Polyurethane Foaming Agent ODS Substitution Brings Increasing Market Volume
In April 2021, China Polyurethane Industry Association released “China Polyurethane Industry ‘14th Five-Year Plan’ Development Guide”, proposing that during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the polyurethane industry should increase the composite technology development and application of functional, green, safe and environmentally friendly additives, and actively promote the replacement of polyurethane blowing agent ODS. To actively promote the replacement of polyurethane blowing agent ODS. With the elimination of blowing agents destroying the atmospheric ozone layer and the increase of supervision, there is an urgent need to upgrade the blowing agents and promote the healthy development of the polyurethane industry.
Since the introduction of polyurethane a total of four generations of blowing agents have been developed, namely: the first generation of Freon series, the second generation of HCFC-141b (dichlorofluoroethane), the third generation of HFC-245fa (pentafluoropropane) and HFC365mfc (pentafluorobutane), the first three generations of chlorofluorocarbons (HFCs), and the fourth generation of hydrofluoroolefin (HFOs) blowing agents.
In the process of using blowing agents, it has been found that the first three generations of HFCs blowing agents have a very significant impact on ozone layer depletion and climate warming. The United Nations adopted the Montreal Protocol in 2007 to accelerate the phase-out of HFCs-containing adjustments, and introduced the Kigali Amendment in 2016, which stipulates a reduction schedule for HFCs, requiring our country to implement a freeze and a gradual reduction in the production and consumption of HFCs in 2024, and to reduce the production and use of HFCs by no more than 90% of the baseline, no more than 90% of the baseline, and no more than 90% of the baseline, no less than 90% of the baseline, and no less than 90% of the baseline. In 2029, 2035, 2040 and 2045, the production and use of HFCs will not exceed 90%, 70%, 50% and 20% of the baseline, which makes the polyurethane industry accelerate the development of green blowing agents for ODS replacement. Fourth-generation HFOs blowing agents, with zero ODP (ozone depletion potential) and very low GWP (global warming coefficient) values, are considered to be the next-generation blowing agents that can replace HFCs blowing agents in the future.
When HFOs blowing agent and tertiary amine catalyst are mixed and stored for a long period of time, decomposition reaction will occur, which will deteriorate the blowing agent and lead to catalyst deactivation, thus affecting the foaming effect of polyurethane foams and the performance of the products.DMDEE has a very good chemical stability against HFOs, and can be mixed with HFOs blowing agent for a long period of time and maintain stable performance.
With the continuous upgrading of polyurethane blowing agents, suitable polyurethane catalysts are needed to match with them in order to realize the ideal performance. The innovation and upgrading of polyurethane catalysts is an important driving force to realize the substitution of low GWP blowing agents and promote low-carbon environmental protection.
Incremental Market for Spray Insulation Applications
Polyurethane spray insulation material is an important branch of the polyurethane industry, which is characterized by multi-purpose materials, and at the same time has the functions of heat insulation and waterproofing. This type of product since the 1960s in the European construction industry since the application of more than 50 years of history, mainly used in a variety of different climatic environments of various types of public buildings and civil residential engineering buildings, especially for high-level and windy areas of the external wall insulation and roof insulation project, some countries also through legislation to the polyurethane spray as a construction industry designated thermal insulation and waterproofing materials.
Polyurethane spraying has good energy efficiency and is suitable for all kinds of buildings with energy saving of more than 50%. With the rapid development of China’s building energy-saving market, polyurethane spray coating has been widely used in the field of building thermal insulation and waterproofing, and has become one of the leading market insulation and energy-saving products.
At present, HCFC-141b is still the mainstream blowing agent in polyurethane spraying, but due to its ozone layer depleting effect and greenhouse effect, China has gradually restricted the use of HCFC-141b since 2013, and its phase-out is imminent. Compared to HCFC-141b blowing agents, third-generation blowing agents HFC-245fa and HFC365mfc are non-destructive to the ozone layer, but have higher costs and higher GWP values. The ODP value of HFOs blowing agent is zero, which will not damage the ozone layer, and it is characterized by non-combustibility, low toxicity, low gas thermal conductivity, good compatibility with polyol, etc. It seldom produces greenhouse gases and belongs to environmentally friendly blowing agent, which will become the mainstream blowing agent in the field of polyurethane spraying in the future. With the wide application of HFOs blowing agents in polyurethane spraying, there will be more and more demand for the application of DMDEE.
For more industry information, please refer to the “Polyurethane Catalyst Industry Outlook and Analysis Report 2023-2029” by Puhua Arise Consulting, and Puhua Arise Consulting also provides industry research reports, industry chain consulting, project feasibility reports, 14th Five-Year Plans, BP Business Plans, industry mapping, industrial planning, and Blue-White
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