While you might know that coolroom panels have a styrofoam core, you might find yourself asking “How is expanded polystyrene made?” Essentially, expanded polystyrene (EPS) is made from petroleum and natural gas byproducts. This results in a rigid cellular plastic foam material that has good insulation properties. It’s commonly made by coolroom manufacturing companies.
Raw Materials
The raw materials used to manufacture EPS are polystyrene beads, blowing agents and a few other additives such as flame retardants or colourants. The blowing agents consist of steam that expands the polystyrene beads.
Creating The Polystyrene Beads
To start with, ethylene is mixed with benzene to make styrene. This is then subjected to suspension polymerisation and treated with a polymerisation initiator to convert it into polystyrene. This creates a polymer chain which results in polystyrene beads.
Moulding: Shaping The Expanded Beads
After the beads have been expanded using steam, they’re poured into moulds. Steam is once again applied in order to fuse the beads together and create the desired shape. The material is then cooled, ready for the next stage.
Cutting And Shaping
After the styrofoam blocks have been sufficiently cooled, they’re cut into the desired shapes using hot wire cutters. This allows cool room manufacturers to create EPS panels in various thicknesses and sizes.
Final Processing And Lamination
To create the final product for insulating cool rooms, the styrofoam blocks are laminated with a surface coating to act as a moisture barrier and to make them extra durable. This helps the EPS sheets to withstand various environmental conditions.
How Is Styrofoam(Polystyrene Foam) Made?
Why Styrofoam (Expanded Polystyrene) Is Good For Coolrooms
Excellent Thermal Insulation
The density of the EPS panels creates excellent thermal insulation for coolrooms because the air spaces within the material trap air just like the insulation batts that are used in ceilings.
Lightweight
Expanded polystyrene is an extremely lightweight material which makes up the core of cool room panels and results in a product that is easy to handle and install.
Strong
Styrofoam is extremely strong and durable and with the added lamination, forms a product that has incredible durability.
Cost Effective
EPS is a cost-effective product to manufacture which in turn makes the resultant cool room panels highly affordable.
Moisture Resistant
Thanks to the surface coating on the expanded polystyrene sheets, they provide excellent moisture resistance which is particularly important when they’re used to make cool room panels.
Contact Burton Industries Today
At Burton Industries, all of our coolroom panels contain the expanded polystyrene core. This makes the panels extremely lightweight and easy to handle and provides you with a coolroom environment that is perfectly insulated to retain a consistent temperature. If you’re in the market for a new coolroom or just need some extra insulated panels to expand your current setup, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.
Burton Industries
As a family business, Burton Industries are always dedicated to high quality products for our customer needs. For all your freezer & cold room kits needs contact us.