Experimental study of the thermal conductivity of polyurethane foams

Hu, Zhang; Fang, Wenzhen; Li, Yueming; Tao, Wen‐Quan

doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.12.057

Cited by 170 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The foam containing 2% of DBTDL and 2% of water possess a higher compressive strength (187.93 kPa) and Young’s modulus (27.74 kPa), as well as a low apparent density value (37.4 kg·m −3 ). On the other hand, the thermal conductivity value was the higher (0.0207 W·m −1 ·K −1 ) in comparison with the other formulations; indeed, this insulation property value is in the range of typical commercial products [ 2 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For insulation purposes, thermal conductivity is the most important property to be studied. Typical thermal conductivity values for polyurethane foams are between 0.02 and 0.03 W·m −1 ·K −1 and the very efficient thermal insulation of these materials is due to the extremely low thermal conductivity of the blowing agent gas trapped in the closed porous structures [ 2 , 3 ]. Additives, as blowing agents, catalysts, and surfactants, are very important to adjust the final properties of the foam’s synthesis from the main reaction of an isocyanate with a polyol.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Polyurethane Foams for Thermal Insulation Uses Produced from Castor Oil and Crude Glycerol Biopolyols

et al. 2017

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Rigid polyurethane foams were synthesized using a renewable polyol from the simple physical mixture of castor oil and crude glycerol. The effect of the catalyst (DBTDL) content and blowing agents in the foams’ properties were evaluated. The use of physical blowing agents (cyclopentane and n-pentane) allowed foams with smaller cells to be obtained in comparison with the foams produced with a chemical blowing agent (water). The increase of the water content caused a decrease in density, thermal conductivity, compressive strength, and Young’s modulus, which indicates that the increment of CO2 production contributes to the formation of larger cells. Higher amounts of catalyst in the foam formulations caused a slight density decrease and a small increase of thermal conductivity, compressive strength, and Young’s modulus values. These green foams presented properties that indicate a great potential to be used as thermal insulation: density (23–41 kg·m−3), thermal conductivity (0.0128–0.0207 W·m−1·K−1), compressive strength (45–188 kPa), and Young’s modulus (3–28 kPa). These biofoams are also environmentally friendly polymers and can aggregate revenue to the biodiesel industry, contributing to a reduction in fuel prices.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyurethane Foams for Thermal Insulation Uses Produced from Castor Oil and Crude Glycerol Biopolyols

et al. 2017

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“…In Figure 9, the thermal conductivity and density of the wood aerogel-8 h and common thermal insulation materials are compared. Traditional synthetic organic thermal insulation materials such as expanded polystyrene and polyurethane had a low thermal conductivity of 0.022-0.034 W/mK as well as a density of 25-30 mg/cm 3 [3,44]. However, the drawbacks of releasing toxic gas and poor biodegradability hindered their further applications.…”

Section: Thermal Insulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lightweight, Anisotropic, Compressible, and Thermally-Insulating Wood Aerogels with Aligned Cellulose Fibers

Sun

Lin

et al. 2020

Polymers

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The growing demand for lightweight, renewable, and excellent thermal insulation materials has fueled a search for high performance biomass materials with good mechanical compressibility and ultralow thermal conductivity. We propose a fabrication method for making a lightweight, anisotropic, and compressible wood aerogel with aligned cellulose fibers by a simple chemical treatment. The wood aerogel was mainly composed of highly aligned cellulose fibers with a relative crystallinity of 77.1%. The aerogel exhibits a low density of 32.18 mg/cm3 and a high specific surface area of 31.68 m2/g due to the removal of lignin and hemicellulose from the wood. Moreover, the multilayer structure of the aerogel was formed under the restriction of wood rays. Combined with a nanoscale pore, the aerogel presents good compressibility and an ultralow thermal conductivity of 0.033 W/mK. These results show that the wood aerogel is a high quality biomass material with a potential function of thermal insulation through optimizing structures.

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“…The foam containing 2% of DBTDL and 2% of water posses the higher compressive strength (187.93 kPa) and Young modulus (27.74 kPa), besides a low apparent density value (37.4 kg m -3 ). On the other hand, the thermal conductivity was the higher value (0.0207 W m -1 K -1 ) in comparison with the other formulations, indeed, the insulation property of this foam is in the range of typical insulation foam [2].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…For insulation purposes, thermal conductivity is one of the most important properties. Typical thermal conductivity values for polyurethane foams are between 0.02 and 0.03 W m -1 K -1 and the very efficient thermal insulation of these materials is due to the extremely low thermal conductivity of the blowing agent gas trapped in the closed porous structures [2,3]. Additives, as blowing agents, catalysts and surfactants, are very important to adjust the final properties of the foams synthesis from the main reaction of an isocyanate with a polyol.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyurethane Foams for Thermal Insulation Uses Produced from Castor Oil and Crude Glycerol Biopolyols

Carriço¹,

Fraga²,

Carvalho³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Rigid polyurethane foams were synthesized using a renewable polyol from the simple physical mixture of castor oil and crude glycerol. The effect of the catalyst and blowing agent in the foams properties was evaluated. The use of physical blowing agent (cyclopentane and n-pentane) allowed obtaining foams with smaller cells in comparison with the foams produced with a chemical blowing agent (water). The increase of water content caused a decrease of density, thermal conductivity, compressive strength and Young's modulus, which indicates that the increment of CO2 production contributes to the formation of larger cells. Higher amount of catalyst in the foam formulations caused a slight density decrease and an increase small significance of thermal conductivity, compressive strength and Young's modulus values. These green foams presented properties that indicate a great potential to be used as thermal insulation, as density (23 -41 kg m -3 ), thermal conductivity (0.0128 -0.0207 W m -1 K -1 ), compressive strength (45 -188 kPa) and Young's modulus (3 -28 kPa). These biofoams are also environmental friendly alternatives and can aggregate revenue to biodiesel industry, contributing for reduction of this fuel prices.

show abstract

Experimental study of the thermal conductivity of polyurethane foams

Cited by 170 publications

References 36 publications

Polyurethane Foams for Thermal Insulation Uses Produced from Castor Oil and Crude Glycerol Biopolyols

Polyurethane Foams for Thermal Insulation Uses Produced from Castor Oil and Crude Glycerol Biopolyols

Lightweight, Anisotropic, Compressible, and Thermally-Insulating Wood Aerogels with Aligned Cellulose Fibers

Polyurethane Foams for Thermal Insulation Uses Produced from Castor Oil and Crude Glycerol Biopolyols

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