Foam is everywhere in daily life. To produce high-quality foam, you need a high-quality foaming machine and the right blowing agent. So what are the requirements for the blowing agent used in foam production?
The main blowing agents on the market are expandable polystyrene (EPS) and EPS-type blowing agents. The main component of expandable polystyrene is pentane, and its olefin content greatly affects processing performance — too high an olefin content tends to cause foam shrinkage.
A higher EPS blowing-agent content is not always better; about 5% is usually enough. Pay close attention to dosage: too much blowing agent can cause the foam to bloom or crack, while too little lowers the foaming ratio, and over-long heating can cause shrinkage and beading. So choose the blowing agent and its dosage carefully.
In recent years, foaming machines have developed rapidly in both variety and performance. For the packaging industry and large foam-processing operations, full automation greatly improves production efficiency and output. Traditional mechanisation has become a thing of the past — automation is the direction of the future.