Product Specification:
| Specificatin | Bead size (mm) | One-time Expansin | Application |
| ZKF 201 | 1.40-2.00 | 50-70 | Block |
| ZKF 301 | 1.00-1.60 | 45-65 | Block and large packaging |
| ZKF 302 | 0.85-1.25 | 40-65 | Block and large packaging |
| ZKF 303 | 0.70-1.00 | 40-60 | Block and medium-density packaging |
| ZKF 401 | 0.50-0.80 | 30-50 | Heavy board and product for special use |
| ZKF501 | 0.40-0.60 | 25-40 | Heavy board and product for special use |
Application
●Packaging
EPS plastic foam is currently the lightest packaging material available. It provides excellent cushioning and shock resistance for products where packages are subjected to rough handing or dropping.
●New Building Material
EPS foam block can be widely used in buildings to provide thermal insulation and heat conservation. In the tropical climate of Southern China, EPS foam can reduce energy consumption in air-conditioned buildings by providing effective thermal insulation.
●Plastic Foam Flotation
Since EPS foam is of the properties of negligible water absorption and high buoyancy together with long life and mechanical strength; it is also an excellent floatation material. It is widely used in lifesaving equipment, buoys, salvages, fishing and many other aquatic applications.
●Decorative Material
EPS foam can be used with many other materials to produce furnishings,articles in arts and crafts, statues, stage backdrops and movie props. EPS can be extruded, blow molded and stretched and the final product can be used as an advertising medium for product promotion, especially in exhibitions, and can be further cut and pasted to produce architectural and mechanical models.
●Full Mould Casing
Since EPS plastic foam is hydrocarbon, it will decompose acertain at high temperature with little residual ash. A mold made from EPS has high mechanical strength and can be easily cut and processed into complex shapes such as machine tools. It can therefore be used in full mould csating in place of traditional wooden patterns. It is very well suited for usgae in precision castings.
●Protecting Material
In cold regions with high altitudes EPS can be used to cushion underground foundations and used an antifreeze pad for roads and railways. By using advanced construction methods, it can be used to cushion roadway embankments and bridge groundwork to evenly distribute load over areas with low load bearing capacity.
●Filtering Material
EPS foam beads are a new filtering medium applicable to medium and small-scaled water supply systems.
●Other applications
EPS foam beads have application in seedling nurseries for hydroponics and seedling beds.
EPS foam beads can be mixed with clay and cement to manufacture lightweight wall tiles and cement castings.
EPS plastic foam has a wide range of uses in an ever-growing field of applications.
Flame retardant EPS grades confer excellent processing and product properties
● Consistent raw bead and good fluidity of foamed bead.
● Rapid expansion.
● Relatively low density in second-time expansion.
● Excellent flame retardation with the US UL Product Security Certification.
● Wide range of operation and suitable for various block machines, automatic machines and manual presses.
● Fine cell, beautiful and flat appearance .
● Low shrinkage rate of block in molding.
● Good integrity inside to obtain strong toughness and rigidity.
● Recommended 40-70 expansion ratio to increase as per several-time expansion.
Flame Retardant Property of Block or Molding
Our flame retardant EPS has passed the evaluation of the US Underwriters Laboratories Ins. (UL) and the approval number is E212192. Improper processing will, however, reduce the flame retardant property of ZKF plastic foam. Using non-flame retardant coaling in expansion or blending with general grade EPS will in both cases reduce the flame retardant properties. In order to ensure flame retardant properties, products must be left to age to allow residual blowing agent dissipate. The aging period is mainly determined by the content of residual blowing agent, apparent density and product size. For block, the following data is provided from experience.(Under well ventilated conditions)
15kg/m3 | 20mm thickness | At 1east one-week shelf life |
50mm thickness | At 1east two-week shelf life | |
30kg/m3 | 20mm thickness | At 1east two-week shelf life |
50mm thickness | At 1east three-week shelf life |
Correct understanding of self -extinguishing of flame retard ant EPS
●Flame retardant EPS product is not never-burned material, even it is named "flame retardant". Actually international standard defined EPS foam building product as "flammable building material", it is just more flame retardant compared with regular EPS material.
●GB8626 China National Standard "Ignitability of building products measurement" stipulates that the sample tested should be stored at least 14 days with temperature 23±2℃ and the relative humidity 50±5%.
●GB8624-2006 China National Standard "Fire classification of construction products and building elements", equal to Europe Union Standard "EN13501-1:2002".The new version of GB8624 has been changed a lot and expanded the understandings to the parameters of burning release rate, burning heat release quantity, burning smoke density and burning release rate, burning heat release quantity, burning smoke density and burning result toxicity. The classifications of self-extinguishing levels are related with the final uses of the products. If the same product has different final uses, it will have different levels of self-extinguishing.
●According to EN13238-Conditioning procedures and general rules for selection of substrates and ENISO11926-2:2002-Ignitability of building products subjected to direct impingement of flame-Part2:Single-flame source test, the flame retardant EPS with the brand Xifa has passed the test.
Recommended Processing Conditions
●Material Selection
Select the bead diameter as per the required density of block. Low density(10-13g/l) requires ZKF201, ZKF301 or ZKF302. When required density is in the range of 12-16g/l, the required grade will be ZKF302, ZKF303 or ZKF401. With higher density, over 25g/l, the requirement is ZKF401, ZKF501 or low pentane flame retardant ZKF-302LP, ZKF-401LP and ZKF-501LP.
●Pre-expansion
Steam Pressure:0.2MPa-0.4MPa
Pre-expansion Temperature: 96-106℃
Maturing Time: 4-10 hours interval between two pre-expansioans.
The density in the first pre-expansion is usually 1.5-1.6 time that of the second pre-expansion.
●Block Molding
Packaging
Steam Pressure of Stationary Mould: 0.8-1.2kgf/cm2
Steam Pressure of Moving Mould :0.8-1.2kgf/cm2
●Block
Main heating: 0.55-0.80kgf/cm2
Cooling time: around 300-800 seconds, related to density of block and property or machinery.
