Buying Polyurethane Systems from Türkiye: A Practical Guide

1. Why buy a formulated system instead of separate raw materials

A polyurethane system is a matched pair of liquids. Component A is a formulated blend, usually based on polyols, that already contains the catalysts, stabilisers and other additives that control the reaction. Component B is the isocyanate matched to it. Your machine meters and mixes the two, and the reaction forms the foam, the coating or the moulded part.

You can buy base polyols, isocyanate and additives separately and blend them yourself, but the formulation work, testing and troubleshooting then fall on your plant. A system house does that work before the system reaches you, and adapts it to your application and your line. Our guides to polyurethane system houses and to polyol and isocyanate explain this in more detail.

JiTPOL is a polyurethane system house in Bursa, Türkiye. We formulate our own two-component systems and make our own mould release agents. Rigid systems are our strongest line: cold room and sandwich panels, refrigerated truck bodies, refrigerators and industrial coolers, solar collectors and hot water tanks, and decorative cornices and mouldings. We also make spray foam and polyurea, flexible moulded and slabstock foam, viscoelastic memory foam (JITVISCO), and integral skin and RIM systems. We supply manufacturers and applicators in Syria, Iraq, the Gulf, Central Asia and Europe.

2. What to send in your first enquiry

The more we know about your production, the closer the first proposal will be to what you need. A useful first enquiry covers:

• Application and product. What you make, for example cold room panels, refrigerator cabinets, cornices, spray roof insulation or moulded seat foam, and the size or thickness of the parts.
• Line and equipment. A continuous or discontinuous panel line, a press, moulds or a spray machine, high-pressure or low-pressure, and the system and blowing agent you use today, if any.
• Volumes. Your expected monthly consumption, and whether you want to run a trial first.
• Climate. Typical temperatures in your plant and warehouse through the year. Heat and cold change how fast a system reacts and how it should be stored.
• Fire and regulatory requirements. Any fire class your product must reach and the test standard, and any rule in your market on blowing agents or chemicals.
• Destination. The country the goods go to, and the company that will import them.

Our insulation systems use blowing agents from the n-pentane, HFC and HFO families, and none of our systems contain HCFC-141b. We agree the blowing agent with you to suit your equipment and the rules in your market. For panels that need a flame-retardant core, our cold room panel system comes in a flame-retardant version, classified B1 in laboratory fire testing. Fire classes are usually assessed on the finished panel, so the facings and the panel build count as well as the foam.

You can send all of this through the quote form. Our application pages, such as cold room and sandwich panel systems or spray foam and polyurea systems, list the details that matter for each line.

3. What you receive: quote, data sheets and trials

From your enquiry we propose a system matched to your application and prepare the quote around it. The quote names the system and sets out the quantity, the packaging, the price and the payment terms for that order.

Technical data sheets (TDS) and safety data sheets (SDS) are sent on request for the system proposed to you. We do not publish them for download. Read both before the first delivery. The TDS gives the processing conditions. The SDS gives the hazards, safe handling and storage, and transport information.

If you want to trial the system before a full order, say so in your enquiry, and we will tell you whether a trial fits your project.

4. Packaging and payment

Packaging depends on the system:

• Cold room panel and refrigerator systems: 200 kg drums and 1000 kg IBCs.
• Cornice and decorative moulding systems: 50 kg or 200 kg drums, and IBCs.
• Spray foam, polyurea, slabstock foam, mould release agents and our other systems: packaging confirmed with each quote.

Export orders are normally paid in advance by bank transfer (T/T) in EUR or USD. Payment terms are agreed with each quote.

5. Shipping documents in general practice

Import rules for chemicals differ by country and change over time. What follows is general practice for chemical exports, not a list of what your country requires. A shipment usually travels with:

• Commercial invoice, which describes the goods, their value, the seller and the buyer.
• Packing list, which shows how the goods are packed: the number of drums or IBCs and their weights.
• Transport document issued by the carrier, such as a bill of lading for sea freight or a CMR consignment note for road freight.
• Certificate of origin, which states where the goods were produced. It is often issued by a chamber of commerce and can affect the customs duty you pay.
• Safety data sheet for each component, which customs, carriers and your own warehouse may ask to see.

Before you order, ask your customs broker which documents, registrations or approvals your country requires for polyurethane chemicals, and whether any document must be in a particular language or legalised. Send us that list with your enquiry, so we can go through it with you before the order is confirmed.

6. Storing drums and IBCs on arrival

The SDS and TDS for your system give its storage conditions. The points below are general practice for polyurethane components. How the components are stored affects how they process on your line.

• Check on arrival. Compare the markings on the drums and IBCs with the delivery documents, and look for damage or leaks before you accept the goods.
• Keep containers sealed. Open a drum or IBC only when you use it, and close it tightly afterwards.
• Protect the isocyanate side from moisture. Isocyanate reacts with water, even with moisture in the air. This spoils the material and forms carbon dioxide, which can build pressure in a closed drum. Store containers inside a building, not in the open air.
• Protect from heat and frost. Keep both components within the temperature range given in the data sheets. Direct sun, a hot warehouse or winter frost can take a component outside that range, and its quality can then deteriorate.
• First in, first out. Use the oldest delivery first, and keep track of the production date and the shelf life stated in the data sheets.
• Separate and contain. Keep isocyanates away from foodstuffs and from oxidising, corrosive or flammable materials, and provide spill containment as local rules require.

If your plant is in the European Union, a REACH restriction has required documented training since August 2023 for industrial and professional users of products containing 0.1% or more diisocyanates by weight. ISOPA and ALIPA run a training platform for it.

7. The first production trial and reorders

Plan the first production run as a trial. Bring both components to the processing temperature given in the TDS, check your machine settings and mixing ratio against it, and start with a small number of panels or parts before a full shift.

Record how the mixture flows and fills, how fast it reacts, and how the parts come out of the press or mould. Then check the properties that matter to you, such as density, dimensional stability, adhesion to the facings or clean demoulding. If a result is not right, send us these notes with photos and your process settings, and we can adapt the system to your line, for example its reactivity to suit your plant temperature. For suitable projects, our technical team can visit your line and run production trials with you.

Once a system runs well, stay with it. Reorder it by the name on your quote and data sheet, so each delivery is the same system you approved. Allow for production and transport time when you plan a reorder, so your stock does not run out before the next delivery arrives.

Tell us before you change something on your side, such as the equipment, the panel thickness, the facings or the product. Tell us too when the temperature in your plant changes strongly with the seasons. We can then check that the system still suits your line before the next order.

Selected sources

• ISOPA: Guidelines for the Safe Transportation, Unloading and Storage of Packaged TDI and MDI
• ISOPA: REACH restriction on diisocyanates and mandatory training
• ISOPA and ALIPA: Safe use of diisocyanates training platform, FAQ
• Safety data sheet: contents and the 16 section format
• Certificate of origin: what it is and who issues it