【正文】 f all pentane feeding pipe inlets。 Fire extinguishing systems. Backup generator to feed either the ventilation system and the gas detectors.HIGH SPEED LAMINATIONIn the USA a continuous production plant of flexible faced PIR rigid foam insulation panels has been settled according to a new concept of production, thus representing the most modern continuous plant in the world.Launched in July 2000, this plant can produce panels at a speed of 60 m/min (. 72 m2/min, since the real panel width is ).This technically advanced plant is posed of:* Double belt conveyor, 30m total length, working at 60m/min (real production speed)* Thickness of the panels produced: ranging from 10 to 220mm* Possibility to produce tapered panels ( max inclination 60 mm )* Automatic adjustment of panels thickness。 simultaneous adjustment thanks to the innovative constructive concept applied to the double belt conveyor.* Heating system for the double belt conveyor at a temperature of +80176。C in order to process PIR foams even though highly reactive* Tunnel covering the entire length of the double belt conveyor made in selfsupporting insulated panels able to contain eventual heat dispersion* Metering and mixing unit for Polyol + Pentane, posed of three high pressure metering groups, each one equipped with mass type flow metersThis unit is also able to work even with alternative blowing agents available on the market* Closedloop control system for all working parameters (metering pumps output。 temperature。 working pressure。 production speed。 etc,)* Plant control is pletely integrated into an Industrial PC ( personal puter ) to handle and control the whole production line* Safety and ventilation / extraction system to monitor through adequate sensors and relative suction groups all the working areas for safe use of flammable blowing agents (Cyclopentane, Normalpentane, Isopentane, etc).The differences between a conventional laminator and a highspeed type (50 m/sec at least) can be so summarized: at the level of the substrata (flexible), a double unwinder with a rapid change device (both for upper and lower substrata) is always necessary. With the single unwinder, the time for changing the paper or aluminum is the same, but this change should be done at high frequency because the substrata consumption is very high. Due to the high ponents consumption the metering group needs a bigger output for all ponents, with respect to a conventional line。 moreover a mass flowmeter with closedloop control system is requested for all metering lines, otherwise the lack of constancy in all parameters would afflict the general output control the pouring traverse with a single, oscillating mixing head is not useful any more at high speed。 from the mechanical point of view, the head movement can be achieved, but at high speed the pouring is highly imprecise and inertia of the poured material would throw it out of the pouring plate。 in the high speed process the only solution is the use of two or three fixed mixing heads with a spreading diffuser。 each head must be adjustable in height and position on the plate。 the presence of three (two) mixing heads implies the need of three (two) different and independent metering lines。 the double belt remains structurally unchanged, but its length cannot be inferior to 30 meters, otherwise the time of stay of the foamed PU in the laminator is too low and one would have thickness variation after the process。 the whole cutting, stacking and packing lines must be engineered to work with the same precision and accuracy of the conventional lines。 CONCLUSIONContinuous lamination has bee very mon in the last years, since the insulation with PU and PIR is now seen as good alternative to other insulation materials and allows a substantial wall thickness reduction in the building industry.The use of pentane in continuous plants has successfully replaced all other CFCbased blowing agents, thus transforming a technology with high PU consumption into an environmentalfriendly process. In any case one must keep in mind that a production plant using pentane requires both specific construction and manufacturing design and production process technology. In this aspect, particular attention is paid to personnel safety against injuries, safe operation of machinery and environmental issues.The step to high speed lamination has bee necessary for high production requirements, and has represented an interesting challenge both to plant producers and to direct sandwich panels producers. New technology has been born, meeting requests that have brought this technology to its own maturity.BIOGRAPHYGiorgio Pallanza Mr. Giorgio Pallanza born in 1972, doctor of chemical engineering. He has worked in the field of PU systems as technical marketing manager. He joined OMS in 2001, now is the sales area manager for Far East markets.387 / 11