UTECH NA Conference report: VOC and PU: a volatile situation

VOCs are a difficult topic for the polyurethane industry but, regulations covering them are becoming more stringent across the world. UTECH North America’s Automotive and Sustainability Conference heard of some of the concerns and problems that the PU industry faces.

Carmakers are increasingly concerned about the quality of air in automotive interiors. The standards vary from continent to continent. The polyurethane industry is getting together with OEMs to simplify the situation.

Potentially companies supplying flexible polyurethane foam to the automotive industry face a very difficult time if they cannot work together with OEMs, and Tier 1 suppliers, according to Hamdi Khalil, global director for R&D and product development, Woodbridge Foam.

“It’s heading for a disaster if we are not going to collaborate with the material suppliers, with the OEMs with the part manufacturer. It is going to be the most difficult time the industry has faced in the past 10 years,” he said at the UTECH North America Automotive and Sustainability conference.

Complex situation

He continued: “When you look at the specifications of VOC and emissions and the types of carbon that people are trying to monitor it is really complex. There isn’t a single company that can deal with it alone.”

The problem is fractured specifications: Khalil explained: “You have specifications which are Asia-specific and they are different from Toyota to Honda to Mazda. You move to Europe and everyone has their own VOC and emissions specifications.”

He continued: “It’s creating issues. Look at it as an industry problem with the need for collaboration, for open innovation and the need for pre-commercialisation to solve the VOC problem.”

“The problem is really huge and it needs sober thinking from the raw material suppliers, the part makers and the OEMs,” he said.

“When you look at materials makers to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that their materials meet a certain specification, nobody has that capability in terms of analytical equipment, in terms of sample preparation, in terms of cost.”

Khalil warned that each set of materials tests “will cost around $2,000 for analysis.”

“The answer,” he said is to “work with OEM and raw materials suppliers to solve fundamental problems pre-commercialisation. It is an industry problem, not a single company problem.

“We want to work with the OEMs to achieve a harmonised specification for VOC which would be manageable, without affecting the comfort of passengers, or the safety of passengers.”

“We are trying to organise such a meeting, just to present the complexity of the VOC specifications to the world and the OEMs most importantly. People should think about it in terms of the survival of the industry,” said Khalil.

What is a VOC?

Hyder Zahalka, global technology manager Addivant, pointed out that the VDA 278 standard is well accepted and that it sets a limit of 100ppm for VOCs.

Khalil said: “We are in agreement that there are rules around 100 ppm, but is it clear in the US which [organic chemicals] cannot be part of the 100 ppm? Did they select certain chemicals which must not be present? The components that each OEM select are different, some need to be eliminated some are allowed at different levels.

“Different technology is needed to deal with the inconsistency. This is where there is the need for collaboration, I really can’t emphasise this enough. For us, as an industry, sustainability is not just using the material, and natural fibres, it is the sustainability of the industry itself,” Khalil added.

Form a committee!

Muhammed Usman, senior global manager and technical leader, powertrain installations at Ford Motor Company said: Khalil was proposing something that is “a very normal practice in the automotive industry. If it is a common issue either SAE or in the case of polyurethane, the ACC (American Chemistry Council), can handle this. You can start a consortium project

“When this type of consortium is started the car makers are generally interested and will send their representatives along with materials suppliers and other parties,” he added.

“It takes two- to three years to come up with a standard and then the ASTM or SAE will approve it and it will become a standard,” Usman said.

Khalil said he was “working closely with the SAE. The ACC will be a forum so we could participate with the EuroMoulders globally.”

This process will kick off “sometime in October. We are putting this together to highlight the programme and to share information,” Khalil concluded.