The event will be held in the engineering department’s administrative building with the presence of the vice-president of Braskem’s Vinyl Unit, Luis Felli, directors and professors of the Polytechnical School, as well as other Braskem and university guests.
The objective of the partnership is to develop new technologies and applications for PVC in engineering with the intent to promote and innovate in the material"s use in the civil construction market. "With this partnership, we want to seek new opportunities for the use of PVC in the civil construction market and for innovation in new materials," explains Luciano Nunes, responsible for managing the program at Braskem.
The civil construction market alone represents 65% of all PVC consumed in the country. With the elaboration of these agreements, Braskem intends to expand PVC’s participation in civil construction with the introduction of new applications and technologies. Today, it is present in the market in pipes, connections, wire and cable insulation, ceilings, windows, doors, dividers, and more. The product’s inherent characteristics are a perfect fit for the sector"s needs, which seeks durable and safe materials with high chemical and weather resistance and easy installation and maintenance. It is important to underscore that these intrinsic characteristics of PVC can contribute to the growth of sustainable civil construction.
According to Nunes, the partnership with Poli USP"s civil construction engineering department will already permit Braskem to act in two research fronts, which are: development of CPVC pipes (Chlorinated PVC) for firefighting installations and improvement in the PVC for housing construction system.
In the first project, researchers will work on developing technology for CPVC tubes for firefighting installations. The intention with this study is to develop an option for a piping system that is safe and easy to install and maintain, contributing to the safety of building users. In the other project, the study seeks through new techniques to expand the use of the Concrete/PVC construction system for housing. Besides the projects, the partnership also foresees the elaboration of didactic material on PVC to help teach about materials for civil construction in engineering courses.
For Vanderley John, Prof. Dr. of the Poli Civil Construction Engineering Department, the partnership with Braskem opens important research and technology paths for the university. "Brazil has a competent industry and a strongly structured academy. The challenge, especially in the engineering areas, is to put the two sectors to work together because that is the only way the research results will be able to benefit society. That is exactly what this partnership will promote." The use of plastic in civil construction is an international trend and to develop new applications and solutions in PVC leads to less consumption of materials with long durability.
The NEO PVC program - Nucleus for PVC Oriented Studies - was created with the objective of developing studies geared towards the expansion of PVC use and create new applications for plastic. This program’s first partnership was formalized last May when Braskem signed an agreement with the Federal University of São Carlos" Department of Materials Engineering. The second educational institution to integrate the program was SOCIESC - Educational Society of Santa Catarina, one of the most renowned technical and higher learning schools in Plastics Engineering in Brazil. For more information:
www.neopvc.com.br