26 Glass-Technology International 6/2015
L A M I N A T I O N
Emaver Mirroiterie Martin is the first
French company to install a new ‘Pujol 100
Fast Curing’ automatic assembly line for
laminated glass fabrication with Evalam
Visual. Hornos Pujol has, up to now, installed
17 lines throughout the world.
THE LAMINATION REVOLUTION
ARRIVES IN FRANCE WITH
EMAVER MIROITERIE MARTIN
Hornos P
ujol
27Glass-Technology International 6/2015
E maver Mirroiterie Martin, a former Saint Gobain branch,
was acquired 27 years ago by Joël Potier who, three years ago, handed over the management of the company to his daughter Emilie Potier. Over this period of almost 30 years, Emaver has never stopped
evolving, achieving signi-ficant advances, becoming the only independent com-pany of France, from the Saint Gobain school, that works with two licenses from Saint Gobain Glass: Climalit® for double-gla-zing, and Securit® for tem-pered security glass.Today, Emaver has a new
success story, which reaf-firms its leadership in glass transformation in the South East of France. Thanks to its continuous innovations, Emaver has, once again, proved its se-riousness, professionalism and quality, and this achie-vement can be defined in a single word: excellence.
After the signing of the contract between Emaver and Pujol on 1 October this year, Emaver is now able to produce up to 500 square metres of top qua-lity laminated glass daily, compared to classic PVB laminated, frequently used in France.Laminated glass must con-tinuously strive to keep up with and adapt to the new requirements of the mar-ket, and now, thanks to continuous investigation, Hornos Pujol has been able to overcome the main barriers with its product Evalam Visual. The pro-perties of this EVA make it the legitimate substitute of PVB; consumers and inter-national forums endorse its prestige, considering it a product of increasing use by architects.Thanks to Emaver’s new ‘Pujol 100 Fast Curing’ automated installation for laminated glass fabrication
L A M I N A T I O N
28 Glass-Technology International 6/2015
its continuous growth, but more than 35 years ago Mr. Potier (father of the actual executive director of Emaver) conscious of the advantages in quality and price of the EVA compared to PVB, started his adven-ture laminating EVA in a small vacuum oven.Following her father’s line, Emilie Potier, always aware of new market trends, exa-mined different lamination lines, to finally decide on ‘Pujol 100 Fast Curing’. Her objective was to re-spond to her clients’ de-mands for a better quality product, without delays in delivery, and at an attrac-tive price.Responding to the requi-rements of Emaver, Hor-nos Pujol understood the company’s needs by fa-bricating an automatic la-minated glass production
has achieved this.The overcoming of the productive capacity of the autoclave, achieve a signifi-cant cut in productive and maintenance costs, at a lo-wer investment cost. The ‘PUJOL 100 Fast Curing’ automatic EVA assembly line, with an investment cost of a third, produces at a lower cost per unit com-pared to laminated glass.PVB, known as Poly Vinyl Butyral, was developed by DuPont in 1938 for the au-tomotive industry.Ethyl Vinyl Acetate, better known as EVA, was a pro-duct developed by NASA for the aero-spatial race.
EMAVER INVESTS IN THE WORLD OF LAMINATIONLaminated glass has esta-blished its leadership, no-wadays nobody questions
with Evalam Visual, its clients will be able to count on a product with the war-ranties of being made in Europe and with superior technical advantages com-pared to PVB.They will, due to the pro-duct’s characteristics, also obtain a reduction in delive-ry times and a more compe-titive cost compared to pro-ducing in an autoclave.
PVB VERSUS EVADuring recent years, PVB has not seen any improve-ments with regards to its properties as a product, as well as in its productive processes, so it can be said that the material has rea-ched its ceiling in terms of quality.However, EVA properties are continuing to evolve year after year, impro-ving productive processes, which therefore foresees constant growth in the de-velopment of the product and its applications.Although EVA was consi-dered as a more expensive material with better quality in terms of moisture resi-stance, it is also true that to start a revolution in the lamination market, two characteristics had to be developed simultaneously to achieve the actual suc-cess: the achievement of a material with technolo-gical advantages to PVB, in terms of transparency, acoustic isolation, delami-nation, durability and resi-stance, at the same price as that of PVB. Evalam Visual
Emilie Potier
The revolution, and EMAVER’s
contribution, is that of being the first in
France to have a different price compared to
traditional laminated glass, but with superior technical
properties compared to PVB
29Glass-Technology International 6/2015
line, that enables to obtain a product with better qua-lity at a lower cost in many cases compared to those obtained by PVB and the autoclave. Hornos Pujol founded in 1911, and ba-sed in Barcelona (Spain), is a global player in the glass sector, offering de-sign and technology solu-tions to the laminated glass needs of clients throughout the world.“We are very excited to be even more associated with Emaver,” says Jorge Pujol, president of Hornos Pujol. While the commercial di-rector of Emaver, Jerôme Patoir, pointed out the in-terest of the partnership with Pujol, that completes innovative and functional solutions, and that: “reaf-firm us as market leaders in the world of lamination thanks to its revolutionary
product ‘Evalam Visual’”.
GLASSES FOR ROOFS AND FAÇADESWhen choosing glass, va-rious factors need to be taken into account, among which the façade’s tempe-rature, resistance, durabili-ty, luminous transmittance, acoustic isolation, safety, and aesthetics. In Emaver, it was clear right from the start that Evalam Visual® by Pujol is outstanding with regards to these aspects, and has a series of advan-tages.
Façade temperatures
It has been proven that Evalam Visual has bet-ter adhesion than PVB at ambient temperature, but Evalam Visual has a Tg of -18°C and PVB of +39°C. Tg is the temperature of transition (solid-solid) at
which a strong change in the physical and mechani-cal properties of the ma-terial takes place, due to a molecular change which affects the stiffness of the polymer’s carbon chains. When the polymer is coo-led below this temperature it becomes stiff and rigid. While above it, it beco-mes soft and rubbery. As a result, all the tests and certifications carried out with Visual, which remains continuously above its Tg (-18°C) are correct and will not affect the general properties of the interlay-er. On the contrary, PVB, turns soft and rubbery abo-ve 39°C, losing its initial properties such as its adhe-sion to glass, a property which is not lost in Visual also thanks to its crosslink, that makes it thermoset. This fact is easy to test with
a sample subject to 40°C for a period of two hours.
Better than PVB for railings and laminated glass with open edges
Although it is true that the market knows that EVA is generally more resistant than PVB against moisture when the laminated glass is exposed in open edges, it is still to be determined in which way this affects each EVA or laminated glass. Evalam Visual has been developed to have strong resistance to moisture, thus avoiding the ‘feared’ dela-mination that may take pla-ce over time when the glas-ses are installed with open edges in adverse weather conditions.This fact is easily proven if we subject Evalam Visual and PVB to a destructive moisture test, where after
P R O D U C T D E V E L O P M E N T S
30 Glass-Technology International 6/2015
eight hours PVB starts to suffer defects after 2.5mm from the edge, while Evalam Visual is still in perfect shape after 20 hours.
Better for tempered glasses
Evalam Visual has an adhesion almost three times greater than that achieved by PVB, which makes it a material par-ticularly suited for those glasses that suffer me-chanical efforts, such as doors, stairs, façades and all kinds of glasses with mechanical memory which tend to return to their ori-
ginal position.
Greater durability of lamina-ted glass over time
PVB is a thermoplastic ma-terial, and like every ther-moplastic, starts to degra-de after 10 years, yellowing and delaminating. This fact was well proven by NASA when developing the PV panels for aerospace.Thanks to a crosslink supe-rior to 87 per cent, Evalam Visual is a mechanical and thermally stable material which avoids delamination over time, once it has been correctly cured. It is easy to put two broken
samples of PVB and Visual to a moisture test, PVB’s degradation is clear to see: Visual stays in one piece, while PVB fragments and separates completely.
Same optics as PVB
In laminated glass a better optic or transparency is determined mainly by a pa-rameter called Haze. Haze is known as the amount of light that hits the glass and is then transmitted in a ba-lanced way. Evalam Visual is the only product in the market with better Haze values than that of PVB.
Same resistance for personnel and product safety
According to standard UNE-EN 12600 2003 of pendulum and ball drop tests, Evalam Visual obtains the same certification than PVB in tempered laminated glasses with half the inter-layer, which translates into a reduction of final price to Emaver’s clients.
CONCLUSIONAs a conclusion, we can say that Emaver, always up to date with the market’s evolutions and in constant search for quality and ser-vice for its clients, now offers, with this new pro-cess, excellent service to its clients, with what we think is the best product of the laminated glass market.
TABLE 1
COMPARISON OF GLASS TEMPERATURES
Visual PVB
Glass temperature on a façade Adhesion at 20°C 140N 60N
Adhesion at 30°C 140N 60N
Adhesion at 40°C 140N No adhesion
Adhesion at 50°C 120N No adhesion
TABLE 2
COMPARISON OF HAZE
Visual PVB Others
Haze 0.38mm 0.05% 0.13% > 0.4%
Haze 0.76mm 0.14% 0.13% > 0.4
Did you know that the average
temperature of a façade in summer, in many countries,
is around 40-50ºC, and PVB completely loses its adhesion?
Hornos Industriales Pujol S.A.riales Pujol S.A.
C. Del Plà, N° 108-110 - Pol. Ind. “El Pla”08980 Sant Feliu de llobregat (Barcelona) SpainTel: +34 – 93 – 6855672Fax: +34 – 93 – 6855392E-mail: [email protected]
