HRP20050674A2 - Foamed insulating material - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to foam insulation material, which is made of pigmented and non-pigmented styrene polymer particles that can expand. The material according to the present invention, especially when made in the form of panels, is advantageous for thermal insulation and accordingly for insulation purposes on buildings, but is also suitable for other applications. In addition, improved sound insulation can be achieved with the material in accordance with the present invention.

Materials made from styrene polymer particles are known, as far as they are concerned, from the state of the art. During production, expandable particles, which can also previously expand inside the so-called pressure chamber where foam is created from them, and during which at least one further expansion of the particles occurs. At the same time, there is a mutual connection and sticking of the corresponding particles that were formed from the foam. After cooling, the resulting material can be removed from the pressure chamber.

Often, the production of such materials occurs inside molds, which molds can be placed in pressure chambers, so that a certain shaping of a body can be achieved, which body is made of such a material.

Larger blocks can also be made from such materials. These large-format blocks can subsequently be cut into thinner panels.

An important criterion for evaluating such materials, which are made of styrofoam, is physical density, whereby with increased physical density, increased mechanical strength can also be achieved, which then affects, in addition to breaking strength, compressive strength as well as tensile strength.

In addition, the thermal conductivity of such a material plays an important role. Since thermal conductivity is density dependent, an increase in the physical density of a material leads to a decrease in thermal conductivity.

In order to save on material, materials, especially panels, tend to be made with a low density. Such boards, for example, with a density of 15 g/l then have a thermal conductivity that does not meet the requirements of thermal class 035 (according to DIN 18164). It would be desirable for the material to be included in that thermal class.

Therefore, it is not bad in this case to try to get a solution using the pigment of styrene polymer that can expand. EP 0 981 574 B1 describes graphite particles containing expandable styrene polymer. These styrene polymers containing graphite particles that are distributed homogeneously then show that, when foamed materials are made from them, they have good thermal insulation. According to information from EP 0 981 574 B1, such foam materials have a thermal conductivity below 35 mW/m x k at a density of 10 g/l.

However, it has now been shown in practical use that when panels made of this material are exposed to prolonged heat exposure, an uncontrolled irreversible thermal change in shape can occur. This change in shape can have an unfavorable effect, especially when thermal insulation panels are placed on the external facade. In doing so, gaps between the panels can then be created at the points of contact between the panels. These gaps, among other things, lead to the fact that cracks can appear on the plaster with which these panels are covered.

Therefore, starting here from that, the task is set for the subject invention, to make available a foam insulation material, which in terms of its physical properties mainly corresponds to those properties, especially with regard to thermal conductivity and density, which properties are described in the aforementioned European patent document EP 0 981 574 B1, but which materials have no changes or only minor changes when exposed to thermal load.

In accordance with the present invention, this task is solved by means of a foam insulating material having the characteristics of patent claim 1. Advantageous realization and further development of this invention can be achieved with the help of the characteristics specified in the dependent patent claims.

In accordance with this invention, it is therefore proposed to create a foam insulation material consisting of pigmented and non-pigmented particles of styrene polymer that can expand. It is surprising that the applicant can show that the material, and the panels made from this foam material, now, when it simultaneously contains non-pigmented styrene polymer particles, has the same thermal conductivity at raw density < 30 g/l that was previously known for pigmented panels especially those foam boards that contained graphite. At the same time, materials that are in accordance with this invention and that are made of mixed particles of styrene polymer, have almost no irreversible thermal changes in shape, even after longer thermal loads.

For a material that is in accordance with this invention, it is advantageous to have 10 to 90% by mass of non-pigmented styrene polymer particles and 90 to 10 mass % of pigmented styrene polymer particles. It is particularly advantageous if the material contains at least 30% by mass of pigmented styrene polymer. A particularly good result is achieved when about 50% by mass of pigmented and 50% by mass of non-pigmented styrene polymer particles are inserted into the material.

From the point of view of the material, it is particularly advantageous for the styrene polymer particles to contain carbon black, metal oxides, powdered metals, pigments of coloring materials and/or graphite. It is particularly advantageous for the styrene polymerizate particles to contain a pigment in such a way as described in EP 0 981 574 B1.

The material according to the present invention can be made in the form of flat plates or in the form of blocks, and accordingly prepared for the needs of using such an insulating material as an insert material. A particularly favorable use of such material is the use for insertion in thermal insulation, and here especially in the thermal insulation of buildings.

A favorable embodiment of this invention foresees that the pigmented particles of styrene polymer are placed in such a way that they are irregularly distributed in the material. However, there is also the possibility that pigmented styrene polymer particles are placed in a systematically arranged form within the material.

Furthermore, it is possible to create an optically recognizable pattern that takes a certain shape in the material, which shape, for example, improves the overall aesthetic impression, with the help of pigmented styrene polymerizate brushes compared to the white non-pigmented particles, which are most often colored, especially black. Such patterns can also be used to convey information.

In a further alternative, with a systematic arrangement of pigmented styrene polymer particles, the particles can be placed in a certain color in one layer, so that a targeted impact on the mechanical and thermal properties of the material can be achieved.

Such a cross-section can, for example, be placed in the middle, inside a body made of a material made in accordance with the present invention. Such sections can also be made as surfaces and also as surface layers. It is understood that it is also possible for such materials, which have the form of a plate, and which are made in accordance with the present invention, and in the manner previously described, to place additional auxiliary means for holding further layers.

The material which is in accordance with the present invention, and which is made in the form of plates, can also, since it is also intended for heat insulation, be supplied with various designs on the edges, for example, with a design that works on the principle of a groove /spring.

It has now been shown in a surprising way that a material in accordance with this invention, for example, at a raw density of about 15 g/l, not only fulfills class 035 for thermal conductivity, but that this material at the same time has almost none, or only unimportant, changes when exposed to longer thermal loads. The material according to the present invention thus combines the advantages of the material from EP 0 981 575 B1 with favorable properties with regard to thermal changes of shape, such as are known for materials without pigments, i.e. for Styrofoam foam materials.

By means of the favorable thermal and mechanical properties of the foam material that is in accordance with this invention, it also acts in a reduced form on the various thermal expansions that occur in the material, so that it is also possible to reduce the occurrence of cracks in these layers in the areas thus created next to the gaps. or in coatings.

In the next part, this invention will be explained in more detail by means of examples and by means of figures 1 and 2.

Figure 1 gives the measured values that were found on the panels that were taken as examples.

Figure 2 shows a material 3 according to the present invention which is made in the form of a plate. The pigmented particles of styrene polymer 1 contain graphite particles and are distributed irregularly in material 3. The styrene polymer particles that are without pigment are marked with the mark 2.

Example:

For the panels that were made for these examples, the same conditions were used and unique process parameters were applied, and the same machines were used to make them.

The material in accordance with this invention was made of previously expanded polystyrene polymer particles (Styroporpartikel F 215 from BASF) and with the same proportions (50 mass %) of polystyrene polymer particles pigmented with graphite (Neopor from BASF). The resulting boards had a black and white surface (dalmatian) due to the black Neopor particles. This material achieved a density of 15.6 kg/m3, and a thermal conductivity, according to DIN 52612, at 23ºC, in the amount of 32.8 mW/m*K, could be achieved using a Hesto measuring instrument.

In comparison, a density of 14.77 kg/m3, a thermal conductivity of 37.9 mW/m*K is obtained with a foam material that does not have pigments (white) and is in accordance with the state of the art, and with a pure foam material which is pigmented with graphite, a density of 17.38 kg/m3 and a thermal conductivity of 32.2 mW/m*K can be found.

In the case of foam material without pigment, which is in accordance with the state of the art, a tensile strength is achieved when clinging from 115 to 120 kPa in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the panel. In the case of a pure foam material that is pigmented with graphite, which is also in accordance with the state of the art, an appropriate tensile strength is achieved when clinging to 160 kPa, and in the case of a foam material that is made in accordance with the present invention and that is made of black (graphite ) and white (pigmentless) foam particles, a tensile strength of 160 kPa is achieved. The measured values are collected in the table in Figure 1.

Claims (11)

1. Foam insulation material that is made of styrene polymer particles that can expand, indicated by the fact that it is made of styrene polymer particles that contain pigment or are without pigment. 2. Material according to claim 1, characterized in that the pigments are styrene polymer particles containing a pigment selected from carbon black, metal oxide, metal powder, pigmented coloring material and/or graphite 3. Material according to patent claim 2, characterized in that the styrene polymerizate particles that contain the pigment contain graphite particles that are distributed homogeneously. 4. Material according to one of the previous patent claims, characterized in that it is made of 10 to 90 mass % of pigmented styrene polymer particles and 90 to 10 mass % of styrene polymer particles that have no pigment. 5. Material according to patent claim 4, characterized in that the material is made of at least 30% by mass of styrene polymer particles that are pigmented. 6. Material according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the pigmented particles of styrene polymer are irregularly distributed in the material. 7. Material according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the pigmented particles of styrene polymer are systematically distributed in the material. 8. Material according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the pigmented particles of styrene polymer are arranged to form a pattern. 9. Material according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the pigmented particles of styrene polymer form a single layer. 10. Material according to at least one of the preceding patent claims, characterized in that its thermal conductivity is so reduced that the thermal conductivity meets the requirements of thermal class 035 (according to DIN 18164, part 1). 11. Application of material that is in accordance with at least one of patent claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it is used for thermal insulation of buildings and parts of buildings.