SOLKANE® Insulation

A foaming agent of the third generation without ozone depletion potential

SOLKANE® 365 is a hydrofluorocarbon of the latest generation. It has no ozone depleting potential and with its boiling point of 40 °C it can be handled as a true liquid at room temperature. It is a colorless, compound with a faintly ethereal odor, used for a wide range of applications within PU foams, solvents or heat transfer fluids.

The chemical stability of SOLKANE® 365 is even better when compared to HCFC 141b. Therefore no stabilizer is needed if SOLKANE® 365 is stored under appropriate conditions (for details please refer to our SDS).

SOLKANE® 365 is a perfect team player. It is miscible with a wide range of other organic foam blowing agents like other HFCs or even hydrocarbons.

The choices are up to you and almost unlimited. Blending of i.e. cyclopentane with SOLKANE® 365 strongly improves the lambda value while reducing the density of the resulting PU foam. That means, running SOLKANE® 365 in your system minimizes raw material costs while improving insulation performance. That is what we call a win win situation!

SOLKANE® 365 is your first choice when fire safety is demanded. Fire classifications and fire performance tests are of increased importance for modern PU products especially in the building industry. Combined with the Solvay's IXOL® range of reactive flame retardant polyols, SOLKANE® 365 blown PU foams reach the highest possible classifications for organic insulation materials.

Liquid hydrofluorocarbon blends of the third generation without ozone depletion potential

SOLKANE® 365 is the key component to form a range of promising blowing agent blends. For safety applications a non-flammable HFC-blend is of special interest. SOLKANE® 227ea is commercially produced propellant for pharmaceutical aerosols. Blends of SOLKANE® 365 and SOLKANE® 227ea have been checked for a flash point using an Abel Pensky closed cup flash point apparatus, in accordance to DIN 51 755-1.

A blend of SOLKANE® 365/227 with 5 pbw of SOLKANE® 227ea has no flash point and is classified as a non-flammable liquid. It has to be pointed out that this blend is non azeotropic, and the compound SOLKANE® 227ea evaporates first during handling. To have a safety margin Solvay therefore recommends the blend SOLKANE® 365/227 with 7 pbw of SOLKANE® 227ea. This blend starts boiling at ~30 °C and is developed for foam producers. For System Houses Solvay developed the blend SOLKANE® 365/227 87:13, as the used polyols have an influence to the flash point behaviour.

Although the blend SOLKANE® 365/227 has no flash point, it has flammability limits in air. Such a situation is well known with for instance SOLKANE® 141b or Methylene Chloride. 

A high purity liquid that has a wide range of applications in the plastic foams sector.

Because of its low gas phase thermal conductivity SOLKANE® 141b was the best available replacement to CFC11 as a blowing agent for rigid polyurethane insulating foams. In the meantime it is part of phase-out-scenarios in many countries all over the world, but deliveries from Solvay are still possible into regions where the phase-out is not completed.

The fire fighter in your foam. Particularly well suited for the production of rigid polyurethane foams.

IXOL® B251 is also suitable for the development of formulations having high fire performance according to the European standard based on the Single Burning Item (SBI) test. As example, formulations containing the polyol IXOL® B251 can lead to the manufacture of sandwich panels with a class B according to the European classification. This is the highest level that can be achieved by polyurethane foams. 

The polyol IXOL® B251 affect the thermal insulation characteristics of the foam or its mechanical properties positively. It can be used in various concentrations in combination with standard polyether or polyester polyols. IXOL® B251 is also suitable for manufacturing of modified isocyanurate polyurethane foams (PUIR: also known as low index polyisocyanurate foams).

Applications

Thermal insulation is part of the state-of-the art way of construction, be it for individual houses, commercial complexes, industrial structures or public buildings. In this area rigid polyurethane foams (PUR) are established as the most efficient thermal insulation material that is manufactured on industrial scale. The outstanding characteristics of this cellular material are becoming nowadays a major item because of the necessity to protect our environment, in particular by reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases through a lower energy consumption (reduction of carbon dioxide emissions). 

For obvious safety reasons, rigid polyurethane foams must comply with various standardized tests defined by national or international regulations. IXOL® B251 gives the possibility to produce rigid polyurethane foams which can achieve the requirements of many European and American tests. Rigid polyurethane foams formulated with IXOL® B251 in particular can pass  tests even with high requirements. 

The polyol IXOL® B251 is compatible with all usual polyols and with non reactive flame retardants such as phosphoric acid esters. It presents moreover useful synergism with these compounds. 

The use of IXOL® B251 offers therefore considerable flexibility in formulation. Nevertheless, system houses are advised to check that their formulations do not alter with time whenever a long term stability of the polyol blend is required. 

Formulations containing the polyol IXOL® B251 can be used in the most varied processing techniques such as e.g.: 

• Injection moulding in "sandwich" plates for the manufacture of cladding panels or elements for cooling chambers and cold stores 
• Continuous production of panels (laminates)
• Manufacture of block foams which can be cut into plates or tailor-made shapes 
• In-situ projection or cast molding for roof tightening and insulation, vertical or under-face insulation. 

  
For one-component foams we also offer IXOL® M125, a diol with a lower hydroxyl number and a lower viscosity.  

Flame retardant for your canned foam. Particularly suited for one component polyurethane foams.

The polyol IXOL® M125 is a halogenated aliphatic polyether diol, particularly suited for one and two component polyurethane foams.

Due to its low functionality, IXOL® M125 is particularly suited for one component polyurethane (PUR) foams to meet high standards in fire safety. Being a reactive compound, IXOL® M125 polyol guarantees a permanent flame retardant effect since the halogens are chemically bound to the final polymer.

IXOL® M125 has been manufactured in our Tavaux plant (France) for about 30 years. As a mature product the manufacturing process is proven and runs totally under computer control, which ensures optimum and constant quality. Furthermore the plant is certified according to ISO 9002 standard.

Applications

The polyol IXOL® M125 is compatible with all usual polyols and with flame retardant additives such as for example phosphoric acid esters. IXOL® M125 has a good premix stability in preformulated systems, even if stored for a longer time. The use of IXOL® M125 therefore offers full flexibility in formulation. 

Nevertheless, formulators and users are advised to check that their formulations or the properties of their resulting foam do not alter with time, when long term stability of the blends is required. 

IXOL® M125 is a medium viscous polyol at room temperature which enables an easy processing or use in special application such as one component foams (OCF). 

Product uses

IXOL® M125 imparts advantages as a high performance flame retardant in the following main applications:

• One component foams: IXOL® M125 used in combination with polyether polyols or with polyester polyols gives a foam achieving a high flame suppression standard, for example the B2/B1 classification in OCF. 
• PIR foams blown with HCFCs such as Solkane 141b or hydrocarbons such as n-pentane: The use of IXOL® M125 allows a reduction of the isocyanate index and therefore has a positive impact on the foam friability. 
• Adhesives: IXOL® M125 improves the fire performance of PU based adhesives. 
• PU-based Glue systems can be improved by addition of IXOL M125 according the fire behaviour.