Determination of the Blowing Agent Distribution in Rigid Polyurethane Foam

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 1996

The amount and distribution of blowing agent in rigid polyurethane foam were determined by several methods, which are described and compared. A method for solvent extraction with subsequent gas chromatographic analysis was developed and found to be advantageous for CFC-blown foam along with a combustion method (the Schoniger method), where the chloride ions formed were determined by titration. The solvent extraction method was successfully applied to blowing agents in CFC-free foams as well. Three methods involving heating and weight-loss determination were evaluated. They are easy to use, but corrections for thermal decomposition of the polymer are needed. About half of the total amount of CFC-11 in the investigated polyurethane foams from district heating pipes was found to be dissolved in the polymer matrix.