Polyurethanes carpet underlay

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Toluene diisocyanate is used for the production of flexible polyurethane foams for furniture, transportation uses, carpet underlay, and bedding for coatings in rigid foams and elastomers. 

Polyurethane foam in carpet underlays, furniture upholstery, etc. 

The second widely used method for preparing polyurethane foam laminates is the liquid adhesive, or wet process. Here special adhesives, either in the form of water solutions, or as solutions in organic solvents, are applied to either the fabric or the foam. The equipment is conventional. The water or solvent is evaporated, and the bond may be set by drying or curing at elevated temperature (20). One of the adhesives used for this application is based on acrylic interpolymer latices. This adhesive is used in the manufacture of thermal garments and insulated bags. Carpet underlay can also be made by adhesive laminating (7). 

ISO 5999-82 Polymeric Materials, Cellular Flexible — Polyurethane Foam for Load-Bearing Applications Excluding Carpet Underlay — Specification, 11 pp... 

Flexible polyurethane foam carpet underlay is used as either prime or rebonded foam. The polyurethane foam offers superior cushioning and is particularly attractive for contract installations or premium carpets. The prime foam usage should increase steadily to about 310 million pounds in 1990. The demand for rebonded foam carpet underlay depends on the availability of scrap foam and will probably not exceed 300 million pounds annually. 

ISO 5999, Polymeric materials, cellular flexible—Polyurethane foam for load-bearing applications excluding carpet underlay—Specification. 

The major interest in flexible polyurethane foams is for cushions and other upholstery materials. Principal market outlets include furniture cushioning, carpet underlay, bedding, automotive seating, crash pads for automobiles, and packaging. The density range of flexible foams is usually 1-6 Ib/ft. (0.016-0.096 g/cm ). The foam is made in continuous loaves several feet in width and height and then sliced into slabs of desired thickness. 

In 1998, polyurethanes (PU) and engineering plastics were shown to make up some 58% of advanced materials used in sporting goods [2], and for the moulded sports products, polypropylene (PP) is used three times more, compared to the next most used plastic, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) [1]. On the other hand, there are also trials for use of other plastics, even the use of tyre crumb for artificial surfaces, carpet underlays and playgrounds, although the use of the latter is not well developed yet (amounting to some 10% of the tyres crumbed). 

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... 

Polyurethanes are addition polymers containing the urethane linkage,-RNHCOOR -. They have been of great commercial importance for 50 years, with many applications as foam (furniture and automotive seating, insulation, carpet underlay), coatings (automotive and architectural paint), adhesives and sealants, and as elastomers for a variety of special purposes. 

Duranceau, C. M., G. R. Winslow, and P. Saha, Recycling of Automotive Seat Foam Acoustics of Post Consumer Rebond Seat Foam for Carpet Underlayment Application, Society of Automotive Engineers, 1998, available online at www.polyurethan.orgIPURRCIREPORTl / index.html. 

Today, polyurethanes, polyureas, and urea/urethane segmented block copolymers find use as elastomers, fibers, coatings, printing rolls, adhesives, sealants, rigid foams for thermal insulation and flexible foams for home and office furnishings, automobile seating and sound insulation, carpet underlay, and packaging. 

Flexible polyurethane foams are principally characterized by physical properties of density, compression set or indentation modulus, and resiliency. These properties are important in end uses such as cushioning in home, office, and automotive seating fabric backing and insulation carpet underlay and packaging. The end-use requirements of these applications relate well to the elastomeric and load-bearing properties of such foams. 

The major applications for flexible slab-stock polyurethane foams are furniture cushioning, both seating and backs seating in public transportation textile backing carpet backing for tufted carpeting and home carpet underlay. A considerable amount of flexible foam is used in packaging, particularly in semipermanent containment of instruments and tools. 

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