How Insulated Concrete Forms/ ICF Blocks are made | Factory Tour!

Insulated Concrete Forms or ICF blocks are modular, interlocking units made of foam with plastic ties embedded in it. These units are dry-stacked, without mortar, and filled with concrete in the middle. I recently visited a Foam Fabricators plant here in Dallas which produces Insulated Concrete Forms for Fox Blocks.

Chapters
0:00 What are ICF blocks?
1:00 Creation of polystyrene
1:58 Pre-expansion
2:23 Final expansion
4:20 Tests
4:58 Recycling
7:28 Summary

Benzene C6H6 reacts with ethylene C2H4 in the presence of a catalyst like aluminum chloride to form the monomer styrene C8H8. Under heat or by an initiator like benzoyl peroxide, the double bond between the carbon atoms is converted into a single bond and a polymer chain called polystyrene is formed. This liquid polystyrene is suspended in water to form tiny, hard beads. The beads are then expanded with blowing agents such as pentane C5H12 to diameters between 0.5 to 1mm. The polystyrene beads are produced by Flint Hills Resources and shipped to the Foam Fabricators facility in large bags.

The tiny beads of polystyrene are poured into a sealed vessel and heated with steam. Around 80% of the trapped pentane inside the beads is displaced with air and the beads expand dramatically thus reducing their density. The beads are allowed to sit for 24 hours in storage bags to cool and harden. Black polypropylene plastic webs are manually placed on a metal mold. These bridge the two panels together and provide screw and attachment points for bracing and alignment. They are also used to attach finishes to the walls. Pre-expanded EPS beads are poured around these plastic webs. Steam is pumped into the mold and the beads rapidly expand, expel the remaining pentane, and stick together. The finished product is pushed out the other side of the machine.

Another important test is its resistance to compressive stresses which is the most important mechanical property of EPS insulation and building products. EPS has a compressive resistance between 10 - 60 psi for most construction applications. The Foam Fabricators plant we visited periodically conducts flexure strength tests to make sure the products meet standards. Blocks are cut into 1” by 12” pieces using a hot wire machine. Weights are then placed on top until the piece of foam snaps. The EPS foam used to make the Fox Blocks can hold up to 12.5 pounds, which is much greater than the required 7 pounds. This is an indicator of a strong product made of well fused EPS beads.

Pentane, which is removed from the beads, is heavier than air. It is collected and burned to convert water into steam, which in turn is used to expand the beads. After beads have been successfully expanded, steam is cooled down, the condensed water is sent to an in-house filtration plant where impurities are removed. The water is recycled and converted back into steam for the next batch of beads. If any blocks are faulty, the polypropylene ties are pulled out and blocks and scraps are ground down into small pellets. This machine conditions the beads, grinds them into a ball, then mixes them with virgin beads and adds to the pre-expansion process. Because of structural and liability concerns, this scrap is only used in coolers, cups, etc. not in ICF blocks.
Finally, this densifier machine chops it up into rough blocks, compresses it to remove all the air inside the beads and cuts it into blocks. These blocks are sent back to the raw materials supplier who melts it down, creates pellets, reintroduces pentane and starts the cycle all over again.

It was a fun and eye-opening visit. I was particularly impressed with their concern for recycling the product, capturing any expelled pentane, and with the quality of the blocks. I’m going to release a video in a few days that dives into the specifics of Fox Blocks, ICF construction and its pros and cons so I hope you check that out.
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Видео How Insulated Concrete Forms/ ICF Blocks are made | Factory Tour! канала Belinda Carr