Münster (Germany), 7 March 2022 – Armacell, a global leader in flexible foam for the equipment insulation market and a leading provider of engineered foams, has launched a new halogen-free insulation material, NH/ArmaFlex Smart. Based on a highly innovative foam technology, NH/ArmaFlex Smart is more flexible than conventional halogen-free elastomeric insulation material and easier to install. The product’s UV and ageing resistance are also outstanding, ensuring condensation control and high, long-term energy efficiency. NH/ArmaFlex Smart looks and feels different from its predecessors – it is black, has a very smooth surface and is much more compact.
Airports, hospitals, schools, data centres or the pharmaceutical industry: halogen-free insulation materials are required in many buildings nowadays. Since NH/ArmaFlex Smart has very good fire properties, it will cut the cost of consequential fire damage. In the event of a fire, this halogen-free insulation material will not release corrosive gases that can form aggressive acids when in contact with fire-fighting water. Such consequential fire damage can soon add up to many times the cost of the actual fire, for example in clean room facilities or data centres.
Conventional halogen-free products are less firm than standard elastomeric insulation materials because the stabilising effect of the halogenated ingredients is missing. Their surface can easily be damaged by mechanical impact. When exposed to UV radiation (even from artificial light sources) they tend to become brittle faster than standard FEFs. If they are subject to stress or tension, microcracks may form in the insulation. With NH/ArmaFlex Smart Armacell has overcome the issues impacting conventional halogen-free products.
“When developing our new insulation material, the challenge was to further optimise the ease of installation and UV resistance of the halogen-free material for applications in the building sector, while at the same time ensuring excellent insulation and fire performance,” explains Sascha Kaiser, Product Manager EMEA at Armacell. “In order to improve the flexibility of their halogen-free products, many FEF manufacturers compromise on their technical properties. However, cold insulation materials are only reliable and energy efficient in the long term if they are protected against unacceptable moisture ingress by sufficiently high and dependable resistance to water vapour transmission. NH/ArmaFlex Smart provides condensation control and insulation properties that can be relied on for years and reduce the risk of corrosion under the insulation.”
NH/ArmaFlex Smart is halogen-free, contains neither PVC nor chlorinated polyethylene, is produced without adding brominated flame retardants, and is free of chlorinated paraffins, which are suspected of being a health and environmental hazard. The product also complies with the German Sustainable Building Council’s highest quality requirements for flame-retardant building products.
This new halogen-free material comes in a comprehensive range of sheets and tubes, and is complemented by self-adhesive tapes and the ArmaFix NH Smart pipe support, which prevents thermal bridges in the bracket area. ArmaFlex 750 adhesive, which has been specially adapted to this innovative foam technology, is recommended for installing NH/ArmaFlex Smart.