Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

UAE: Michel Francis, chief architect at DEC consultants, has recommended that ‘intensive’ inspections, including checking that insulation is properly installed, could help to prevent the spread of fire in high-rise buildings in Dubai. He pointed out that a fire could propagate rapidly if there were gaps between fire-resistant mineral–based insulation. Francis’ comments at the Windows, Doors and Facades Forum in Dubai were covered by the National newspaper.

"An inspector must look for these holes, see how the mineral wool is installed, the fixtures used, check for any intricate gaps between the intersection of slabs. An expert auditor would look to see if there are any loopholes. These locations and intersections, if well treated, will prevent the jumping of fire from one floor to the other and the whole facade catching fire. Fire containment would be much easier," said Francis.

New provisions in the local Fire and Life Safety code are due to be released later in 2016 requiring owners to renew a no-objection certificate annually after inspections to ensure all modifications are fire-safe. The changes in the regulations follow a string of fires in high-rise buildings in the city in the last few years.

UK: TechnoNicol intends invest up to Euro5.9m to double the production capacity to at least 55,000t/yr at Superglass’ mineral wool plant in Stirling. The upgrade will involve building a new furnace at the site to come online by 2020, according to the Scottish Herald. The investment is intended to boost the insulation producer’s sales in markets in the UK and western Europe. The decision follows shareholder approval of TechnoNicol’s purchase of Superglass.

US: Kingspan Insulation has started an expansion project at its Winchester plant in Virginia. The US$25m investment in the plant will be used to install a new extruded polystyrene insulation (XPS) insulation manufacturing line.

"We are pleased to announce that the installation is proceeding on time and on cost," said Kingspan Insulation North America's Managing Director Alswinn Kieboom.

Once the project is completed, it will allow Kingspan Insulation to continue to service demand for its GreenGuard line of XPS board products. The products feature moisture resistance, an R-value of 5.0 per inch of thickness and are suitable for a range of applications including cavity walls, continuous insulation, roofs, below-grade perimeter foundation and slab-on-grade.

As part of this investment programme, Kingspan Insulation has announced its intent to begin production of high performance, polyiso insulation in North America, providing an even greater choice for specifiers and contractors.

Kingspan Insulation is currently considering locations for three new production lines. Locations under consideration are at its existing plant in Virginia, at its sister company sites in California, Florida, Ohio, as well as sites in Nevada and Texas in the US, plus Ontario and British Columbia.

US: Toray Industries has released plans to increase the production capacity of Toraypef polyolefin foam manufactured at Toray Plastics (America). The Japanese chemical manufacturer will invest US$39m towards building a 3000t/yr unit at its TPA Virginia Plant. The new facility is expected to start operations in the beginning of 2018. The expansion of the production facility will boost TPA's Toraypef production to 7500t/yr.

Toraypef is a polyolefin foam developed using Toray's proprietary manufacturing method, and it is adopted for various purposes including thermal insulation. Principally the product is being targeted at car production.

Taiwan: Ming Dih Group is considering cutting output at its expandable polystyrene (EPS) plants in September 2016 due to low demand in the region, according to a company source quoted by ICIS. The company previously lowered output at its plants to around 70% of production capacity in July 2016 due to poor sales. It operates a 180,000t/yr plant in Taiwan and a 50,000t/yr plant in Thailand. Products from its plants are used to make insulation panels.