Sustainable raw materials and the reduction of CO₂ emissions in the production of flexible foams and other polyurethane products are becoming increasingly important. Many companies from industry and trade are asking themselves how they can reduce the proportion of petroleum and environmentally harmful blowing agents in their production. This is why BIOMAT was launched in 2021. In the EU-funded project, scientists from eight nations are researching the development of sustainable foams and composites with a high proportion of renewable raw materials. The aim of BIOMAT is to reduce the greenhouse gases produced in the manufacture of foams and composites by 30 to 50 percent and to replace more than half of the material used with renewable raw materials. This research project requires numerous trials with various new raw materials in a wide range of formulations to investigate the respective foaming behavior, durability and other properties of the products. In order to obtain reproducible results and, in particular, to avoid the time-honored “cup tests”, a Hennecke LABFOAM was put into operation at the Pirmasens campus of Kaiserslautern University in 2022. The machine system is the ideal partner for test series and product innovations in the field of polyurethane processing.

There are several good reasons why the university chose the LABFOAM laboratory equipment from Hennecke. Particularly important to the research team were the automation capability, the independent metering lines and the individually adjustable parameters for the up to 25 different raw material components. “Another impressive plus point with the LABFOAM is the patented NOVAFLEX technology for the production of CO₂ blown foams. This does away with the need for blowing agents that are harmful to the environment and health – a unique benefit among laboratory equipment,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Sergiy Grishchuk. At the same time, the system also impresses with its small footprint. The diverse application possibilities find sufficient space on less than ten square meters.

Plant control via FOAMWARE is identical to the operation of continuous production plants. “With just a few clicks, we can create new formulations with a wide variety of components and additives, send them to the machine and start testing,” reports Philipp Haag, a doctoral student on the team and one of the LABFOAM operators. Compared to mixing by hand, this means a significant advantage in terms of accuracy, time savings, raw material consumption and quality of the foam.