MANUFACTURING OF POLIFAS INSULATING MATERIALS

Manufacturing of a wide range of extruding polyethylene foam products is carried out on Italian and German extruding equipment with increasing use of advanced technology.

The process of manufacturing is based on the use of a progressive method of physical foaming of polyethylene and includes all the main stages required to obtain high quality products, i.e:

• continuous loading and dosing of individual components of a chemical mixture using volumetric and gravimetric feeders;
• fluidizing and homogenization of the mixture prepared in the melting zones of the extrusion equipment;
• saturation of the polymer melt with gas blowing agent, followed by active gas distribution in the melt mass;
• preparation of a polymer melt saturated with gas blowing agent for foaming;
• direct foaming of the product to obtain a uniform homogeneous foam structure of the desired color and with decent strength characteristics in addition to specified physical parameters;
• subsequent smooth cooling of the foam product while maintaining a high level of standard properties;
• arranging products in rolls or coils (in case of production of moldings of small diameter), or trimming and packaging (in the production of section pipe insulation);
• product maturation.

The use of polyethylene foam in production, compositions and formulations verified in the course of targeted and applied research, along with specially selected components that contribute to improving the quality of the final product have resulted in the high quality of the end products. These include effective nucleators, heat stabilizers, antistatic, flame retardant, synergistic and other additives responsible for certain properties of the end product.

The use of isobutene as a gas blowing agent allows the foam to spread most evenly and gives it thermal insulation properties that are 15-20% higher than those for foams with other physical blowing agents. The fire resistance properties of the polymer are significantly improved due to incombustibility of freons.

POLYETHYLENE FOAM

Polyethylene foam is a polymer material that is considered to be an inexpensive but the most effective thermal insulating material. Such polyethylene usually exists in two forms:

• physically or chemically cross-linked polyethylene
• gas-filled polyethylene

Polyethylene foam is a synthetic and therefore chemically resistant material, which is easy to process. It also possesses decent soundproofing, waterproofing and heat retention properties. This is the reason it is often used as heat insulating material. All was made possible due to air in certain bubbles of polyethylene foam.