Furniture polyurethane

Hydrogenated rapeseed oil fatty acid foam insulation, carpet underlays Polyurethane foam foam insulation, cold storage Polyurethane foam foam insulation, fabricated shapes Polyurethane foam foam insulation, furniture Polyurethane foam foam insulation, mattresses Polyurethane foam... 

Polyurethane. SmaU quantities of polyurethane film are produced as a tough mbber-like film. Polyurethane is more commonly used to produce foamed sheet, both flexible and rigid. The flexible foam is used as cushioning in furniture and bedding the rigid foam is widely used for architectural insulation because of its outstanding thermal insulation efficiency (see Urethane POLYMERS). 

O. M. Grace and co-workers, "Improvement in Cigarette Smoldering Resistance of Upholstered Furniture," Proc. Polyurethanes World Congress, Sept. 29—Oct. 2, 1987, Aachen, Germany. 

The sandwich-type stmcture of polyurethanes with a smooth integral skin produced by the reaction injection molding process provides a high degree of stiffness as weU as exceUent thermal and acoustical properties necessary for its use in housing and load-bearing stmctural components for the automotive, business machine, electrical, furniture, and materials-handling industry. 

Applications. Carpet undedayment as just descdbed is a substantial market. Most furniture cushioning is made from blocks of slab-produced polyurethane foam in the density range of 16 to 29 kg/m (1.0—1.8 lbs /fT). A minor portion of the market, 9—14 thousands of metric tons (20—30 million pounds) uses 40 kg/m (2.5 lbs/fT) high resident (HR) foam for higher pnced furniture cushions. The furniture market for polyurethane foams grew strongly until saturation occurred around 1979. Market use now tends to reflect the current economic trends. 

In 1993, a total of over 6 x 10 t of polyurethanes were consumed worldwide (Table 8). The flexible foam market in the United States totaled 932,000 tons in 1994. Flexible slab foam is used predominantly in furniture, carpet underlay, and bedding molded foam is used extensively in transportation. Carpet underlay is manufactured from either virgin or scrap polyurethane foam, which is combined with a binder adhesive. The consumption of flexible polyurethane foam in the various U.S. markets in 1994 is shown in Table 9. 

The large volume applieations for moisture-euring polyurethanes are diseussed briefly in the applieations seetion below. These adhesive offer superior low temperature, high temperature, and speeifie adhesion performanee in comparison to conventional hot melts. These attributes have allowed them to excel in various product assembly applications, including structures such as windows, doors, furniture, and automotive headlamps and trim. Newer applications include bookbinding, fabric laminating, and assembly of athletic shoes. 

Polyurethanes. This material is available in three forms - rigid foam, flexible foam and elastomer. They are characterised by high strength and good chemical and abrasion resistance. The rigid foam is widely used as an insulation material, the flexible foam is an excellent cushion material for furniture and the elastomeric material is used in solid tyres and shock absorbers. 

Major markets for polyurethanes are furniture, transportation, and building and construction. Other uses include carpet underlay, textural laminates and coatings, footwear, packaging, toys, and fibers. 

Coating materials may be based on short or medium-oil alkyds (e.g. primers for door and window frames) nitrocellulose or thermoplastic acrylics (e.g. lacquers for paper or furniture finishes) amino resin-alkyd coatings, with or without nitrocellulose inclusions, but with a strong acid catalyst to promote low temperature cure (furniture finishes) two-pack polyurethanes (furniture, flat boards) unsaturated polyester resins in styrene with free-radical cure initiated by peroxides (furniture) or unsaturated acrylic oligomers and monomers cured by u.v. radiation or electron beams (coatings for record sleeves paperback covers, knock-down furniture or flush interior doors). 

Polyester polyols account for only ca. 10% of the total polyol market, which is dominated by polyether polyols such as hydroxy-terminated polyoxyethylene or polyoxypropylene. Polyester polyols are preferred for applications where better mechanical properties, wear resistance, and UV stability are required. The largest application of polyester polyols is flexible specialty polyurethane foam in the furniture, packaging, and automotive industries. Polyester polyols are also used for nonfoam applications such as coatings, paints, sealants, and adhesives 47... 

Most automobile and furniture seating, foam mattresses, carpet underlay-ment, and other similar products are made from polyurethanes based on polypropylene glycol (PPG). PPG is the preferred raw material for these type of polymers because of the wide variation of possible properties of the end product and the relatively low cost. 

A good example of the many successftil DfE Partnerships is the Furniture Flame Retard-ancy Partnerhip. Pentabromodiphenylether (PentaBDE) was the primary flame retardant used in low density, flexible polyurethane furniture foam. Due to concerns over its use and the fact that the chemical was found widespread in the environment and in human tissue and breast milk, PentaBDE was voluntarily phased out of production by US manufacturers in January 2004. The industry needed alternatives in order to meet furniture flame retardancy requirements, but did not have the human and environmental health and safety information needed in order to compare the alternatives. DfE worked with the furniture manufacturers, foam manufacturers, and flame-retardant chemical suppliers along with governmental and environmental groups to evaluate possible alternatives. 

Eastern Research Group and Syracuse Research Corporation (2005) Furniture Flame Retardancy Partnership Environmental Profiles of Chemical Flame-Retardant Additives for Low-Density Polyurethane Foam. United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 742-R-05-002A. 

The C02 thus acts as a substitute for the petroleum production of plastics. Polyurethanes are used to produce a wide range of everyday applications. When they are used for the insulation of buildings, the polyurethane saves about 80% more energy than it consumes during production. Light weight polymers are used in the automotive industry, upholstered furniture... 

It is nearly 20 years ago that the unacceptable fire behaviour of "modern" upholstered furniture became highlighted in the UK by Fire Brigade reports of domestic fires. This poor performance was blamed on the use of flexible polyurethane (PU) foam upholstery and demands were made to ban PU foam or at least to insist on the use of flame retarded PU foam. 

Burning polyurethane (foam stuffing in furniture and mattresses)... 

Two other derivatives of toluene are the important explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT) and the polyurethane monomer toluene diisocyanate (TDI). TNT requires complete nitration of toluene. TDI is derived from a mixture of dinitrotoluenes (usually 80% o,p and 20% o,o) by reduction to the diamine and reaction with phosgene to the diisocyanate. TDI is made into flexible foam polyurethanes for cushioning in furniture (35%), transportation (25%), carpet underlay (20%), and bedding (10%). A small amount is used in polyurethane coatings, rigid foams, and elastomers. 

Polyurethanes account for the use of TDI. Approximately 85% of this goes toward flexible polyurethane foams (35% furniture, 25% transportation, 20% carpet underlay, 10% bedding), 6% toward coatings, 4% in elastomers, and 3% in rigid foams. 

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