Development of Next Generation Ecoactuator for Aerosols

Following the ban of ozone depleting CFCs in the 80s, LPGs became the most popular aerosol
propellant ~84% of global mkt. Though not ozone depleting, they are unsustainable: extracted
from natural gas & oil, source of VOC emissions, highly explosive & flammable. Compressed
inert gas is an alternative propellant with advantages over LPGs (sustainable, non-flammable,
H&S regs no longer apply thus lower life cycle costs) but its use is ltd when used with a
standard aerosol valve, actuator & insert: unlike LPGs, can pressure drops as product is used,
thus spray characteristics deteriorate becoming unacceptable to the consumer.
As part of an ongoing SMART project (720417), The Salford Valve Company is developing a
unique suite of Eco-valves that enable an aerosol to function effectively with compressed gas
propellant. Global aerosol fillers (Colep, The One Group) recognise the step change the Ecovalve
delivers & have signed agreements which detail advance orders of ~300M valves p.a.
Despite strong links with industry players, the Eco-valve faces 2 significant barriers:
1. Testing completed as part of project 720417 has shown incompatibility with standard
actuators that limit performance & produce unacceptable spray characteristics.
2. Aerosol component suppliers (Lindal, Precision) are tactically blocking the Eco-valve from
entering the mkt by refusing to develop bespoke actuators to be used with the tech.
To take advantage of the mkt opp & overcome these barriers, Salvalco seek to advance from
bench top to pre-production scale, a novel set of Eco-actuators complementary to the Ecovalves
(covering ~90% of aerosol applications): Single Gasket Actuator, Low Loss Actuator
& Metered Actuator. Advantages: acceptable spray characteristics for consumer unlike
standard actuator; patented tamper-proof locking mechanism; standard filling technique & can
be fitted to a standard can. With 16bn aerosol cans sold globally pa. the Eco-actuator
represents a major business opp.