Foamisol

In terms of its appearance and characteristics, Penoizol is an inexpensive look-alike of expanded polystyrene. However, owing to a very wide range of its unique properties, its scope of application is much broader than that of other thermal insulation materials. Penoizol offers to a consumer the best available price-quality ratio. Taking into account the heat conductivity factor and the price-quality relationship, it is 1.5 times more cost-effective than mineral wool, 1.3 cheaper than glasswool fiber (such as URSA), at least 1.5 cheaper than expanded polystyrene, 6.6 times cheaper than extruded polystyrene foam, and 4.7 more economical than basalt fiber sheets. The average retail price of cellular plastic in Russia is 600 rubles per cubic meter.

Urea formaldehyde foam (UF foam) is widely used all over the world. In different countries, it is known under various trademarks such as Flotofoam in Britain, Iporka in Japan, Aminotherm in Germany, Mofoterm in the Czech Republic, Izopiana and Plastsoil in Poland, Isoschaum in Switzerland, Insulspray in Denmark and Canada, Isolenge in France, or Acrolite Foam and Dynafoam in the United States.

In spite of the wide choice of top-quality thermal insulation materials available outside Russia, Penoizol still finds a ready market abroad owing to its high workability in filling hollow constructions right on the building site.

Different methods of casting jelly-like plastic foams into cavities are widely used in developed countries. While foreign builders often prefer to use warm-feeling extruded aerated plastics or mineral wool insulants for matting or sheeting, Penoizol still has no competitors among expanded polystyrenes or fibrous insulators when there is a need to fill internal cavities with a thermal insulation material.

There have also been examples of non-standard application of UF foam. Some Czech builders, for instance, use triplex concrete panels with a 50mm thick layer of Mofoterm. In the United States, there is a practice of manufacturing hollow concrete blocks and then filling the cavities with Acrolite Foam or Dynafoam.

Urea foam is noncombustible, and this advantage has been turned to account in an unconventional manner in Poland and Hungary by casting a several meter thick layer of UF foam over garbage dumps. This urea formaldehyde blanket prevents domestic refuse from self-ignition.

In Holland, France and Poland, cellular plastic is used as thermal insulation for buildings with cavity brickwalls. In a similar way, UF foam is widely used in the East Baltic countries, where there is a custom of leaving a 40 - 60 mm gap between the inner and outer walls. To fill the cavities, builders drill checkered holes in masonry joints of the outer brick wall, taking care not to damage the bricks. Jelly-like UF foam compound is then fed through the lower holes until it fills the entire bottom of the gap and reaches the second row of holes. After this, they continue injecting the foam from the next level. When the work is done, the employer is usually offered to choose any few spots on the wall where bricks will be carefully removed to make sure that UF foam has filled the entire space and no cavities are left empty.

After heat-insulating a building with a 10 cm thick layer of Penoizol, it requires several times less heating and the cost of winterization work pays back before the end of the first heating season. After filling the internal gaps or heat-insulating the outside walls of a building with UF foam, the rooms will merely require some short-term heating even during intense colds, and the temperature will not fall for as long as 8 or 10 hours if the heater is turned off.

Penoizol solutions can reduce the cost of new residential construction without loss of quality.

Main specifications of Penoizol™:

• Bulk density: 8 to 25
• Heat conductivity factor: 0,031 to 0,041
• Compressive strength in 10% linear strain, MPa: 0.003 to 0.025
• Maximum 24-hour water absorption, volume %: 18 to 14
• Maximum sorption humidity, weight %: 18
• Service temperature range, °Ń: - 60 to + 90

Penoizol™ is the only commercial thermal insulation material that is absolutely incombustible. UF foam belongs to the 2nd flammability group, while expanded polystyrene, for instance, is classified as the 4th flammability group. Even if the fire is so intense that metal starts melting, urea formaldehyde foam will not inflame but slowly evaporate; besides, its fume is virtually non-toxic.

The material’s open-cell structure ensures its good sound-proofing properties. In addition, Penoizol prevents propagation of insects, pests, and rodents.

Penoizol does not accumulate moisture and easily liberates it to the atmosphere when the ambient temperature is warm enough. Therefore, Penoizol should not be exposed to excessive humidity in autumn before the cold season, otherwise it will not have time to desiccate and its heat-insulating properties may become worse. More than that, any presence of congealed moisture inside the plastic foam may destroy its texture. Hence, Penoizol layers must be placed in the middle of a structure and if the external wall is destroyed it should be repaired before winter.

Reliable inner and outer walls around Penoizol insulation guarantee its durability. If there are no mechanical strains, external wall damages, or thermal shocks in high humidity conditions, Penoizol can have an unlimited service life. But even if there is a crack in the outer wall of a Penoizol-filled structure, no moisture will penetrate inside the building. Even though there may be a heavy liquid accumulation on the boundary between the interior plain of an outer wall and the insulant, Penoizol will never let it in. This impedes a humidity rise inside the building and prevents condensate from accumulating on the internal room walls. At the same time, UF foam “breathes”, i.e. remains vapor-permeable. All this makes Penoizol-insulated walls a perfect protection from dampness.

However, the main and the most indisputable advantages of Penoizol are the extremely competitive production cost, the technological simplicity and affordability, and the possibility of in-house production with minimum investment.