The State Council ordered a thorough investigation of organic thermal insulation materials with no flame retardant effect in violation of regulations
- time:
- 2019-05-13
The Office of the Security Committee of the State Council recently ordered that special renovation of the use of polystyrene and polyurethane foam as decoration and thermal insulation materials in public gathering places be carried out to thoroughly eliminate hidden dangers. On June 9, an industry insider interviewed by a reporter from China Chemical Daily said that he strongly agreed with the strict law enforcement on the illegal use of organic thermal insulation materials and hoped that the strict investigation and punishment should be normalized.
On May 25, a fire broke out in the old people's apartment of Kangle Park in Pingdingshan City, Henan Province, killing 38 people. The illegal use of polystyrene and polyurethane foam as decorative and thermal insulation materials in public gathering places is considered to be an important cause of the accident. For this reason, the Office of the Security Committee of the State Council has ordered all localities and departments to strictly investigate hidden dangers, and to suspend operations and rectify and hold accountable those places where polystyrene or polyurethane foam insulation materials have not been checked and accepted for fire protection or used illegally.
People in polyurethane industry believe that it is timely and necessary for the State Council to order a thorough investigation of the illegal use of polystyrene and polyurethane foam plastics. Similar incidents have happened many times in recent years. Every time something happens, we should strictly investigate it and relax the limelight in the past. Lin Yongfei, chairman of polyurethane special committee of China Plastic Processing Industry Association, said: "For products involving people's lives and property safety, such as building insulation materials, quality supervision and fire acceptance can not go through the scene, but like drunk driving, strict law enforcement, investigation and punishment together. Moreover, such investigation and punishment should be normalized, so that illegal enterprises can eliminate the fluke mentality, and there is no market space for illegal operations and fake and inferior products. Only by enforcing the law with iron wrist can the state-owned organic thermal insulation material industry develop orderly and healthily.
Since the Fire Department of the Ministry of Public Security officially loosened B1 class building exterior wall insulation materials in 2012, polyurethane and polystyrene have been used as building insulation materials for nearly three years. In the meantime, despite the overcapacity and the low start-up rate of enterprises, the broad market prospects still attract many small enterprises to enter, and the industry expands rapidly. Industry insiders said that due to the low threshold, many small enterprises did not master the core production technology, products do not meet the national B1 level standards. In order to reduce costs, many enterprises take the second best, which constitutes a serious potential safety hazard.
It is understood that in recent years, several major fire accidents caused by organic thermal insulation materials are all caused by illegal use and operation, and the underlying reason is that the hidden rules of low-price bidding in the construction industry are making a mistake. According to the thermal insulation industry, the price of thermal insulation materials quoted by the successful bidding enterprises is often only half of the standard products, so the products with low quality and low price can not ensure safety. Polystyrene and polyurethane foam plastics as legitimate thermal insulation materials, as long as strictly in accordance with national standards for production and use, can fully meet the corresponding building flame retardant requirements.
Illegal use and inferior products disrupt the market and affect the image of organic thermal insulation materials. Industry insiders said that in order to clean up the market, it is impossible to rely solely on the production enterprises, the supervision of relevant departments is crucial, and the supervision in place can create a market environment that complies with the law.
Li Jianbo, deputy secretary-general of China Polyurethane Industry Association, introduced that the association had issued a self-discipline proposal calling for standardizing the production order of polyurethane building insulation materials nationwide, cracking down on counterfeit and inferior products and purifying the market environment. At the same time, the association also plans to organize industry experts to carry out quality inspection of polyurethane materials in conjunction with agencies such as quality supervision, administrative offices and news media, and resolutely expose and punish unqualified products.
At present, the main materials used in the field of building thermal insulation are organic thermal insulation materials and inorganic thermal insulation materials. The advantages and disadvantages of these two kinds of materials are very prominent. Polystyrene, polyurethane and other organic thermal insulation materials have the characteristics of low thermal conductivity, good energy-saving effect, light weight, corrosion resistance and environmental protection, but their flame retardancy is slightly inferior; while the inorganic thermal insulation materials belong to the flame retardant materials, with excellent fire resistance and low price, but their thermal insulation performance is poor, and it is difficult to meet the requirements of high-standard building energy-saving. And whether organic or inorganic materials, if they are not produced and used in accordance with the norms, safety problems will arise. The problem of organic thermal insulation materials is that they are easy to cause sudden fire accidents, while inorganic materials are easy to absorb water and become good conductors of heat, but they can not play the role of thermal insulation at all.
Organic thermal insulation materials still have unique advantages in terms of thermal insulation performance, tensile bond strength, dimensional stability, air permeability and durability. In recent years, remarkable achievements have been made in building energy conservation, and efficient organic external thermal insulation materials have played an important supporting role. Therefore, insiders have repeatedly called on the state to improve relevant policy standards as soon as possible, establish a scientific evaluation system, so that qualified organic thermal insulation materials can be used to their full.
