Description:
Rigid polyurethanes account for over a quarter of total global output of polyurethane industry. These materials can be used in endless applications, the number of which is still growing in many new and sometimes unexpected areas. The webinar aims to highlight business opportunities offered by the products and technical background which will help taking advantage of these opportunities. The webinar will provide a good overview of: Types of rigid polyurethanes and their applications, rigid polyurethanes chemistry theory, raw materials used in rigid polyurethanes, formulating of rigid polyurethanes, manufacturing methods used in make different products from rigid polyurethanes.

Live Webinar Held: 01 October 2020 (Thursday)

Speaker:
Dr. Grazyna Mitchener, is the director and principal consultant in Polychemtech Ltd. – a technical and business consultancy specializing in innovative polyurethane technologies and other high performance polymeric products. From 1996 to 2008 she worked for Celotex in UK, developing first in Europe zero-ODP PIR rigid thermal insulation products. For the first ten years of her career she was an academic researcher and lecturer and worked on polymers with high heat and fire resistance. She gained her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Technology in 1992. She is the author of 8 patents and over 60 scientific papers, conference presentations and training workshops. For her contribution to the thermal insulation industry she was presented with the “Global Insulation Personality of 2014” award.

Description:
Polyisocyanurate foams (PIR) are polyurethane products with exceptional properties. They have excellent fire resistance, superb thermal insulation capability for protection from cold or heat and very good mechanical strength, despite being extremely light. Their mass production is quick and economical. All these make them the best building materials (but not only) in applications where fire safety of people and reduction of energy usage matters. The webinar will present: Properties and main applications of PIR products, basic polyisocyanurate chemistry theory, specifics of PIR formulations and raw materials choices in comparison to standard polyurethane (PUR) technologies, manufacturing equipment for PIR production.

Live Webinar Held: 15 October 2020 (Thursday)

Speaker:
Dr. Grazyna Mitchener, is the director and principal consultant in Polychemtech Ltd. – a technical and business consultancy specializing in innovative polyurethane technologies and other high performance polymeric products. From 1996 to 2008 she worked for Celotex in UK, developing first in Europe zero-ODP PIR rigid thermal insulation products. For the first ten years of her career she was an academic researcher and lecturer and worked on polymers with high heat and fire resistance. She gained her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Technology in 1992. She is the author of 8 patents and over 60 scientific papers, conference presentations and training workshops. For her contribution to the thermal insulation industry she was presented with the “Global Insulation Personality of 2014” award.

Description:
In the wake of sobering statistics on human life losses in fires, the issue of fire resistance of building materials is getting more important and global. Customers demand product which are good but first of all safe. Rigid polyurethanes have a lot of applications in buildings and factories and their fire resistance has become one of the first criteria taken into consideration when deciding on choosing and purchasing the products. The webinar will talk about: the nature of fire and how theoretically it can be prevented; principles of developing PU formulations and designing PU products with enhanced fire resistance; additives improving fire resistance of PURs: their types, properties and main applications

Live Webinar Held: 29 October 2020 (Thursday)

Speaker:
Dr. Grazyna Mitchener, is the director and principal consultant in Polychemtech Ltd. – a technical and business consultancy specializing in innovative polyurethane technologies and other high performance polymeric products. From 1996 to 2008 she worked for Celotex in UK, developing first in Europe zero-ODP PIR rigid thermal insulation products. For the first ten years of her career she was an academic researcher and lecturer and worked on polymers with high heat and fire resistance. She gained her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Technology in 1992. She is the author of 8 patents and over 60 scientific papers, conference presentations and training workshops. For her contribution to the thermal insulation industry she was presented with the “Global Insulation Personality of 2014” award.

Description:
Due to global warming endangering our planet and growing cost of energy, the thermal insulation materials are gaining more and more importance. Polyurethane foams are one of the best commodity thermal insulation materials and most optimum choice for majority of applications, where heat or cold transfer needs to be significantly reduced. Global production of polyurethane thermal insulation products has been and will be steadily growing. To provide most useful information on specifics of these products, in the webinar we will be talking about: General theory of the heat transfer process; different thermal insulation polyurethane products, their advantages and disadvantages; methods to improve thermal insulation properties of polyurethane materials by optimising their formulations; means to improve thermal insulation capabilities of polyurethane products by applying specific principles to the products’ designing and manufacturing.

Live Webinar Held: 05 November 2020 (Thursday)

Speaker:
Dr. Grazyna Mitchener, is the director and principal consultant in Polychemtech Ltd. – a technical and business consultancy specializing in innovative polyurethane technologies and other high performance polymeric products. From 1996 to 2008 she worked for Celotex in UK, developing first in Europe zero-ODP PIR rigid thermal insulation products. For the first ten years of her career she was an academic researcher and lecturer and worked on polymers with high heat and fire resistance. She gained her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Technology in 1992. She is the author of 8 patents and over 60 scientific papers, conference presentations and training workshops. For her contribution to the thermal insulation industry she was presented with the “Global Insulation Personality of 2014” award.

Description:
Polyester polyols have several advantages over polyether polyols. They make polyurethane foams with better strength and fire resistance. They are also easier and cheaper to manufacture and manufacturing plants require relatively low investment. All these properties make the polyester polyols the first choice for rigid polyurethane formulations. The webinar will present: • The general chemical structure of polyesters polyols • Their advantages and disadvantages versus polyethers • The types of the polyols and their properties • Raw materials for production of the polyols • Additives improving properties of the polyester based foams • Main principles of polyols manufacturing • Basic setup of a plant for polyester manufacturing

Live Webinar Held: 02 December 2020 (Wednesday)

Speaker:
Dr. Grazyna Mitchener, is the director and principal consultant in Polychemtech Ltd. – a technical and business consultancy specializing in innovative polyurethane technologies and other high performance polymeric products. From 1996 to 2008 she worked for Celotex in UK, developing first in Europe zero-ODP PIR rigid thermal insulation products. For the first ten years of her career she was an academic researcher and lecturer and worked on polymers with high heat and fire resistance. She gained her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Technology in 1992. She is the author of 8 patents and over 60 scientific papers, conference presentations and training workshops. For her contribution to the thermal insulation industry she was presented with the “Global Insulation Personality of 2014” award.

Description:
Polyurethane chemistry is certainly more complex than of any other plastic material, however this fact also presents endless opportunities to create materials with extraordinary properties and for very surprising applications. Polyurethanes can be very soft and bulletproof hard, very heavy and feather-light, solid and foamed, rigid and elastic. The sky is the limit. This webinar will give you a glance of what is possible to achieve with this humble and pretty easily manufactured materials

Live Webinar Held: 28 January 2021 (Thursday)

Speaker:
Dr. Grazyna Mitchener, is the director and principal consultant in Polychemtech Ltd. – a technical and business consultancy specializing in innovative polyurethane technologies and other high performance polymeric products. From 1996 to 2008 she worked for Celotex in UK, developing first in Europe zero-ODP PIR rigid thermal insulation products. For the first ten years of her career she was an academic researcher and lecturer and worked on polymers with high heat and fire resistance. She gained her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Technology in 1992. She is the author of 8 patents and over 60 scientific papers, conference presentations and training workshops. For her contribution to the thermal insulation industry she was presented with the “Global Insulation Personality of 2014” award.

Description:
# Applications of rigid polyurethanes
# Types of rigid polyurethanes
# Rigid polyurethanes chemistry theory
# Raw materials
# Formulation principles
# Processing methods
# Testing procedures
# Recycling of rigid polyurethanes

Live Webinar Held: 18 August 2021 (Wednesday)

Speaker:
Dr. Grazyna Mitchener, is the director and principal consultant in Polychemtech Ltd. – a technical and business consultancy specializing in innovative polyurethane technologies and other high performance polymeric products. From 1996 to 2008 she worked for Celotex in UK, developing first in Europe zero-ODP PIR rigid thermal insulation products. For the first ten years of her career she was an academic researcher and lecturer and worked on polymers with high heat and fire resistance. She gained her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Technology in 1992. She is the author of 8 patents and over 60 scientific papers, conference presentations and training workshops. For her contribution to the thermal insulation industry she was presented with the “Global Insulation Personality of 2014” award.

Description:
# The Nature of Fire and Theoretical Ways to Prevent it.
# Principles of Developing PU Products with Enhanced Fire Resistance
# Raw Materials Improving Fire Resistance of PU’s
# Polyisocyanurate (PIR) Chemistry and Properties
# PIR Formulations and Raw materials
# Manufacturing Equipment for PIR production
# Fire Resistance Testing and Standards


Live Webinar Held: 13 October 2021 (Wednesday)

Speaker:
Dr. Grazyna Mitchener, is the director and principal consultant in Polychemtech Ltd. – a technical and business consultancy specializing in innovative polyurethane technologies and other high performance polymeric products. From 1996 to 2008 she worked for Celotex in UK, developing first in Europe zero-ODP PIR rigid thermal insulation products. For the first ten years of her career she was an academic researcher and lecturer and worked on polymers with high heat and fire resistance. She gained her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Technology in 1992. She is the author of 8 patents and over 60 scientific papers, conference presentations and training workshops. For her contribution to the thermal insulation industry she was presented with the “Global Insulation Personality of 2014” award.