A team of researchers at the University of Salford has developed a new technology that will likely alter the very foundations of the global aerosol industry. The technology has received a further boost with some of the biggest names in the industry showing an interest in carrying out commercial trials of the new technology, which is being called ‘Eco-Valve’.
This innovative technology has been developed at the University of Salford by the Spray Research Group. For a decade now, the team has been working on purging propellants VOCs and LPG propellants that are typically used in consumer aerosol sprays. The detrimental effects of such chemicals have forced environmental agencies and governments alike to find more environmentally-friendly alternatives. Though a number of such alternatives have been proposed to date, they have failed to provide a sustainable solution that performs as well as conventionally-used aerosol sprays.
The team of researchers at the Salford University has addressed this problem with the use of an eco-friendly air- or nitrogen-based propellant that is delivered via the Eco-Valve system. The new technology has been patented by Salvalco, a British company that was formed recently.
An array of tests has been carried out on the Eco-Valve, and it has now been established that it performs just as consistently as conventional products that use aerosol. Parameters that were considered for this test were: How fine the particle size was, the quality of the spray, and the volume-per-spray so as to determine how soon the contents of the can are exhausted.
Besides the like-for-like performance of Eco-Valve, tests have also shown that it is compatible with widely-used filling equipment. This aspect is especially important because it would help the industry make a seamless switchover.
