Formacel? 1100: Better Performance with a Reduced Environmental Footprint: A Look Through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

摘要

The polyurethane foam industry for insulation is transitioning from foam expansion agents (FEA) with high global warming potential (GWP) to low GWP alternatives. However, a low GWP is not the sole criterion for a FEA to minimize climate change potential of foam insulation, their performance to reduce the energy usage should also be considered. In this work, historic FEAs with high GWP, HCFC-141b and HFC-245fa, were evaluated along with a low-GWP FEA option from Chemours, Formacel? 1100 with similar thermal conductivity. Two applications have been studied so far, a) building wall insulation and b) refrigerator / freezer cabinet insulation (household appliance). A holistic approach using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used to calculate climate change potential (CCP) across the entire supply chain, including raw material and polyurethane foam production, foam installation, energy savings during product use, and end-of life (EOL) disposal. Foam formulation and energy usage (for appliance) data used in the LCA model were provided by external formulation partners and appliance manufacturers. Formacel-1100 at different loadings and blends produced the lowest life cycle CCP for the applications studied. The biggest contributor to the climate change potential was the energy use during the use phase. The climate change potential burdens from foam manufacturing, emission of FEAs during installation and use and the end-of-life disposal of foam were also quantified and compared across all the FEAs studied.