Pentane blowing agents for polyurethane foams

Pentanes as blowing agents in insulating foams, which are largely responsible for the excellent performance of the insulating materials. All three isomers of Pentane are used: n-Pentanes, Isopentanes and Cyclopentanes. It is particularly important for manufacturers of insulating materials to have high quality, individual blend compositions and tailor-made formulations. Insulating materials for refrigerators or the construction industry depend on Pentanes as an important blowing agent for insulating foams. This makes it all the more important to have high-quality n-Pentanes, Isopentanes and Cyclopentanes from a reliable supplier:

Blowing Agent Manufacturer

Junyuan Petroleum Group is an ISO Certified company. Junyuan Petroleum Group is engaged in manufacturing and exporting specialty solvents. Our solvents caters to a large variety of EPS products manufacturers. We established ourselves as one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of Industrial chemicals and its derivatives in China. On strength of our competent, energetic, experienced, skilled and dedicate R&D team, we have evolved and provided several pentanes and their blends. We cater to the industries engaged in EPS product manufacturing. We cater to a variety of industrial chemical to reputed companies world wide. As we are industrial chemical manufacturer in China with the confidence put in our capabilities & services, we intend to grow as an honest & preferred co-partner to customers having requirements of regular and new molecules which require sophisticated plastic and construction chemistry.
Junyuan Petroleum Group has made its name as most trusted blowing agent manufacturer in Dongying, China. Blowing agents of all types are produced and supplied by Junyuan Petroleum Group all across China. As the best industrial chemical manufacturer in China, Junyuan Petroleum Group has always given importance to its client satisfaction. Timely delivery of our blowing agents are guaranteed by our company.We are dealing in n-Pentane, Isopentane, Cyclopentane, Pentane Blends, Blowing Agents, Pentane 80/20, Pentane 60/40, Pentane 75/25, Pentane 50/50, Pentane 70/30, Pentane 85/15 and Pentane 90/10 etc.

Blowing agent choice per application

In contrast to HCFC141b, where one blowing agent was chosen for all rigid foam applications, different blowing agent choices will be available after the HCFC phase out. Pentane is generally preferred when the foam consumption is high (e.g. in board or panel lamination). In the following figure, the blowing agent choice in industrialised countries is schematically given.
The three corners of the triangle represent a situation where a market segment has been entirely converted to pentane, HFC or to a fully water blown solution. Positions within the triangle indicate the relative amount of producers within a segment, that have chosen any of the three blowing agent options.

The physical properties of blowing agents are given in the table.

It is interesting to note the differences between the three pentane isomers. There are significant differences in boiling point, gas thermal conductivity and polyol solubility, which leads to very different foam properties and processing characteristics. Cyclo/iso pentane mixtures tend to produce the lowest thermal conductivity foams and are preferred in applications such as refrigerators. Cyclopentane is, in certain cases, preferred when local storage regulations are less stringent than for other pentanes.

What is Polyurethane Foam?

The great advantages of polyurethane foams are their ability to respond to specific requirements for each application (e.g. density, elasticity and durability) and at prices which make the end products well in reach of the average household. It is estimated that 90% of upholstered furniture has a polyurethane foam filling.

The gas phase thermal conductivity of pentane blowing agents

The gas phase thermal conductivity of Cyclopentanes is the lowest among alkane blowing agents. It has relatively high solubility in polyether polyols and is the largest amount of alkane blowing agent. Polyurethane rigid foam Cyclopentane foaming system was industrialized in 1993, mainly used as refrigerator insulation materials. According to Bayer company of Germany, more than 3 million refrigerators have been produced in Europe with its Cyclopentane foaming formula in 1994. Because the boiling point of Cyclopentane is higher than room temperature, part of the cycloalkane gas in the foamed cell condenses and plasticizes the polyurethane matrix. Therefore, in order to achieve the minimum compressive strength required for the stability of foam, the density of foam is higher than that of CFC 11. The foaming foam is more than 10% (the foam density of the refrigerator insulation layer should be more than 38 kg/mJ). Its thermal conductivity is also high.

Comparison of n-pentane, isopentane and cyclopentane foaming systems

n-Pentane and Isopentane are rich in natural resources, and their prices are lower than Cyclopentane. Due to their higher gas-phase thermal conductivity and low solubility in polyether, n-Pentane and Isopentane are rarely used alone in the refrigerator industry. n-/Isopentane mixture is mainly used as blowing agent for rigid polyurethane foam for construction. Since 1994, the company has adopted Isopentane (75/25) foaming system to reduce the minimum stable density of foam to 32, but the thermal conductivity has increased by about 10%. However, due to the uniform density distribution of Pentane blowing foam, the adiabatic energy consumption is only 2% to 5% higher than that of CFC-11 system. The n-/Isopentane (75/25) foaming system developed by Junyuan Petroleum Group also obtained similar results. The stable density of the refrigerator body is about 34, while the thermal conductivity of the foam at 10 ℃ is 2lmw/ (MK), only lmw/ (MK) higher than that of the cyclopentane foam.