The use of polyurethane foam waste resulting from the technological process of insulation of refrigeration enclosures in obtaining constructions panels with sound-absorbing and thermally insulating properties

National Institute for Research and Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry – ICECHIM Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei, no.202, sector 6, 060021, Bucharest, Romania

^* Corresponding author: andree_marr@yahoo.co.uk

Abstract

Refrigerated enclosures - refrigerators, refrigerated units, vans for transporting perishable goods are thermally insulated with polyurethane foam. The insulation process involves the pressure injection of the component reactants into the spaces to be insulated. Following the polyaddition reaction, the foaming-expansion process takes place with an increase in volume. Finally, a spongy polymeric mass is obtained, which filled the spaces where insulation had to be carried out and which also generated an excess of material which is subsequently removed by mechanical means. Excess material results from the initial dosage of the insulation material and must exist to ensure that the spaces to be insulated are completely filled. Polyurethane foam waste is a real problem for several reasons. With a large volume, it takes up a lot of storage space with unpleasant consequences, polyurethane foam is a slightly non-degradable reactive material that persists in the environment. The combustion of polyurethane foam waste is not an option to be adopted because the combustion, in addition to CO₂, also results a series of particularly toxic substances: isocyanates, phosgene, cyan.