Composite panels

Combined with facing sheets of steel, aluminium or plastic, the adhesive properties of PU (polyurethane) foam make it ideal for the production of strong, lightweight and well insulated composite panels. These are widely used in cold stores, office buildings, industrial units and modular relocatable buildings.

A modification of the process is used in the production of residential doors, where the foam gives structural integrity, is lightweight and provides excellent insulation properties. Over     the past few years the thermal conductivity values of foams in this series have improved significantly as changes in the requirements of the building regulations have changed.

The biggest change has resulted from a move from conventional blowing agents to the so-called "third generation" materials based on hydrofluoroalkanes (HFAs). At IFS we use both HFA245fa and HFA365/227, as well as mixtures with hydrocarbon blowing agents. Our foam systems are used in a wide variety of applications, always exhibiting low foam densities, low thermal conductivity and very high adhesion properties.

We also offer a regular testing service, which incorporates full mechanical and thermal testing of the product taken from customer’s production lines.

Envirofoam grades for SIPs Technology

The environmental attributes of insulation foams sold under the Envirofoam banner have been recognized by the SIPs industry. Structural Insulated Panels are being forcefully developed in the UK as a cost-effective method of building both private houses and commercial buildings. The wall and roof structures are constructed by assembling pre-manufactured, highly insulated panels. The factory-produced panels are of a composite structure based on oriented strand board (OSB) with an inner core of Envirofoam insulation, often supplied as a complete building kit. This type of pre-manufactured structural panel speeds construction immensely. Panels are cur to exact dimensions before being delivered to site, so reducing on-site labour and minimising waste.

SIPs can be effectively combined with other more traditional materials such as brick facings, steel, glass and wood, allowing the design of the building to be led by aesthetics and function rather than restricted by the construction method.

These thermally insulated panels give rise to low energy, air-tight buildings , ideally suited to meet or exceed today’s increasingly stringent Building Regulations.

IFS has further increased the environmental attributes of SIP technology by introducing a polyurethane and PIR foam core system with two additional benefits. Firstly, the chemical composition of the foam has been modified to include polyols derived from a renewable source – rapeseed oil. This natural oil is grown in the fields of East Anglia and is converted to an NOP (Natural Oil Polyol) at our facility near King’s Lynn.

Secondly, the blowing agents used in the Envirofoam series of foam products have the lowest global warming values on the market. Whereas insulation foams based on HFAs have a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of between 800 and 3000, the Building research Establishment require a GWP of “less than 5” in order to meet their Ecohomes requirement. All Envirofoam grades from IFS meet this requirement, with several grades having a GWP of between 1.0 and 3.0. A typical datasheet can be downloaded below.

PIR Foams for Discontinuous Panels

IFS has perfected the ultimate insulation for use in the manufacture of discontinuous building panels. Again, well ahead of the competition, a flame-retardant PIR has been developed with very important environmental and processing benefits compared with the market norm.

The environmental benefits arise from the polyol component which utilises two types of raw materials which have a    significant edge - recycled plastic bottles and   rapeseed oil. By combining these materials, the new PIR system has a high aromatic/char characteristic and good flowability in   discontinuous panels. In keeping with the IFS range of rapeseed oil-based   PU systems, the adhesion to metal substrates is very good. The foam    system also has a very low Global Warming Potential (GWP), namely "less than 5", an attribute which puts it significantly ahead of all other PIR foam systems on the market. This is achieved without any sacrifice of properties, particularly the insulation value of the foam. Values of 0.022 W/mK have been achieved in conventional building panels.