Environmentally friendly foaming technology for refillable packaging and industrial applications

Many chemicals are used as foams, either as end products or ingredients in construction, manufacturing etc. The foams can be made in situ using pressurised gas cylinders, or bought ready packaged in cylinders or cans. Different chemistries condition different gases (propellants) and developing the right formulations is not an easy task. The propellants are usually flammable or toxic or both. A UK company has prototyped new hardware for very consistent microbubbles at ca 30-40 um with all gases tried so far, and air. The gas phase volume is tightly controlled from a few percent to as high as 98%.The consistency and smoothness of the closed cell foam is important from the point of end product quality. It also opens up possibilities in circular economy: many containers and vessels can be refilled/pressurised at the site of production. One possibility is to develop new home appliances. The hardware is easy to make and easy to take apart and wash. What is needed is expertise in incorporating manual or electric pumps into various appliances. Foaming shaving cream or hair mousse is just one idea out of many possibilities. The technology is capable of producing foam flow rates as low as a few millimetres per minute up to industrial scale of hundreds of litres per minute. The technology can substitute the flammable and/or toxic hazard of some existing technologies. The UK company seeks manufacturers of foamed products, devices and appliances, for technical co-operation and license agreements. The novel hardware is compatible with pressurised vessels and it can be licensed without much technical consultancy. Technical co-operation is sought with developers and manufacturers of appliances who have an interest in greener or circular economy. The hardware is easily adapted but the pressurising i.e. the pumps need adapting to new appliances.