Foam Cutters from PMC OUVRIE for Paint and Construction Applications

Foam formation is a natural phenomenon that frequently occurs in paints and building chemicals applications and in many everyday products such as detergents and food. But what is foam in general? Foam is defined as the stable distribution of gas within a liquid. In a sense, these are air bubbles trapped inside the liquid. Foam is an undesirable side effect during the production and application of paints and building systems. It extends production time, prevents silos from being filled with the correct amount of product, and causes the formation of roughness and craters on the dry film surface.

Figure 1. Foam structure

At Which Stages is Foam Formed?

• Dispersion, • Mixing, • During mixing, • During pumping and circulation, • During application.

What Problems Does It Cause?

• Reduces milling efficiency, • Increases production time, • Results in incorrect filling quantities, • Causes dry film deformation. Defoamers are generally active in stabilized lamellae. For this reason, they must be insoluble in water and mobile in paints and coating systems so that they bind at the point where they need to spread to the lamellar interface and enable the displacement of surfactant. Defoamers must have lower surface tension compared to surfactants in order to counteract the Marangoni effect, which would cause the lamella to thin and collapse rapidly.  

Figure 2. Defoamer Effect

Fundamentally, defoamers must be water-insoluble so that they can exist in formulations as finely divided droplets. Additionally, they must be sufficiently compatible with the surface so as not to cause surface damage such as cratering. For this reason, defoamer selection always requires finding a middle ground between defoaming performance and compatibility with or insolubility in the medium.

Conditions Required for Foam Reduction:

• Must be insoluble in formulation, • Must have low surface tension, • Penetration coefficient (E), • Positive spreading coefficient (S), • Positive bridging coefficient and agglomeration properties.

PMC OUVRIE Defoamers

PMC OUVRIE has a wide range of powder defoamers for use in the construction sector and liquid defoamers for the paint industry. PMC OUVRIE defoamers are generally based on the absorption of non-ionic mixtures on inorganics. Powder Defoamers for the Construction Sector DELFOAM™ & EROL™ defoamers, branded by PMC Ouvrie, minimize foam encountered in mortar mixtures, adhesives, plaster and gypsum group production and applications, enabling the production of high-strength products. PMC Ouvrie's defoamers achieve very efficient results in products where air should not be present at all; in completely eliminating trapped air inside products. This property is particularly effective in creating a completely smooth surface in cement and gypsum-based self-leveling screeds. You can find the table of powder defoamer types below.

Liquid Defoamers for Paints, Sealants and Adhesive Applications

As Günkem, we are proud to present DELFOAM and EROL series defoamers with the assurance of PMC OUVRIE to our valued business partners whom we have served for 27 years. We are here for the best! Gizem Sarp - Sales Manager - Günkem A.Ş.   ,