Enhanced Dow Pascal foam technology: A more sustainable and energy efficient future for the domestic appliance industry

摘要

In the last decade, there has been an increasing need to improve the energy efficiency of cold appliances in order to meet environmental regulations, which are becoming more and more stringent around the world. To help address this need, Dow launched its novel, breakthrough Pascal polyurethane foam technology in 2011. This technology, which makes use of a controlled reduced in-mould pressure when the appliance is injected, enables the use of tailor-made proprietary foam systems offering an advanced combination of excellent thermal insulation performance with a significant productivity improvement and an optimised applied foam density. Today, this technology provides a cost effective solution with optimised energy performance in a commercial environment using cyclopentane as a blowing agent. The choice of the blowing agent is key in determining the foam insulation properties and its impact on the environment. With the introduction of a new generation of blowing agents, the value of this foam technology can be further enhanced in terms of performance and environmental sustainability. Pascal foam technology can be used with any type of blowing agent. Dow believes that combining this foam technology, with specially developed foam systems, with new generation blowing agents leads to best-in-class performance in terms of thermal insulation - providing the industry a versatile and sustainable solution to help address the need for energy conservation of refrigerators and freezers. The work presented in this paper compares some fluorinated blowing agents and their blends with hydrocarbons against pure cyclopentane in vacuum assisted Pascal foam technology.