Thermosets manufacturing

Furan resins. Thermosets manufactured from furan derivatives such as furfural, furfuryl alcohol, tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol. Applications foundry resins and core binders, acid-proof coatings, putties. 

Manufacturers Comments Jet-Wdid series. 100% solids, thermoset Manufacturers (Aments Non-flammable, high solids ( 0%), low ... 

It is manufactured by heating dicyandiamide, H2N C(NH) NH CN, either alone or in the presence of ammonia or other alkalis, in various organic solvents. Melamine is an important material in the plastics industry. Condensed with melhanal and other substances it gives thermosetting resins that are remarkably stable to heat and light. U.S. production 1980 80 000 tonnes. 

Two-Stage Resins. The ratio of formaldehyde to phenol is low enough to prevent the thermosetting reaction from occurring during manufacture of the resin. At this point the resin is termed novolac resin. Subsequently, hexamethylenetetramine is incorporated into the material to act as a source of chemical cross-links during the molding operation (and conversion to the thermoset or cured state). 

Useful thermosetting resins are obtained by interaction of furfural with phenol. The reaction occurs under both acidic and basic catalysis. Other large uses of furfural together with phenol are in the manufacture of resin-bonded grinding wheels and coated abrasives (5). 

The production of hexamethylenetetramine consumes about 6% of the U.S. formaldehyde supply (115). Its principal use is as a thermosetting catalyst for phenoHc resins. Other significant uses are for the manufacture of RDX (cyclonite) high explosives, in mol ding compounds, and for mbber vulcanisation accelerators. Some hexamethylenetetramine is made as an unisolated intermediate in the manufacture of nitfilotriacetic acid. 

The commonly used resins in the manufacture of decorative and industrial laminates ate thermosetting materials. Thermosets ate polymers that form cross-linked networks during processing. These three-dimensional molecules ate of essentially infinite size. Theoretically, the entire cured piece could be one giant molecule. The types of thermosets commonly used in laminates ate phenoHcs, amino resins (melamines), polyesters, and epoxies. 

Nippon Shokubai and U.K. Seung are producing a fluorescent polymer claimed to be made from a co-condensation of ben2oguanamine and formaldehyde. Fine highly thermoset particles are manufactured in solution and later dried. It is useful in a wide range of appHcations, specifically plastics, and markets where bleed is a problem. 

Cure kinetics of thermosets are usually deterrnined by dsc (63,64). However, for phenohc resins, the information is limited to the early stages of the cure because of the volatiles associated with the process. For pressurized dsc ceUs, the upper limit on temperature is ca 170°C. Differential scanning calorimetry is also used to measure the kinetics and reaction enthalpies of hquid resins in coatings, adhesives, laminations, and foam. Software packages that interpret dsc scans in terms of the cure kinetics are supphed by instmment manufacturers. 

Ammonia is used in the fibers and plastic industry as the source of nitrogen for the production of caprolactam, the monomer for nylon 6. Oxidation of propylene with ammonia gives acrylonitrile (qv), used for the manufacture of acryHc fibers, resins, and elastomers. Hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA), produced from ammonia and formaldehyde, is used in the manufacture of phenoHc thermosetting resins (see Phenolic resins). Toluene 2,4-cHisocyanate (TDI), employed in the production of polyurethane foam, indirectly consumes ammonia because nitric acid is a raw material in the TDI manufacturing process (see Amines Isocyanates). Urea, which is produced from ammonia, is used in the manufacture of urea—formaldehyde synthetic resins (see Amino resins). Melamine is produced by polymerization of dicyanodiamine and high pressure, high temperature pyrolysis of urea, both in the presence of ammonia (see Cyanamides). 

CSPE. Chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSPE), a synthetic mbber manufactured by DuPont, is marketed under the name Hypalon. It can be produced as a self-curing elastomer designed to cure on the roof. The membrane is typically reinforced with polyester and is available in finished thicknesses of 0.75 to 1.5 mm. Because CSPE exhibits thermoplastic characteristics before it cures, it offers heat-weldable seams. After exposure on the roof, the membrane cures offering the toughness and mechanical set of a thermoset. The normal shelf life of the membrane for maintaining this thermoplastic characteristic is approximately six months. After the membrane is fully cured in the field, conventional adhesives are needed to make repairs. 

In the manufacture of highly resident flexible foams and thermoset RIM elastomers, graft or polymer polyols are used. Graft polyols are dispersions of free-radical-polymerized mixtures of acrylonitrile and styrene partially grafted to a polyol. Polymer polyols are available from BASF, Dow, and Union Carbide. In situ polyaddition reaction of isocyanates with amines in a polyol substrate produces PHD (polyhamstoff dispersion) polyols, which are marketed by Bayer (21). In addition, blending of polyether polyols with diethanolamine, followed by reaction with TDI, also affords a urethane/urea dispersion. The polymer or PHD-type polyols increase the load bearing properties and stiffness of flexible foams. Interreactive dispersion polyols are also used in RIM appHcations where elastomers of high modulus, low thermal coefficient of expansion, and improved paintabiUty are needed. 

Poly(vinyl alcohol) is employed as a modifier of thermosetting resins used as adhesives in plywood and particle board manufacture (314,315). The polymer is added to urea-formaldehyde or urea—melamine—formaldehyde resins to improve initial grab, to increase viscosity, and, in general, to improve the characteristics of the board. 

Fibers produced from pitch precursors can be manufactured by heat treating isotropic pitch at 400 to 450°C in an inert environment to transform it into a hquid crystalline state. The pitch is then spun into fibers and allowed to thermoset at 300°C for short periods of time. The fibers are subsequendy carbonized and graphitized at temperatures similar to those used in the manufacture of PAN-based fibers. The isotropic pitch precursor has not proved attractive to industry. However, a process based on anisotropic mesophase pitch (30), in which commercial pitch is spun and polymerized to form the mesophase, which is then melt spun, stabilized in air at about 300°C, carbonized at 1300°C, and graphitized at 3000°C, produces ultrahigh modulus (UHM) carbon fibers. In this process tension is not requited in the stabilization and graphitization stages. 

Some of the common types of plastics that ate used ate thermoplastics, such as poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) (see Polymers containing sulfur), nylons, Hquid crystal polymer (LCP), the polyesters (qv) such as polyesters that ate 30% glass-fiber reinforced, and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and polyetherimide (PEI) and thermosets such as diaHyl phthalate and phenoHc resins (qv). Because of the wide variety of manufacturing processes and usage requirements, these materials ate available in several variations which have a range of physical properties. 

In joining reinforced thermosetting pipe it is particularly important that the pipe be cut without chipping or cracking it. It is also important to sand, file, or grind any mold-release agent from the surfaces to be cemented. Joints are built up layer by layer of adhesive-saturated reinforcement by following the manufacturer s recommended procedure. Application of adhesive to the surfaces to be joined and assembly of these surfaces shall produce a continuous bond and provide an adhesive seal to protect the reinforcement from attack by the contents of the pipe. Unfilled or unbonded areas of the joint are considered defects and must be repaired. 

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