"According to estimates, if all the doors and windows of existing buildings and new buildings that need to be renovated in China are replaced with the European standard polyurethane energy-saving door and window system, 420 million tons of standard coal can be saved each year, which is equivalent to 20% of China's total annual coal. %." Mr. Su Bingli told us at the 25th China International Composites Industry Technology Exhibition.

Mr. Su Bingli is the Commercial Director of Huntsman's Polyurethane Division in China. Since joining the company 35 years ago, he has witnessed the fastest growing period in the polyurethane industry. Polyurethane resin has gradually found its use in the field of composite materials due to its advantages of high strength, good toughness, fast curing, environmental protection and no volatilization. In the past, the field of composite materials was dominated by unsaturated resins and epoxy resins for a long time. Polyurethane, as a new alternative material, can be described as a new "net celebrity" in recent years.

High-performance doors and windows created by "net celebrity" materials: heat preservation, fire protection, and large daylighting

At the exhibition, Huntsman focused on exhibiting doors and windows of the polyurethane composite full-broken bridge system.

Mr. Su said: “A distinctive feature of the composite material industry is that it has a huge market segment and is relatively fragmented. Huntsman has been looking for its own end application market, which can not only give play to its own advantages, but also generate social and economic Effect. In the medium and long term, polyurethane composite doors and windows have good development prospects."

"Polyurethane composite materials used in door and window systems provide significant advantages: in addition to sheltering wind and rain, they also have a thermal insulation effect. Compared with mainstream materials in the market, it has better weather resistance and better mechanical properties. In addition, the polyurethane composite material provides sufficient design freedom. Its surface is smooth and has good adhesion, which is conducive to coating and bonding; outstanding mechanical properties, suitable for narrow-edge design, and make doors and windows have a larger daylighting surface."

Speaking of the most attractive pain points of polyurethane composite materials for door and window systems, Mr. Su told us: "In the field of construction, great attention is paid to the fire protection performance of high-rise buildings. In recent years, two high-rise building fire accidents in the United Kingdom have caused People attach great importance to it. Polyurethane composite material has excellent fire resistance performance, and its fire resistance limit can reach 1-1.5 hours, maintaining the structural integrity of the window frame. However, traditional color aluminum and steel windows can only maintain 30- 40 minutes. The domestic construction department is also drafting regulations, considering that each household should have an escape room above 54 meters (18 floors), and put forward corresponding requirements for its fire resistance. If the regulations are further written and implemented, polyurethane composite materials will be used in the door and window system The applications on the Internet will usher in a broader space."

Huntsman is one of the first companies that tried to use polyurethane composites for door and window systems. From the initial concept to the promotion, it has now entered the process of commercialization. "Huntsman has established a cooperative relationship with Jiren Technology to apply glass fiber reinforced polyurethane composites to door and window systems. The doors and windows they produce have been successfully exported to Europe and have won unanimous praise from the market. In Shanghai, we also have Some demonstration projects, such as the newly built top floor of the Ninth People’s Hospital, used polyurethane composite doors and windows."

Three major processes of polyurethane composite materials: pultrusion, winding, RTM

The polyurethane composite material used in the door and window system is based on the pultrusion process, which is a newly developed process in the past few years.

In fact, Huntsman was the first in history to develop polyurethane products for composite materials. As the process changes, Huntsman can provide mature polyurethane products from the earliest S-RIM and R-RIM used to manufacture door linings to today's mainstream pultrusion, winding, and RTM.

 "The winding process is mainly used for the production of pipes (such as telephone poles). There are frequent domestic typhoons and severe hurricanes abroad. The lightweight and high-strength polyurethane composite material is an ideal choice for safety assurance and post-disaster reconstruction; the pultrusion process is suitable for doors and windows. Profiles, cable trays and other scenarios; RTM technology is mostly used in automotive structural parts. As new energy vehicles attach importance to lightweight, the application of polyurethane composites may become more and more extensive."

General Su said: “Because of the designability of polyurethane resins, the potential application fields of composite materials made are wide, and there are basically no limitations. The key lies in the development of process technology, so that polyurethane composite materials can be accepted by more downstream markets. Customers. The balance between performance and cost will be considered, but I think that in the future, polyurethane composite materials will be applied on a large scale and after a complete industrial chain is formed, the economy will be improved."

Environmental protection: from industrial production to end applications

"Traditional composite materials, based on unsaturated resins and epoxy resins, the volatilization of solvents and styrene used in the production process... will cause harm to the operator's body. China is paying more and more attention to environmental protection and industrial production safety, successive environmental protection Supervision puts these composite factories under tremendous pressure. Our polyurethane resin uses MDI as a raw material, and no toxic volatile gases are generated during the production of composite materials, which is a good guarantee for industrial production safety."

In the composites industry, as a "net celebrity" that has received wide attention in recent years, the downstream market is still unfamiliar with polyurethane composites. And from the beginning of the lightweight components of automobiles, to large-scale wind turbine blades, to polyurethane composite doors and windows...it is refreshing our understanding time and time again. Huntsman is also trying to bring it into more areas closely related to our lives. According to reports, Huntsman has successfully used polyurethane composites for bathtubs, which not only achieves thermal insulation, but also reduces weight.

The secret of everlasting “net celebrity” lies in innovation and irreplaceable advantages. With the continuous emergence of polyurethane composite materials, we look forward to Huntsman's ability to create greater value.

We look forward to Huntsman's ability to create greater value.