BASF Polyurethanes offers three innovative insulation materials for the cold chain: Elastocool® for freezers, Elastopir® for refrigerated warehouses, and Elastopor® for freezer chests and truck trailers. An eco-efficiency analysis shows the efficiency of different polyurethane (PU) thicknesses in the cold chain: If all storage facilities and vehicles were to be insulated by PU foam with optimized thickness, 16 times more energy could be saved than is needed for the production of the insulating material.

23-Jun-10

Since April 2010, the first gas lines of the Nord Stream Pipeline Project are being laid. They are to run in the Baltic sea, between Vyborg/Russia and Greifswald/Eastern Germany. Approximately 200,000 pipes will have to be welded together, and 200,000 weld seams will have to be sheathed and thus protected against damage. BASF Polyurethanes’ Elastopor® H, an open-cell polyurethane rigid foam, has been selected to accomplish this mission. It has been optimized in strength and processing speed.

23-Jun-10

One of the many offshore applications of polyurethanes from BASF Polyurethanes are VIV strakes. They are enveloping the pipelines rising from the seabed and dissipate strong horizontal current forces. Other applications of BASF’s PU in offshore oil and gas industry are pressure-resistant insulations on deep sea diving bells, subsea buoys for pipeline parts and the thermal insulation of the pipelines themselves.

23-Jun-10

Cables and lines now have to meet the requirements of temperature class D of German standard LV 112 and, for instance, must be able to pass the winding test even after 3000 hours of hot-air ageing at 150°C [302°F]. The reasons for this are the higher voltages and currents that occur in vehicles with electric motors. The new Elastollan® 785 A 10 HPM, a TPU made by BASF Polyurethanes, meets these requirements, while it is less costly and easier to process than the alternative materials.

23-Jun-10