Particle foams with a future

Every three years, an international meeting takes place, at which there is an exchange about the further developments in the field of particle foam processing – the 2015 meeting of “Particle Foam” was held in Heidelberg. With the cooperation of the European umbrella organisation, EUMEPS, the VDI knowledge forum succeeded in obtaining top-class speakers from the Netherlands, the USA, Japan, Belgium, Italy and Turkey. With Walter Kurtz chairing the meeting, current questions from the areas of processing, recycling and energy efficiency were asked and answered. Contributions from Asia, North America and Europe dealt with the global market, with special attention being given to subjects such as sustainability, fire protection, standardisation and efficiency of insulations.

Since the previous meeting, new kinds of particle foams such as expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU), a hybrid particle foam, or a PMI particle foam for high-temperature applications, have entered the market and were presented extensively. There was also discussion of the “classics”, new possibilities of increasing productivity were presented, as were the new things which manufacturers have up their sleeves with a view to machines and equipment. During the breaks and at the end of the first day of the event, the more than 150 attendees had the opportunity of making contacts or intensifying them again and of exchanging valuable information and experience. At the exhibition stand of Kurtz Ersa, who were represented at the “Particle Foam” with two talks, interest was particularly high as a result of the contents of the talks.