XPS Foam Board VS EPS Board

April 15, 2021

XPS insulation boards and EPS boards have the same application area. Beside XPS and EPS, there are many insulation products available on the market today. Maybe some importers are confused to choose the appropriate board. Now I let you know the difference between XPS foam board & EPS board.

Table of Contents

Production process
Environment protection
Physical & chemical properties

XPS Physical & chemical properties
EPS Property

Foam Agent
Price
Specification
Compatibility

Production process

The production process of Extruded polystyrene insulation (XPS) or Styrofoam is extrusion. This manufacturing process involves melting together the plastic resin and other ingredients. The liquid material is extruded through a die and expands during the cooling process. This continuous process results in almost 100% closed-cell structure. Besides, the surface of of XPS board is smooth and flat without breaks. Thanks to this closed cell structure, extruded polystyrene (XPS) can prevent water penetration to the structure and provide long term strength, insulation and durability.

Expanded Polystyrene insulation (EPS) is widely used in building construction industry, ICF blocks and so on.. EPS beads are contained in a mold and then heat which causes the small beads expanded and fuse together. Each individual bead is the cosed cell but there is significant open space between the beads.

Environment protection

Now more and more people pay attention to the environmental protection. It is important to handle the waste XPS board. Waste XPS board could be recycled competely with recycling system in XPS production line. The recycled material can be used when manufacturers produce XPS foam board. So it is environment-friendly. While EPS is a major contributor to trash pollution across the world.

Physical & chemical properties

Although XPS and EPS boards are widely used in construction and insulation. But their physical & chemical properties is different. Kindly review the following chart for XPS and EPS Physical & chemical properties.

XPS Physical & chemical properties

Compression Strength	Thermal Conductivity （W/m.k)	Water Absorption(%)	Moisture Permeability（ng/msP）	Dimension Stability（%)
150～200	≤0.028	1.5	≤3.5	≤2
250～350	≤0.028	1	≤3.0	≤2
350～400	≤0.027	1	≤2.0	≤1.5
400～700	≤0.027	1	≤2.0	≤1

EPS Property

Density （kg/m³）	Water Absorption（%）	Heat Conductivity（W/m·K）	Compression Strength（Kpa）	Moisture Permeability（ng/msPa）
15	6	0.041	60	4
20	4	0.041	100	3
30	2	0.039	150	2
40	2	0.039	200	2
50	2	0.039	300	2
60	2	0.039	400	1

Foam Agent

EPS: The polystyrene beads of EPS are expanded with blowing agent like: Propane C3H8; Pentane C5H12; Methylene chloride CH2CL2.

XPS: CO2 /Butane/DME/HFC/Ethanol blowing agents are recommended when produce XPS foam board.

Price

EPS will cost 10% to 40% less per unit measure than the XPS foam. But physical & chemical properties of XPS is better than EPS. You can choose the right insulation board on the basis of budget and applications of the project

Specification

EPS is “block” material and XPS is “sheet” material. The thickness of EPS is bigger than XPS. The specification of XPS and EPS can be customized according to customer’s request.

Compatibility

XPS and EPS boards are widely used in contruction industry because of compatibility. Due to high compression strength, XPS tends to be better than EPS when you using the boards in flooring.