Foam insulation with improved low temperature properties using polyol additives

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11299882-B2
Application number	US-201816207735-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2018
Priority date	Dec 3, 2018
Publication date	Apr 12, 2022
Grant date	Apr 12, 2022

Abstract

A polyisocyanurate foam insulation product is produced from an isocyanate component and a polyol-containing component including a blowing agent. The polyol-containing component comprises one or more polyols, a fire retardant, and a hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additive effective to increase the R-value per inch of the insulation product as measured at 40° F., as compared with an otherwise-identical formulation lacking the hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additive. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product may have an R-value per inch of at least 6.0 when measured at 40° F. and may have an R-value per inch of at least 5.5 when measured at 25° F. Suitable hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives may include triethanolamine, trimethylolpropane, N-methyldiethanolamine, 1,4 butanediol, or another suitable multi-functional alcohol or combination of multi-functional alcohols.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A polyisocyanurate foam insulation product produced from:
an isocyanate component; and
a polyol-containing component including a blowing agent, one or more polyester polyols, a fire retardant, and one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives selected from a group consisting of: triethanolamine (TEA), trimethylolpropane (TMP), diethyl bis(2-hydroxyethyl)aminomethylphosphonate (DEHAMP), N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), 1,4 butanediol (BD), isobutanol, diethylethanolamine (DEEA), and a multi-functional alcohol, wherein:
the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular weight additives is present in an amount of between 10 parts and 20 parts per 100 parts of the one or more polyester polyols;
the polyisocyanurate foam insulation product has an R-value per inch of at least 6.0 when measured at 40° F.;
the polyisocyanurate foam insulation product has a cell size of less than 200 microns;
the polyol-containing component does not include any polyol that is not a polyester polyol or the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives; and
the polyisocyanurate foam insulation product is an insulation board having at least one facer, the facer comprising fiberglass, foil, or paper.

2. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives is effective to increase the R-value per inch of the insulation product as measured at 40° F., as compared with an otherwise-identical formulation lacking the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives.

3. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyisocyanurate foam insulation product has an R-value per inch of at least 6.5 when measured at 40° F.

4. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyisocyanurate foam insulation product has an R-value per inch of at least 5.5 when measured at 25° F.

5. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyisocyanurate foam insulation product has an R-value per inch of at least 6.0 when measured at 25° F.

6. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives has a molecular weight of between 50 and 500.

7. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 6 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives has a molecular weight of between 50 and 300.

8. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives is a multi-functional alcohol.

9. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 8 , wherein the multi-functional alcohol is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, aromatic, heterocyclic, and polyhydric alcohols and combinations thereof.

10. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives comprises triethanolamine (TEA).

11. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives comprises trimethylolpropane (TMP).

12. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives comprises diethyl bis(2-hydroxyethyl)aminomethylphosphonate (DEHAMP).

13. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives comprises N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA).

14. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives comprises 1,4 butanediol (BD).

15. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives comprises isobutanol.

16. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives comprises diethylethanolamine (DEEA).

17. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives comprises triethanolamine (TEA) and trimethylolpropane (TMP).

18. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydroxyl-containing low-molecular-weight additives comprises triethanolamine (TEA) and sorbitol.

19. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the fire retardant is non-halogenated.

20. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the fire retardant comprises at least one fire retardant selected from the group of fire retardants consisting of diethyl hydroxymethyl phosphonate (DEHMP), and tris(2-chloroisopropyl)phosphate (TCPP).

21. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the fire retardant comprises one or more compounds selected from the group of compounds consisting of an organo-phosphate, an organo-phosphite, and an organo-phosphonate.

22. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyisocyanurate foam insulation product is a rigid foam having a density of between 1.45 and 25 lbs/ft 3 .

23. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyisocyanurate foam insulation product has a cell size of less than 150 microns.

24. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyisocyanurate foam insulation product has a cell size of less than 120 microns.

25. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyol-containing component has, before the addition of the blowing agent, a viscosity of less than 3000 centipoise (cps).

26. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyol-containing component has, before the addition of the blowing agent, a viscosity of less than 2800 centipoise (cps).

27. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyol-containing component has, before the addition of the blowing agent, a viscosity of less than 2500 centipoise (cps).

28. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyol-containing component has, before the addition of the blowing agent, a viscosity of less than 2000 centipoise (cps).

29. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more polyester polyols has a hydroxyl number between 25 and 500.

30. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the blowing agent comprises a mixture of n-pentane and isopentane.

31. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 30 , wherein the blowing agent comprises water in an amount between 0.1 and 1.0 weight percent of the polyol-containing component.

32. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , further comprising a catalyst and a surfactant.

33. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 1 , wherein the polyol-containing component comprises a polyol having a functionality of greater than 2.0.

34. The polyisocyanurate foam insulation product of claim 33 , wherein the one or more

Assignees

• Johns Manville

Inventors

• Nandi Malay
• Wang Lance
• Asrar Jawed

Classifications

• B32B5/245

  another layer next to it being a foam layer · CPC title

• B32B2262/101

  Glass fibres · CPC title

• B32B2307/3065

  Flame resistant or retardant, fire resistant or retardant · CPC title

• B32B2307/304

  Insulating · CPC title

• B32B2307/732

  Dimensional properties · CPC title