Two European suppliers of liquid silicone rubber metering systems have come out with new versions in the past year. Elemet of Austria (U.S. office in DeWitt, Mich.) introduced a lower cost alternative to its feature-loaded TOP 3000 metering system. The new TOP 1000 is not designed for high-end uses that require very precise ratio control. It uses pressure-controlled feeding from 20-liter pails or 200-liter drums without the gear-pump metering and closed-loop control of the high-end system. The result could be somewhat more leftover material of one component due to ratio variances. However, the new system is almost 30% less costly. Both systems deliver max. output of 2.5 L/min at 1:1 mix ratio and can add up to 10% colorant.

In addition, 2KM of Germany (U.S. office in Williamsville, N.Y.) has come out with the Silco-Star e-flow system for clean-room operation. It has electric servo metering pumps that are clean and quiet. Also in the past year, 2KM introduced the Silco-Star PFM system for medical/pharmaceutical applications. It is a pulsation-free, very exact, and highly repeatable system. Besides the standard metering pumps, a compact plunger metering system mounts directly on the injection unit. It is made of stainless steel and designed for easy cleaning.