BRITISH STANDARD BS EN

13900-1:2003

Pigments and
extenders Methods of
dispersion and
assessment of
dispersibility in
plastics
Part 1: General introduction

The European Standard EN 13900-1:2003 has the status of a

British Standard

ICS 83.040.30

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BS EN 13900-1:2003

National foreword
This British Standard is the official English language version of
EN 13900-1:2003.
The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee
STI/1, Pigments, which has the responsibility to:

aid enquirers to understand the text;

present to the responsible international/European committee any

enquiries on the interpretation, or proposals for change, and keep the
UK interests informed;
monitor related international and European developments and
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A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on

request to its secretary.
Cross-references
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This British Standard was Summary of pages

published under the authority
of the Standards Policy and
This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, the EN title page,
Strategy Committee on pages 2 to 5 and a back cover.
21 February 2003
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Amendments issued since publication

Amd. No. Date Comments

BSI 21 February 2003

ISBN 0 580 41284 9

EUROPEAN STANDARD EN 13900-1
NORME EUROPENNE
EUROPISCHE NORM February 2003

ICS 83.040.30

English version

Pigments and extenders - Methods of dispersion and

assessment of dispersibility in plastics - Part 1: General
introduction

Pigments et matires de charge - Mthodes de dispersion Pigmente und Fllstoffe - Dispergierverfahren und
et valuation des caractristiques de dispersibilit dans les Beurteilung der Dispergierbarkeit in Kunstoffen - Teil 1:
plastiques - Partie 1: Introduction gnrale Allgemeine Einleitung

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 12 December 2002.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European
Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national
standards may be obtained on application to the Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the Management Centre has the same status as the official
versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and
United Kingdom.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION

COMIT EUROPEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPISCHES KOMITEE FR NORMUNG

Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36 B-1050 Brussels

2003 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 13900-1:2003 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.
EN 13900-1:2003 (E)

Foreword

This document (EN 13900-1:2003) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 298 "Pigments and
extenders", the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or
by endorsement, at the latest by August 2003, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by
August 2003.

According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following
countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

2
 EN 13900-1:2003 (E)

1 Scope
This part of this European Standard provides an introduction to the various parts of this European Standard which
describe methods for dispersing pigments and extenders in plastics materials in order to determine their dispersion
characteristics and colouristic properties.

Methods of assessing dispersion characteristics are described in the subsequent parts of this European Standard.

The various procedures described permit comparison to be made between similar pigments (for example between
a test sample and an agreed reference pigment). The results provide an indication of relative dispersibility under
practical conditions of use, provided that the test procedure and plastics material selected are appropriate.

2 Normative references
This European Standard incorporates by dated or undated reference, provisions from other publications. These
normative references are cited at the appropriate places in the text, and the publications are listed hereafter. For
dated references, subsequent amendments to or revisions of any of these publications apply to this European
Standard only when incorporated in it by amendment or revision. For undated references the latest edition of the
publication referred to applies (including amendments).

EN 13900-2, Pigments and extenders - Methods of dispersion and assessment of dispersibility in plastics Part 2:
Determination of colouristic properties and ease of dispersion in plasticized polyvinyl chloride by two-roll milling.

EN 13900-3, Pigments and extenders - Methods of dispersion and assessment of dispersibility in plastics Part 3:
Determination of colouristic properties and ease of dispersion of black and colour pigments in polyethylene by two-
roll milling.

prEN 13900-4, Pigments and extenders - Methods of dispersion and assessment of dispersibility in plastics
Part 4: Determination of colouristic properties and ease of dispersion of white pigments in polyethylene by two-roll
milling.

3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this part of this European Standard the following terms and definitions apply.

3.1
dispersibility
ease and extent to which pigments or extenders can, by wetting, elimination of air and by mechanical
disagglomeration, be distributed homogeneously in a plastics material under standardized conditions of processing

NOTE Dispersibility is generally assessed in terms of colour strength development, colouristic properties and frequency
and size of agglomerates.

3.2
ease of dispersion (DH)
measure of the rate at which or the degree to which a pigment or extender achieves a given level of dispersion
when dispersed in a plastics material

3.3
aggregate
primary particles so joined together that they cannot be broken down during normal pigment/extender dispersing
processes

3
EN 13900-1:2003 (E)

3.4
agglomerate
primary particles or aggregates or a mixture of the two so joined together that they may be broken down during
normal pigment/extender dispersing processes

4 Methods of dispersion and methods of assessment

4.1 Preliminary agreements

Agreement shall be reached between the interested parties on:

a) the plastics material to be used;

b) the method of dispersion;

c) the assessment method;

as all of these influence the results.

4.2 Plastics materials

A large variety of plastics materials is available with greatly differing properties. It is therefore not possible, in this
part of this European Standard, to stipulate which plastics material shall be used. In other parts of this European
Standard, general indications are given as to the relevance of the procedures described to the most commonly
used plastics materials.

4.3 Methods of dispersion

There are many differences in the equipment and processing conditions used in practice for dispersing pigments
and extenders in plastics materials. It is therefore not possible to specify a single procedure for dispersing a
pigment for testing purposes. In other parts of this European Standard, general indications are given as to the
relevance in practice of the procedure described.

4.4 Methods of assessment

There are different methods of characterising dispersibility of pigments in plastics materials. These are described in
the relevant parts of this European Standard.

5 Procedures

5.1 Determination of colouristic properties and ease of dispersion in plasticized polyvinyl

chloride by two-roll milling

Using a two-roll mill, the pigment under test is dispersed at 160 C 5 C in the basic compound. The milled sheet
obtained in this way is then subjected to the higher shearing forces resulting from two-roll milling at 130 C 5 C.
The resulting increase in colour strength is a measure of the ease of dispersion DHPVC-P.

For details see EN 13900-2.

5.2 Determination of colouristic properties and ease of dispersion of black and colour pigments
in polyethylene by two-roll milling

Using a two-roll mill, the pigment under test is dispersed at a appropriate temperature in the polymer. The milled
sheet obtained in this way is then subjected to the higher shearing forces resulting from two-roll milling at a
narrower gap width. The resulting increase in colour strength is a measure of the ease of dispersion DHPE.

For details see EN 13900-3.

4
 EN 13900-1:2003 (E)

5.3 Determination of colouristic properties and ease of dispersion of white pigments in

polyethylene by two-roll milling

Using a two-roll mill, the pigment under test is dispersed at a appropriate temperature in the polymer. The milled
sheet obtained in this way is then subjected to the higher shearing forces resulting from two-roll milling at a
narrower gap width. The resulting increase in tinting strength is a measure of the ease of dispersion DHPE.

For details see prEN 13900-4.

5.4 Determination of dispersibility of pigments by filter value test

The increase in pressure when pressing a pigmented polymer of defined composition through a filter pack in an
extruder under defined conditions is a measure of the dispersibility of the pigment under test.

For details see prEN 13900-5 (draft standard in preparation).

5.5 Determination of dispersibility of pigments by film test

The assessment based on the size and frequency of agglomerates in a pigmented polymer film of defined
composition and thickness is a measure of the dispersiblitiy of the pigment under test. The method can be used
both for transparent and non-transparent films.

For detail see prEN 13900-6 (draft standard in preparation).

6 Precision
Statements on precision of the methods are given in the subsequent parts of this European Standard. These will
generally be limited by the dependence of the results on the choice of plastics material and the method of
dispersion employed.

5
BS EN
13900-1:2003
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