• SK pucore’s urethane insulation material _ base_d on ‘high retardant polyol’ became the first of its kind in the industry to pass the official ‘semi-noncombustible material suitability test.’

• The insulation material has enhanced fire safety while insulation performance is maintained, and SK pucore will “consolidate its leadership in eco-friendly, high value-added polyurethane leadership.”

SK pucore, a polyurethane business in which SKC (President: Woncheol Park) has invested, became the first of its kind in the industry to receive an official recognition for the safety of a polyurethane insulation material.

SK pucore announced on December 19 that it has co-developed a urethane insulation material since October this year through a consortium with four other companies including SY, a construction materials company, Geum Sung Insulationtech, Lotte E&C and Lotte Chemical, and that this material passed the Korea Conformity Laboratories’ ‘semi-noncombustible material* suitability test’ this month. It is the first time that polyurethane insulation material, which has long been considered a combustible that burns easily, passed the semi-noncombustible material suitability test certified by KOLAS (Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme) of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards.

*Materials with properties equivalent to noncombustible materials that do not burn.

In the existing construction industry, there was a dilemma that excellent high-performance insulation materials tended to have weak flame retardancy, a property that prevents burning of a material, and materials with high flame retardancy tended to demonstrate degraded insulation performance. Polyurethane has been classified as a material with excellent insulation properties but poor flame retardancy. As the bill for the amendment of the Building Act was passed last year, which strengthens the fire safety of building materials, semi-noncombustible performance became a must for building materials made of polyurethane, Styrofoam, etc. in the future.

In order to overcome such drawback of polyurethane, SK pucore established a ‘flame retardant material mixing system’ that can be applied to polyol, a raw material of polyurethane, and successfully developed high flame retardant polyol that maintains excellent insulation performance. In addition, Lotte Chemical which supplies basic polyol materials contributed to ensuring semi-noncombustible performance as it developed a raw material with excellent thermal resistance. Lotte E&C plans to actively apply the product in real construction sites.

It should be particularly noted that, in this semi-noncombustible material suitability test, excellent flame retardancy was successfully proven by use of thin steel sheets for external wall finishing instead of granites, tiles or bricks that are resistant to fire. In addition, for the foaming used in the insulation material manufacturing process, an eco-friendly foaming agent with significantly reduced greenhouse gas emission was used to enhance the eco-friendliness as well as safety. SK pucore, together with other insulation material manufacturers, has also started to develop mass-production technology and specialized facilities for this safe, eco-friendly polyurethane insulation material.

An SK pucore executive said, “We expect that this insulation material with excellent insulation performance and flame retardancy will minimize energy consumption, ensure safety against fire and contribute to relevant policy reinforcement all at the same time,” and added, “SK pucore will further consolidate its leadership in eco-friendly and high value-added polyurethane technology through continued research and development activities.”. [End of _ document_]