Paper Title
Liquefaction Optimization of Pinus Pinaster Branches for PUF Production

Abstract
Currently, the production of PUs is completely dependent on fossil oil, given that two of his primary reagents needed for the production of PUs, the polyol and the isocyanate, derive from this fossil fuel. Pine branches are one of the most produced wastes in forest management companies. This work intended in a first phase to study a process to transform these residues into valuable raw materials through liquefaction with a mixture of glycerol and ethylene glycol optimizing the liquefied biopolyol yield in terms of grain size, time and temperature. In a second (and preliminary) phase these polyols were used for the production of foams and the influence of the amount of isocyanate in foam properties was studied since the amount of this chemical used in the production of polyurethane foams has a significant effect on the density and compressive strength properties. Index Terms - Pinus pinaster Ait; branches; chemical composition; polyalcohol liquefaction; foams