CHEMICAL RESISTANCE OF MATERIALS

PLASTIPOX floor materials have been particularly developed for increased resistance to chemical and environmental hazards as well as climate stress factors. Floors made from these materials are resistant to exposure to most of typical chemical hazards observed in industry. At the same time, one should be aware of the fact, that in order to speak about standard floor exploitation – one should consider a situation when a floor is used in proper way; which means it is washed daily, appropriately maintained and kept clean. There is no floor type designed for “storing” aggressive substances and a temporary exposure resulting from incidental spilling should be removed while cleaning and maintaining the floor.

With regard to such assumptions – temporary exposure to hazardous influence, resulted from incidental events, we can divide chemical resistance into short-term resistances (amounting to several hours before cleaning the floor) or long-term resistances (amounting to several days or even few weeks before cleaning off aggressive substances).

Most of the problems regarding chemical resistance concern the colour’s stability of a floor exposed to chemical reaction. It is connected with the fact that there are no universal pigments resistant to most of possible chemical hazards, having at the same time “reasonable” price. Obviously, the final decision regarding the application of a particular dyestuff belongs to the Investor, while the Manufacturer’s task is to provide a fair technical and cost analysis. Nevertheless, the experience shows that it is unusual for a floor to be exposed to all (or majority) of chemical hazards. This is the reason why, in cases mentioned above, the cooperation between the Investor and Manufacturer – PPME AMEPOX is so important for establishing possible colours for particular chemical resistant applications. Without written information about all possible chemical hazards we will not be able to comply with any of your claims regarding possible discoloration of our floors.

A similar hazard to the ones mentioned above is UV radiation resistance. However, in case of most internal applications the problem is not applicable.

The conclusion of herein information is, that any particular case of floor substance application should be treated individually within close contact between Investor and Manufacturer. There are no practical, universal solutions that would combine both economical (low costs of technical problem solution) and resistance aspects (resistance to all types of mechanical and chemical hazards). The most reliable, best tested and recommended by our company procedure, prior to application of floor materials, is to carry out tests in PPME AMEPOX laboratory together with substances delivered by Investor. The procedure allows determining the resistance of given applications to particular hazards.

In the below table you can find resistance type of PLASTIPOX floor materials to different kinds of typical chemical hazards.

According to our experience the typical chemical hazards are the following:

 

No.
TYPE OF HAZARD
SHORT-TERMRESISTANCE
 
LONG-TERMRESISTANCE
 
1.
Ethyl alcohol 50%
Yes
Yes
2.
Methyl alcohol
Yes
No
3.
Ammonia 10%
Yes
Yes
4.
Ammonia 25%
Yes
No
5.
Petrol
Yes
Yes *
6.
Sugar
Yes
Yes
7.
Formaldehyde 35%
Yes
Yes
8.
Ethylene glycol
Yes
Yes
9.
Blood
Yes
Yes *
10.
Xylene
Yes
Yes *
11.
Nitric acid 10%
Yes
Yes *
12.
Nitric acid 50%
Yes *
No
13.
Phosphoric acid 10%
Yes
Yes
14.
Phosphoric acid 50%
Yes
No
15.
Acetic acid 10%
Yes
Yes
16.
Acetic acid 50%
Yes *
No
17.
Sulfuric acid 10%
Yes
Yes
18.
Sulfuric acid 50%
Yes
Yes
19.
Hydrochloric acid 10%
Yes
Yes
20.
Urine
Yes
Yes
21.
Kerosene
Yes
Yes *
22.
Diesel oil
Yes
Yes
23.
Natural oils
Yes
Yes
24.
Transformer oil
Yes
Yes
25.
Caustic soda
Yes
Yes *
26.
Toluene
Yes
Yes *
27.
Water
Yes
Yes
28.
Hydrogen peroxide solution 10%
Yes *
Yes *
29.
Potassium hydroxide
Yes
Yes *
30.
Sodium hydroxide
Yes
Yes *
31.
Calcium hydroxide
Yes
Yes

* There is a possibility of colour change in case of some pigments (test of pigments’ resistance should be carried out). In case the floor is exposed to a hazard it should be cleaned immediately and rinsed with running water.