Urethane soy systems

Fantastic plasticsPhil Lepage learns how a South Dakota company is using soybean-derived products to decrease the nationÔÇÖs dependence on petroleum. Perhaps if The Graduate were being filmed today, the one word of advice given to Benjamin Braddock might not have been ÔÇ£PlasticsÔÇØ but rather the two words, ÔÇ£Bio-renewable polyols.ÔÇØPolyols are the raw material used to make polyurethane, and Urethane Soy Systems Company of Volga, South Dakota, specializes in researching and marketing the use of soy-based polyols. Early on, the company recognized that there were economic, functional, and environmental advantages to using soybean oil in polyurethane applications. Thus, it built a state-of-the-art facility in the middle of soybean country to manufacture Soyol┬«, its ÔÇ£bio-renewableÔÇØ polyol made from soybean oil, which can replace many petroleum-based polyols in the manufacture of polyurethane plastic products.For those without a chemical engineering background, polyurethane products result from the chemical reaction of an isocyanate (the ÔÇ£AÔÇØ component) and a polyol (the ÔÇ£BÔÇØ component). The B component may contain petroleum-based polyols, bio-renewable polyols, catalysts, surfactants, blowing agents, flame retardants, and various other additives. Depending on the type of components used, polyurethane products can be flexible, rigid, semi-rigid, hard, soft, elastic, or have other characteristics.Polyurethane plastic is used in a wide range of products in virtually every industry: automotive, construction, furniture, machinery and equipment, recreational products, appliances, carpeting, footwear, electronics, paints and coatings, and many others. Common polyurethane applications include seating foam in furniture and automobiles; foam insulation in buildings and appliances; carpet backing and padding; roof coatings; mattresses and pillows; rigid panels, bumpers, and interiors in cars, campers, and boats, and so on.Compared with petroleum-based polyols, Urethane Soy sees many advantages to soy-based polyols: they cost less; they are produced from plant-based, renewable resources; they reduce demand for and dependence on petroleum reserves; their pricing is more stable; they require less energy to produce; they can be used in a broad range of polyurethane applications, and they yield products with equivalent or superior physical properties. Replacing petroleum-based polyols with bio-renewable polyols promises important benefits for farmers, the economy, and the environment as well. Utilizing plant-based renewable resources will enable farmers to produce and sell more soybeans and soybean oil, thus improving economic conditions in rural communities. Increased use of plant-sourced chemical building blocks will help conserve non-renewable fossil fuels, and importing less petroleum and exporting more soybean oil will improve the US trade balance. The United Soybean Board (USB) and its soybean farmer members have worked closely with Urethane Soy since 1998 and have awarded the company five grants for initial research, development, and scientific validation of Soyol bio-renewable polyols.The USB recently commissioned an independent market study to determine the potential demand for bio-renewable polyols in all major polyurethane markets. This was performed by Omni Tech International, a professional technical consulting firm with expertise in plastics, polyurethane, and biotechnology. The study was conducted in all major polyurethane categories and subcategories, and in each market sector Omni Tech ascertained and verified the past and current polyol demands and the projected future polyol demands for five years. The North American demand for Soyol bio-renewable polyols is projected to exceed 700 million pounds within five years, and international demand should at least equal this amount. Urethane Soy also provides environmentally advanced spray foam products with its SoyTherm line of insulation, which blocks air infiltration, the leading cause of energy loss in a building. SoyTherm air-seals and insulates in a single application, blocking out particulates such as dust, pollen, and allergens. It adheres and conforms to any shape, so that even the smallest leak is eliminated. This system has been rated to save up to 60 percent in utility bills, as well as reducing the HVAC tonnage by as much as 50 percent.Urethane Soy has been recognized by Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) in a report that credits Soyol as a net sequester of 2.2 pounds of carbon dioxide for every pound of Soyol used. This means that the use of SoyTherm essentially eliminates carbon dioxide from the atmosphere instead of adding to it as other foam manufacturers do.┬á