Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Carlisle Construction Materials has awarded a contract to Germany-based polymers producer Covestro to supply its 99%-reduced CO₂ bio-circular methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). Carlisle Construction Materials plans to use the materials in its polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation boards. Covestro says that it will supply its Mondur CQ 489 product, which will be suitable for use across Carlisle Construction Materials’ Hunter Panels, SynTec, Versico and WeatherBond product ranges. The supplier says that switching to this MDI will save 2.4t of CO₂ emissions per tonne used.

Carlisle Construction Materials president Steve Schwar said "Carlisle Construction Materials has always been at the forefront of developing high-performance construction products that lead the way in sustainability. With our new bio-based rigid foam insulation, we are demonstrating our unwavering commitment to environmental responsibility, while ensuring that our customers have access to the most advanced building materials available. Our partners play a pivotal role in the realisation of our bio-based isolation."

Covestro’s head of performance materials Hermann-Josef Doerholt said "Covestro’s vision to become fully circular requires research and development advancements that directly support the Scope 3 goals of our customers like Carlisle. Covestro has some of the most aggressive sustainability and climate targets in the chemical industry, and the further we progress in developing solutions to achieve them, the more the effects resonate along the supply chain.”

Switzerland: Holcim Technology has patented a new process to produce boards from isocyanurate foam, Chemicals & Chemistry has reported. The board has a polyurethane or polyisocyanurate foam core, produced by reacting an isocyanate compound with an aromatic polyester polyol in the presence of a blowing agent mixture.

EU: The European Union (EU) is holding a consultation over possible changes to the limit on the use of hexabromocyclododecane, a brominated flame retardant (BFR) in consumer products. This includes expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation. The consultation will run until 26 December 2023.

Belgium: Germany-based Covestro has broken ground on the construction of a new Euro300m aniline plant in Antwerp. The plant will supply aniline for methyl diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) production in the region. Forecasts cited by the chemicals producer posit global annual MDI demand growth of 6% into the medium-term future.

Covestro's chief technology officer Klaus Schafer said “Even in challenging times, we must not lose sight of our goals. With the expansion of our aniline production, we are addressing the further increase in demand from our customers for energy-efficient insulation." He added “By using state-of-the-art technology, we are increasing the energy efficiency of production, and thereby the competitiveness, of the Antwerp site.”

China: Chemicals producer Evonik Industries has started operations at a new 230,000t/yr capacity hydrogen peroxide plant in July 2014 in Jilin City, Jilin Province. Evonik invested more than US$139m in the site to raise its global capacity for hydrogen peroxide production to more than 900,000t/yr.

"This investment further consolidates our market leadership for hydrogen peroxide," said Klaus Engel, executive board chairman of Evonik Industries. Evonik will supply hydrogen peroxide from Jilin direct to the neighbouring propylene oxide plant run by Jishen Chemical Industry Co Ltd. Jishen will use the hydrogen peroxide to manufacture propylene oxide on the basis of the HPPO process. Propylene oxide is mainly used to make polyurethane intermediates that are used in manufacturing insulation materials for the construction and refrigeration industry.

"We are registering a great deal of demand around the world for our efficient HPPO process," said Gregor Hetzke, head of the advanced intermediates business unit at Evonik. "The Jilin plant represents another milestone on the way to establishing hydrogen peroxide as an eco-friendly oxidant for the process of chemical synthesis. The project is also proof of how we use new technologies to systematically drive forward our growth."

Evonik developed the HPPO process together with ThyssenKrupp Uhde. The new plant in Jilin is the second of its kind. The HPPO process allows the eco-friendly oxidant to also be used in the direct chemical synthesis of propylene oxide. The benefits of the new method are that it requires much lower investment costs, has high production efficiency and has excellent environmental compatibility.

Another large Evonik plant, a US$136m integrated production complex for isophorone and isophorone diamine, started trial operations in Shanghai in May 2014 and will be officially inaugurated in July 2014. The complex will have a capacity of 50,000t/yr.

"The new plant continues our successful growth story in isophorone chemistry," said Patrik Wohlhauser, executive board member and chief operating officer of Evonik Industries. "We are now represented in the three major economic zones, Europe, North America and Asia."