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4 POWDER COATING, October 2018 ECS issues call for papers ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.—The East- ern Coatings Show (ECS) is seeking submissions from academia, govern- ment, and industry presenting novel research results in all aspects of indus- trial coating technology for presenta- tions at its biennial conference, which will be held May 13-15, 2019, at Harrah's Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. The goal of the ECS is to further the advancement of coatings technology and offer educational and technical presentations to create a profound un- derstanding of the theory, science, manufacturing, and marketing of coat- ings to highlight the improvement of coatings performance and functional- ity beyond traditional expectations. The ECS Technical Committee will review the submissions based on their technical content and contribution to furthering the advancement of coatings technology. The format should be as close to a short course as possible. Pre- sentations providing educational in- sights into emerging technology will be given priority. To be considered, submit an abstract for your presentation along with a speaker biography and photo to Chuck Shearer at charles.shearer@dsm.com. Submissions are due no later than De- cember 1, 2018, and acceptance letters will be sent by January 1, 2019. Study questions beryllium content of abrasives WASHINGTON, D.C.—New data released by a blasting abrasive industry trade group appears to show higher lev- els of beryllium than previously re- corded in a number of abrasive media, though manufacturers of those prod- ucts have questioned the methods and motives of the group that published the study. The Abrasive Blasting Manufacturers Alliance (ABMA) released the data based on an analysis of several garnet, staurolite, glass, and aluminum oxide abrasive products carried out by Cali- fornia-based scientific consulting firm Exponent. The data follows up an ear- lier release of a study of only crushed- glass abrasives, carried out by the same firm. ABMA has been active in arguing that OSHA's new beryllium rule will be an undue burden on blasting opera- tions using any abrasive and holds that no abrasive media can be considered to be beryllium-free. The study indicates beryllium levels between 0.2 and 1.6 milligrams per kilogram in five differ- ent garnet abrasives, 0.4 mg/kg in one glass abrasive sample, 5.16 mg/kg in an aluminum oxide sample, and 13.6 mg/ kg in a staurolite abrasive sample (these measurements are equivalent to parts per million). The previous study of crushed-glass abrasives indicated beryllium levels be- tween 0.27 and 0.76 mg/kg in 18 sam- ples. The new information comes as federal workplace-safety researchers say they won't perform further work to clarify the risk of beryllium exposure in abrasive blasting operations, leaving abrasive manufacturers to supply infor- mation on their products themselves. ABMA has previously fought OSHA's characterizations that slag abrasives are the only abrasive products likely to be affected by the measures put into place in the rule, which drops the permissible exposure level from 2.0 to 0.2 micro- grams per cubic meter of air (as a time- weighted average over eight hours) and establishes an action level of 0.1 micro- grams per cubic meter. Beryllium is a component of coal, cer- tain rock materials, volcanic dust, and soil that is used in several industrial ap- plications. Breathing air containing be- ryllium can deposit beryllium particles in the lungs, presenting immune sys- tem and respiratory risks. The new be- ryllium rule was published after years in development, authored primarily by OSHA, the United Steelworkers union and Materion Brush, the country's largest supplier of beryllium. Abrasive blasting is one instance in which OSHA indicates there is a possi- bility that beryllium exposure could rise above the action level even when beryllium levels in the material are much lower than 1,000 ppm, because of the fine dust created during the blasting process. Adding to the confusion over the issue, the 1998 study's bulk elemental analy- sis—among the few pieces of research available by which to benchmark the new study numbers—in many cases doesn't jibe with the Exponent study results. The KTA-Tator study's analy- sis looked at seven garnet samples, with beryllium content ranging from non- detectable to 0.07 ppm, while the Ex- ponent study looked at five garnet sam- ples and found a range between 0.23 and 1.66 ppm. The KTA-Tator study examined two staurolite samples and found beryllium at concentrations of up to 0.01 ppm; the Exponent study's staurolite sample was found to have be- ryllium at a concentration of 13.6 ppm. ABMA contends that the dis- crepancy likely has to do with testing methods. There is very little other liter- ature to go by in the beryllium debate. Protective coating shown to improve service temps for alloys SHAANXI, China—Dr. Jia Sun and a research team from Northwestern Polytechnical University have pub- lished a paper describing how niobi- um-based (Nb-based) alloys success- fully achieved duration of more than 128 hours at an ultrahigh temperature of 1,500°C, thanks to a multilayered silicide coating. Dr. Sun says that, through optimizing interfaces, the silicide coating with a layer of aluminum oxide-adsorbed par- ticles exhibited three-times higher oxi- dation resistance capacity than one without it. The adsorbed-particle layer served as an element diffusion barrier, and a porous Nb silicon layer that was formed provided a stress-transition zone, and these contributed to the sig- nificant improvement in performance. Company launches advanced polymer coatings for cold rapid repairs MILWAUKEE, Wisc.—Castolin Eu- tectic has launched a new and im- proved range of advanced polymer coatings, called MeCaTeC, that pro- vide fast practical solutions to a wide variety of industrial maintenance and repair problems caused by premature wear of critical parts used in manufac- turing machinery and equipment. It is UPDATE: Industry