Aerosol System Developed Here Eliminates Hydrocarbon Release

Aerosol System Developed Here Eliminates Hydrocarbon Release By M. D. Drysdale  

 

 

Randolph Center inventor, Chris Scheindel, works at his laboratory at Ultramotive Corp. in Bethel. (Provided)

An entirely new kind of aerosol system, that uses clean air instead of earth-warming hydrocarbons to propel the product out of the can, has been developed by Ultramotive Corp. of Bethel.

If widely adopted by the aerosol industry, the "EarthSafe Air Power System" has the potential to eliminate thousands of tons of hydrocarbon emissions each year around the world.

This potential is symbolized by the tiny green grommets at the bottom of each can.

Using several patented inventions by Chris Scheindel, founder and president of Ultramotive, EarthSafe has been designed to work in all sorts of non-spray aerosol cans. Marketing is beginning in the shaving gel sector—which sells 300 million units a year—but it could extend far beyond that, Scheindel said last week.

If EarthSafe were used just in the 300 million cans of shaving gel produced annually in the U.S. alone, it would save more than 2000 tons of hydrocarbons presently being emitted into the atmosphere, according to the company.

In marketing the EarthSafe system, Ultramotive has found a powerful partner, Crown Holdings Inc., of Philadelphia, the largest supplier of packaging products to consumer marketing companies in the world. Crown introduced the product at the summer convention of the Consumer Specialty Product Association in Chicago, and the booth was mobbed with interested potential buyers, Scheindel said.

As a measure of its commitment, Crown Holdings even produced a set of several hundred completely lithographed sample cans to show to the companies it works with.

Besides virtually eliminating global-warming hydrocarbons, EarthSafe has practical advantage both for the companies and consumers, said Scheindel and Tom Brownell of 802 Creative Partners, which has helped Ultramotive package the concept.

First, the system uses a sliding plastic piston, invented by Scheindel, inside the can instead of a more expensive collapsible plastic bag, which is what most systems use currently.

Secondly, the unique valve that dispenses the gel, also patented by Scheindel, is made of just two parts instead of four. Scheindel guesses those parts will cost three cents apiece less than the valves being used now.

Multiply three cents by 300 million units, and that’s a considerable cost savings for can manufacturers ($9 million by our reckoning).

"There are cost savings all around," Scheindel said. "That, along with the environmental impact, is what really got Crown interested," he speculated.

For the consumer, there’s another benefit. Existing aerosol cans leave a certain amount of product in the can, even when it’s "empty." Not the EarthSafe system.

"We get it all out" due to the close fit between the piston and the valve, Ultramotive’s president declared.

Production Work

If EarthSafe is successful, it may mean more work for Central Vermonters, said Scheindel. Some of the plastic parts, including the symbolic green grommets, can probably be made here, he said, and he will work to make that happen.

Bigger parts and the cans themselves, if produced in the tens of millions, would likely have to be made by established can manufacturers elsewhere, he said.

Ultramotive has long been at the forefront of environmentally progressive products. Years ago, the company devised a way to avoid the use of environmentally dangerous fluorocarbons, which were banned in the 1980s.

Ultramotive’s new AirSafe System is not a "spray aerosols" at all, but is what is called a "barrier" aerosol. Inside a spray aerosol can, the product and the propellant are mixed together, and both product and propellant come out with the spray. With a barrier can, however, the product is separate from the propellant, which stays at the bottom of the can and expands as the product is expelled.

The "barrier" cans are particularly effective in dispensing liquids, gels, and sticky viscous products for the automotive industry. Soft cheese is also widely dispensed in this way.

Scheindel has made an indelible mark on that industry, coming up with several advances over the years to make barrier cans work better.

In doing so, he and Ultramotive have developed a world-wide reputation for problem solving. Companies as big as Nestles from Switzerland have sent representatives to Bethel to help them with packaging ideas.

Scheindel invented and developed the three components of the EarthSafe system independently of each other, without at first intending to create a whole new system.

For instance, the development of the valve came as he was working on the problem of dispensers that started out with high pressure but developed lower pressure as the can was emptied. To combat that, he developed a can that would use air pressure as low as 60 pounds per square inch, dropping to 5-10 psi. Though the pressure dropped, Scheindel’s valve was able to dispense product at the same rate as it did when the can was full.

Schendel gives considerable credit to Brownell of 802-Creative Partners for recognizing that he had actually created a whole new system for dispensing product in an environmentally benign manner.

"A light bulb came on," he says of that moment.

The huge Crown Holdings is clearly impressed. In a news release, it cited EarthSafe as an "innovative and environmentally responsible package" that will help companies comply with emerging new carbon-release regulations, including a California law that will be come law on Jan. 1, 2010.

As another environmental benefit, Crown notes that the steel can is fully recyclable, and it touts the greater shelf life and reliability of the system developed in Bethel.

Ultramotive, the release notes, "enjoys an international reputation for pioneering innovative solutions to complex packaging challenges."

Scheindel himself seems as full of ideas and energy as ever, though he admits to having recently turned 80. His eyes sparkle as he hints to inventions and innovations to come, while deflecting credit from himself.

"It takes a team to make a success story," he declared last week. "We have some very capable people, and everything’s a joint effort."

Asked about retirement, he smiles.

"Why should I retire? I’m doing what I want to do."

Local Firm, International Reach

Founded in 1969, Ultramotive Corp. is engaged both in research and custom packaging.

The company has worked with AT&T, Dow Corning and Johnson Wax, and it produces products sold at many national retailers. It specializes in the filling of miniature and non-standard size cans, as well as design and production of molded plastic components and valves.

With a workforce of nearly 40 employees, the company is located on Peavine Blvd. in Bethel.

Ultramotive’s founder and president, Chris Scheindel, has been involved in the aerosol and pressure packaging business all of his professional life. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering the City College of New York and then worked as a designer at Schrader, as a project engineer at American Can Company and as a partner in a filling company.

Over the past 30 years, he has worked as a consulting engineer for several major corporations to troubleshoot special problems as well as to design and build specialized packaging and filling machinery. Machines he developed have been purchased by SC Johnson Wax and other major corporations.

Scheindel’s many inventions include a zero-gravity feeding tube used by the first astronauts, and the prototype machine for the formation of the laminated tube used by all toothpaste manufacturers.