New Polyurethane Flooring Passes Food Plant Trials

For the past three years, Stonhard, Inc. (Maple Shade, NJ) has conducted lab and field trials to perfect their new polyurethane flooring system, Stonclad UT. Designed for the food and beverage industry's toughest environments, the flooring system has succeeded in those trials, proving itself able to withstand the combination of frequent hot water and steam wash-downs, organic acids, aggressive cleaners, high impact and abrasion. These are the same conditions that sometimes cause failures in other flooring systems, such as acid brick, tile and epoxy.

In addition to performing well in all areas of meat and poultry plants, breweries, bottling plants, dairies and other food processing applications, Stonclad UT has another advantage over other flooring systems, which is ease of installation. Applying the system is a two-step process that results in flooring that can withstand heavy traffic within 12 hours, and normal foot traffic within eight hours, even in temperatures as low as 45°F/7°C.

Substrate dampness and high humidity, typical of meat and poultry plants, present no problem to Stonclad UT installation. And because the flooring can be installed without shutting down adjacent areas of the plant, there is much shorter shut down time.

Stonclad UT's multi-functional urethane-urea chemistry provides advantages over traditional flooring systems, such as resisting alkalis, solvents, oils, sugars, organic acids such as lactic, acetic, and fatty acids, and other corrosive substances commonly found in the food process industry. Even after continuous exposure to these chemicals, the flooring maintains superior abrasion and impact resistance.

In addition, the flooring system can withstand temperatures up to 250°F/121°C and temperature changes up to 160°F or 88°C. These temperature extremes, which are typical in food and beverage processing plants, can cause other flooring systems to fail.

The product consists of a self-priming, flowable, urethane mortar, a uniform broadcast texture and a urethane sealer and has a finished thickness of 1/4 inch/6mm.

Options
To achieve the optimal balance between cleanability and slip resistance, users have the option of three different levels of texture - light, medium and heavy. Stonclad UT is also available in ten different standard colors, with custom colors available upon request.

Proven Results
The flooring system has undergone independent testing against acid brick, tile and epoxy flooring systems to verify long-term chemical and thermal shock resistance. These tests were designed to simulate how the systems would hold up over 18-20 years. This included 1,040 thermal cycles with a temperature change of 120°F or 67°C and exposure to chemicals and cleaning agents normally used in the beverage industry.

For more information contact Stonhard, Inc., One Park Ave., Maple Shade, NJ 08052. Tel: 609-321-7538; Fax: 609-321-7525.