VATIS UPDATE Article

Scientists from Zibo Zhenghua Foam Materials and Shandong University of Technology, China, have jointly researched and developed a new type of chemical blowing agent of polyurethane rigid foam ‘CFA-A8’, which might help to replace the prevailing physical blowing agents that contain ODS and super greenhouse gases.

Already in February of last year at a technology evaluation meeting in Beijing, was the new organic compound reviewed by Chinese academicians. At that time Shu Xingtian, an academic at the Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Processing (RIPP), said that the sugar-based chemical produced no ODS and had a much lower GWP=1 than existing physical blowing agent.

The project received 1.8 million yuan funding support from the Multilateral Fund. This fund was established by the UNEP in 1991 to assist developing countries meet their Montreal Protocol commitments. In total, the company and the involved university have spent about 10 million yuan on research and promotion of the technology, including a joint research center.