TOTAL Fluids offers technical solutions

TOTAL Fluids offers technical solutions and products for the two main sectors of the coatings industry, paints and varnishes: decorative coatings for the building industry and industrial paints.

The products sold are also used in the resins contained in these coatings.

SPIRDANE® and KETRUL

The SPIRDANE® and KETRUL® ranges contain more aromatic products when the maximum solvent power is sought.

TOTAL Fluids also develops solutions to help customers with the changes required in their formulations by European regulations (2004/42/EC Decopaint Directive) aiming to reduce the content of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) in decorative coatings.

TOTAL Fluids sells VOC-free products to help formulators, when combined with other technical solutions (increase in non-volatile content for example), to meet the requirements of these regulations which will be introducing new limit values as of 01.01.2007 and 01.01.2010 (please consult us).

Decorative coatings for building (professionals and DIY)

In these applications, regulatory and environmental constraints are increasingly stringent, and comfort of use is more than ever an important notion.

For these reasons, TOTAL Fluids has developed solvents with extremely low aromatic rates, low odour intensity and high Flash Point.

Three ranges of products must be considered in this field and chosen according to the required characteristics of the coating:

• white spirits: SPIRDANE® range for a fast drying rate
• kerosene cuts: KETRUL® range for a slower drying rate
• isoparaffin cuts: ISANE® range, particularly suitable for odourless coatings

Industrial coatings

These are coatings used in car bodywork, marine paints, anticorrosion coatings, metal furniture, etc.

For this kind of application, the fluids used are mainly aromatic solvents such as toluene (e.g. road paints), xylene or the SOLVAREX® range.

>> Download technical characteristics of the Aromatic range

TOTAL Fluids manufactures and markets naphthenic (or cycloparaffinic) fluids designed to replace toluene or xylene.

Indeed, European regulations now affect the use of toluene and soon of xylene (because of the ethylbenzene contained in standard xylenes):

• toluene is listed among category-3 “toxic products for reproduction”, and since 31.10.2005, toluene-based products must bear the appropriate label when toluene content is equal to or above 5%,
• content of toluene must not be equal to or above 0.1% by mass in adhesives and spray paints intended for sale to the general public (directive 2005/59/EC applicable since 15.06.2007),
• ethylbenzene (and therefore xylene which contains it) may soon be included in the list of carcinogenic substances, in which case the labels of products containing it will have to be changed (studies and discussions are currently under way at European level).

>> Download technical characteristics of the SOLANE Naphtenic