'New smell' moves into the past with Shell Chemicals
15 March 2002 Describing it is impossible, but that 'new smell' - the one that hits you when you step into a brand new car or snuggle into a sofa that's just been delivered - is instantly recognisable. "There was a time when people favourably associated a slight 'smell' with a sofa or mattress being new, and it was not an issue," explains Oliver Sloan, Shell Chemicals Urethanes business development manager.
"However, in recent times people's perceptions have changed and the general public wants to know what is causing the smell and whether it will have an effect on their health." Although there are no health issues associated with the smell emitted from polyurethane foam (the main stay of the soft furnishing, bedding industries and car interiors), Shell Chemicals is pioneering a way to reduce the odour.
Shell has designed a new stripping unit that removes volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the process used to create polyurethane foam. VOCs partly cause the 'new' smell and are also blamed for 'fogging', a small build-up of condensation on the inside of vehicle windscreens.
The stripping unit was designed at the Shell Chemicals Pernis polyols plant in the Netherlands and is so successful that Shell has also installed it in a plant in Singapore.
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