The bead material that has just emerged from the foam machine is wet. After the release of the preconditioner, it suddenly becomes cold due to the absorption of air, resulting in the condensation of foaming agent in the honeycomb bubble so as to form negative pressure in the bubble. Therefore, the beads must be placed for a period of time after being pretreated, on the one hand, it will be dried, and on the other hand, it will permeate into the air to eliminate negative pressure and balance the internal pressure and the external pressure in the bubble. It can avoid the collapse of cell and make the bead elastic.
The process of drying, cooling and stabilizing cell pressure of EPS beads just out of the precharger is called ripening. Ripening can improve the further expansibility, the fusibility between beads and particles and the elasticity of beads, which is beneficial to improve the quality of EPS products.
In the process of curing, the foaming agent and water vapor in the pores of the beads are condensed into liquid after air cooling, resulting in the formation of negative pressure in the cell. At this time, air will penetrate into the interior of the cell through the cell membrane, so that the pressure in the cell is balanced with the external pressure, which will make the pre germinated beads elastic.
Ripening can be divided into natural aging and pressure curing. In the cool, dry, ventilated conditions, allowing it to inflate naturally is called natural ripening. The natural ripening pre germinated beads are inflated by adding gas (air and nitrogen) into a sealed container to make them have a certain pressure, which is called pressurized ripening.