MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik has reinforced its emission management leadership position in the polyurethanes industry with a new best-in-class spray foam emissions testing facility at its laboratories in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as per the company's press release.
With its innovation focus on zero-emission and more environmentally preferred additive solutions, this latest milestone further demonstrates Evonik’s commitment to supporting the Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF) industry to meet its sustainability targets and maintain growth.
As a green product with excellent thermo-insulation properties, buildings constructed with SPF using Evonik additives can significantly reduce energy consumption and lower the carbon footprint. With as much as 40% of a building’s energy loss due to air leaks in roofs and walls, in addition to its excellent thermal performance, SPF also helps to seal gaps preventing air leakage.
As the American Chemistry Council’s Spray Foam Coalition states: up to 33 billion US dollars in energy costs could be saved each year, if the 113 million family homes in the United States each used SPF insulation. SPF is more effective than alternative insulation materials such as fiberglass or mineral wool, which has helped the polyurethane foam-based industry in North America experience double digit growth over recent years.
Emission testing has become much more sophisticated with stricter environmental and worker safety regulations. In addition to the environmental benefits of reduced greenhouse gases, low or zero emission products are now an industry requirement to reduce worker re-entry and building re-occupancy times after spraying. The new emissions testing facility will help Evonik’s customers to establish formal measurement and testing protocols to meet current environmental, and future emissions and American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) standards.
The new testing facility was commissioned and approved by the Spray Foam Coalition, an organization of companies that produce and sell polyurethane spray foam insulation systems, chemicals and equipment. Another key feature of Evonik’s new testing facility is the cold chamber which enables extremely low temperature spray tests down to 0-degree F for cold weather adhesion testing. These harshest low temperature tests make it possible to mimic real world conditions during any time of the year, helping to speed up formulation development time and improve product performance.
As a leader in supporting each blowing agent transition, Evonik’s solutions for the latest HFO blowing agents have helped to significantly reduce the spray foam industry’s global warming footprint relative to the previous HFC blowing agents. These are typically used in polyurethane foam applications that require high insulation properties such as spray foam insulation, refrigerator/freezer insulation, and panel insulation for building structures.
As MRC informed earlier, in February, 2020, Dow and Evonik entered into an exclusive technology partnership. Together, they plan to bring a unique method for directly synthesizing propylene glycol (PG) from propylene and hydrogen peroxide to market maturity.
Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The focus on more specialty businesses, customer-oriented innovative prowess and a trustful and performance-oriented corporate culture form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. They are the lever for profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Evonik benefits specifically from its customer proximity and leading market positions. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world with more than 33,000 employees.
MRC