Applications

The shift from oil-based to water-based consumer products such as paints and other coatings, ink, adhesives, solvents, beauty products and more has been steady and is only expected to increase in the coming years. This push is driven by:

• Customer preferences – Consumers increasingly prefer products that are viewed as more “natural” and are concerned about their own health and environmental health in general. Many products, such as water-based paints and cleaners, are also preferred as they are less smelly and easier to clean up after use.
• Regulatory pressure – Stringent environmental regulations have driven advances in technologies that improve performance of water-based products, reducing volatile organic compounds while improving satisfaction.
• Economic pressure - The flip side of regulatory restrictions are governmental incentives given to manufacturers who can produce environmentally friendly products from raw materials on up. This increases pressure on those who supply those raw materials as well. Paint and adhesive manufacturers, for example, are being asked by packaging and furniture manufacturers for environmentally friendly options. Petroleum-based polymers are at the mercy of famously volatile global oil prices making natural polymers financially attractive.

But while water-based products are improving in both market share and customer satisfaction, they create a new problem for manufacturers: temperature damage during shipping.

For example, water-based paint has a range of 32-110 degrees Fahrenheit before the product is damaged. By contrast, oil-based paint can (briefly) withstand extremes of -4 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. When shipping during the coldest or hottest months of the year, this difference in temperature tolerance can mean the difference between cost-effective intermodal transport and expensive, temperature-controlled trucks.

Getting these water-based chemical products to consumers without products becoming degraded or demulsified, labels ruined by condensation, or unusably melted takes careful temperature management along the route.

Astro-Cooler Products offer individual pallet covers and full truckload blankets to mitigate temperature extremes during transportation. Our passive thermal protection creates a temperature variance of approximately 25 degrees Fahrenheit between the air temperature in the shipping container and the air temperature around the product. Water-based shipments are then protected from both hot and cold extremes, allowing manufacturers to use a dry van or intermodal shipping far longer than without, in some cases year-round!

Astro-Cooler passive thermal solutions are a flexible, cost effective and green alternative to climate-controlled trucks for temperature sensitive water-based products.