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Devulcanization: REP Group Acquires Watson Brown HSM GmbH

Corbas – REP international, leader in the rubber injection molding machine with the head office being located in Lyon-Corbas, France, has just concluded the acquisition of the patented HSM devulcanization technology on an exclusive right basis, as well as the devulcanization center Watson-Brown HSM-Berlin. This center is equipped with an operational devulcanization line and a test laboratory operated by a team of 6 persons.

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Bruno Tabar, CEO of the REP group announces that “REP International will carry on with the development of the HSM technology, its implementation in the center of Berlin and promote a sales offer of devulcanization machines and a devulcanization service on the international market with compounders and processors“.

A resolutely promising eco-process 

Watson Brown HSM Berlin becomes so far the 7th subsidiary of the REP group, the 6 others being involved in the sales and after-sales of REP presses throughout the world. This take-over confirms REP’s readiness to extend their offer, as accentuated through their new corporate baseline “Rubber in motion”.  Aiming to work beyond the injection of rubber and devoted to the tradition of innovation at customers’ service, REP has developed a technical and commercial partnership with Watson Brown HSM the purpose of which is to devulcanize rubber production scraps and reintroduce them into the production chain.

After a series of validation tests conducted in REP’s customer plants it was established that the process is technically performing and economically efficient. That’s when REP decided after many years of collaboration to integrate Watson Brown HSM in their group.

But what is the HSM devulcanization process? 

This patented process applies to any kind of uncontaminated rubber production waste. Once the compound is devulcanized, it is reintegrated into the basic compound. This results in significant savings on both compound and waste disposal costs.

Watson Brown has developed a patent for devulcanizing cured rubber. Controlling the strain applied to the compound by the HSM machine causes the rubber to be devulcanized by preserving properties which are very close to the initial compound.

This is a 100% thermo-mechanical process without adding any further substances or chemical agents and is performed at low temperature, in order to prevent the characteristics of the devulcanized rubber from being altered.

From the devulcanization service to the series machine

REP relies on their industrialization capacities, their experience and geographical international presence to develop the commercialization of HSM machines.  The HSM structure and its components being very close to those of a press, REP has the capacities to industrialize and manufacture these machines.

With the acquisition of the intellectual property and the plant of Watson Brown in Berlin, REP is developing a devulcanization machine offer intended for compounders and rubber processors in addition to the existing devulcanization service.

HSM

What do the activities of Berlin’s center consist in?

Berlin’s devulcanization center is equipped with a laboratory to run tests on samples intended for customers who are willing to test the process based on their own compound, so as to validate the properties before running industrial HSM tests. The existing capacities grant the center the ability to service all customers who want to devulcanize and reintegrate their scraps back into production, in order to substitute them for one part of the basic compound, resulting in a drop in operating cost.

For companies interested in implementing the tests, a few kilograms of scraps will be sufficient to conduct the lab tests resulting in data on the elongation, tensile strength and rheology of the samples. After the test, the customer receives back the processed compound for assessment. It is then possible to conduct production tests to test the final parts on an industrial scale.

logo_k2013_14_B57_e_low_resTaking the green path towards responsible production; making upgraded scraps become raw material!

Rendezvous at the K2013, Hall 14, Booth B57, October 16-23!

For more information on this announcement, please contact:

REP Corporation
8N740 Tameling Court
Bartlett, IL 60103-8146
Phone:  847-697-7210
Fax:  847-697-6829
Web:  www.repinjection.com
Email:  tgraham@repcorp.com
Attention:  Tim Graham, President

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