The CarDio™ process is a method of manufacturing flexible polyurethane foam slabstock using Liquid Carbon Dioxide as the physical blowing agent (this is additional Carbon Dioxide to that generated chemically by the Water/TDI reaction).

The alternative physical blowing agents such as CFC 11, Methylene Chloride, 1,1,1 Trichlorethane or Acetone all present some problem, such as adverse environmental or safety aspects. In comparison to the aforementioned chemicals, Carbon Dioxide is an environmentally friendly material, being already part of earth's atmospheric eco-cycle.

In 1994, the Cannon Group developed and installed this technology on a full production machine based on existing Maxfoam technology located in Northern Europe. CarDio™ - a Cannon process technology patent worldwide - was the first commercial process to successfully use Liquid Carbon Dioxide as a physical blowing agent in polyurethane foam production on a continuous basis.

To date more than thirty-eight individual CarDio™ installations have been supplied worldwide, with the equipment in successful daily foam block production throughout Europe, North America, South America, the Far East, North Africa and most recently, the Middle East.

Why use Natural Liquid Carbon Dioxide?

The reasons for choosing CO₂ are by now generally well known and the concept widely accepted.

• The product is abundantly available in nature, is extremely cheap, expands three times more than competing alternatives, such as Methylene Chloride, so less is required and has no harmful effect on the health of workers, or factory safety.
• By using CO₂, which is a by-product of other industrial processes, no additional gas is added to the atmosphere, which makes CarDio™ an environmentally friendly process.

The CarDio™ equipment can be supplied complete and incorporated with a new continuous foam slabstock plant, or installed as an addition to a customer’s existing foam block production machinery as a retrofit package.

The CarDio™ process may only be operated under licence from Cannon.

CarDio™ is a registered Trade Mark of Cannon Viking Limited