typical stock black dull appearance.

Radiant Pipe Application:

– G2 used for a high-temperature pipe used for a radiant application.

– Co-Extruded outside skin polyethylene raised temperature PERT-PE skin colors to reduce the overall cost of pipe. 3,000-4,000 of an inch thick skin

– Lower Letdown Ratios of .75% Achieved

– Red, Blue and White Colors Available

– UV additives used to prevent fading

– Other applications for this technology include high-temperature for building construction, hot and cold water pipes, and business.

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