Ecomate® in Flexible Slabstock Foams, Part II

Friday, March 28, 2008

Last year we introduced ecomate® to the flexible slabstock industry. At that point we had no full scale commercial runs. With two under our belts at the time of this writing, we would like to share these success stories demonstrating the safety and low cost of conversion, the ease of use, and the properties obtained.

Ecomate® produces foams similar to those blown with acetone or methylene chloride, but with a lower boiling point [more efficient]. Ecomate® is a safer alternative to acetone. Because of its excellent solubility, ecomate® gives slightly softer foams than those formerly achieved with HCFC-141b. It produces very low density foams with very good hand. Ecomate® is vastly superior to water, which builds polyurea giving a boardy feel to foams, and which is poorly compatible with many urethane raw materials. Hydrocarbons suffer from extremely poor solubility, from high flammability, and have VOC issues. Because of these deficiencies, neither is considered as a blowing agent for flexible slabstock.

Download the complete paper
Download the Powerpoint presentation