Honeywell and Demilec Demonstrate Excellent Cold Weather Performance of New Heatlok® Spray Foam System Using Enovate™ 3000 (HFC-245fa) Blowing Agent

Demilec, a manufacturer of high quality polyurethane foam systems based in Canada and the USA, conducted perimeter wall trials to demonstrate the excellent cold weather performance of their new generation Heatlok® spray foam system using Enovate™ 3000 blowing agent. This new system was the result of a close collaboration between Demilec and Honeywell's applications laboratory in Buffalo, NY.

The first trial took place at the Saint Hubert Airport, in the outskirts of Montreal, Canada. The interior walls of a new airplane hanger were sprayed at a temperature of 19 degrees Fahrenheit (-7° C). Given the fact that the application was over steel metal panels the results were outstanding. Demilec was able to verify the good adhesion of the foam as well as the absence of cracking.

"The improvement that we noticed immediately," said Mario Charlebois, R&D Manager for Demilec, "is that this new system did not form any reversion skin on the cold steel substrate and showed very little thermal stress tension when the foam cooled down, a notable improvement over the HCFC-141b systems."

The second trial took place at the new Bombardier golf club house in a suburb of Montreal, also at exterior temperatures averaging 19 degrees Fahrenheit (-7° C). An exterior gypsum board wall section was coated with the new Demilec spray foam system. "The conditions for this trial were extreme," commented Guy Rivet, the applicator, "we had snow, wind and cold. Despite these conditions we were able to successfully spray the new Enovate 3000 system; I was pleased with the adhesion and consistency of the application."

The results of these trials have been a validation of what Demilec had observed in their laboratory. Compared to a HCFC-141b system, the Enovate 3000 system produces foam that does not shrink under cold weather application and is more dimensionally stable. These results are critical to Demilec since their winter system has to operate within the application window of 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10° C) to 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5° C). A system using Enovate 3000 blowing agent show a faster and earlier rise compared to HCFC-141b systems.

This is important for an applicator of wall insulation since it helps him be more productive. In addition the Enovate 3000 foam expands as soon as it hits the substrate, avoiding the formation of a skin. With these trials Demilec is well positioned to lead the spray foam market in its transition away from ozone depleting systems.

Enovate™ 3000 blowing agent is Honeywell's HFC-245fa. It is a non-ozone depleting blowing agent designed to provide a safe and energy efficient replacement to HCFC-141b. HCFC-141b is being phased out as part of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The US is scheduled to phase-out HCFC-141b production on December 31, 2002.

Established in 1983, Demilec is a system house specializing in research, development, manufacture and commercialization of high quality polyurethane foam systems. Within the first ten years, this newcomer to the plastics industry has become Canada's fastest growing manufacturer of urethane foam systems and a leader in spray foam specialties. Demilec Canada operates a manufacturing plant of 75,000 sq.ft in the Montréal area, and relies on 14 distribution points in North America. Demilec USA has been in operation since 1997 in Dallas, Texas. Demilec USA specializes in low-density spray polyurethane foam systems and elastomer coatings.

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