COMBUSTION MODIFIED MOLDED POLYURETHANE FLEXIBLE FOAM FOR THE FURNITURE INDUSTRY

Current trends in legislation are based on a move towards more severe fire testing of flexible foam products used in the construction of domestic and contract furniture and mass transit seating. Large scale ignition tests, such as California T.B. 133 in the U.SA., BS 5852 crib 5 in the UK and the AA standard in Japan, are becoming the accepted norm around the world. ICI has now developed a combustion modified system capable of meeting even these most stringent fire tests. In addition, the polyol blend used is storage stable against any settling out of the solid fire retardant component. This has been achieved in a CFC free system without compromising the superior processing associated with MDI technology. In fact, it is found that the reproducibility of the fire performance of the resulting foam is enhanced due to superior dispersion of the solid fire retardant. Careful development of both polyol and isocyanate components has minimized the detrimental effects of the fire retardant package on foam physical properties. Significant joint customer development work has led to the definition of a seat design concept incorporating ICI's combustion modified foam which can satisfy California T.B. 133, recognized as one of the world's most severe fire performance tests. Formulation development work has been underpinned by the development of an understanding of the fundamental mechanism at work during combustion of the CMHR foam. This has been achieved by the use of analytical techniques including a study by cone calorimetry.