Closed-Cell Spray Polyurethane Foam Utilized to Create World's Largest Boiled Peanut

BLUFFTON, SC – September 16, 2013 – For their second annual Boiled Peanut Festival, South Carolina's Bluffton Boilers organizers decided to brandish their event with an iconic figure. After looking into the existence of the world's largest boiled peanut and verifying that there wasn't one, the organizers decided to create it. The first question they asked themselves was, "How do we create a giant replica of a peanut?" Energy One America's (EOA) Clayton Colleran had the answer, "Spray foam, and a little bit of creativity."

Colleran, who was one of the festival's organizers, and a crew from Energy One America (EOA) were brought in for the project, which entailed building the structure from scratch and applying SPF to it. For the initial part of the design, Colleran explained that he took a picture of a peanut and scaled it up to size in order to obtain the right measurements to create the structure. The giant boiled peanut started out as a plywood frame that was 18 feet long, with a diameter of nearly eight feet. The plywood was held together by a central steel tube and pine studs. The crew added fiberglass batts on the inside of the frame and wrapped it with chicken wire.

"It was the lightest and most intelligent design we could think of," said Colleran. "Because spray foam provides versatility, we decided this was the easiest route to create our boiled peanut."

The construction of the peanut took place in EOA's facility in Bluffton, South Carolina. The crew worked in one of the corners of the warehouse and, to avoid overspray, masked off the floor and the walls around where the peanut was situated. For ventilation, the crew fully opened the roll-up doors of the warehouse and had fans going. They wore face masks and jumpsuits during the application.

The crew applied three inches of InsulStar, a 2 lb. closed-cell spray polyurethane foam made by NCFI, on the plywood substrate. With the use of handsaws, the crew then shaved off approximately two inches of foam all around the giant boiled peanut to shape it.

"We sprayed one side of the peanut, turned it over and did the other side, and then we meticulously shaved off the foam to give it a nice, round shape," said Colleran. "SPF allows you to mold structures how you see fit."

Colleran mentioned that the less time-consuming part of the project was the spray foam application.

"The application took about an hour to complete," said Colleran. "After putting all the leg work constructing the skeleton of the peanut, the sprayers came in and installed it swiftly. Of course, the shaving of the foam took a lot longer because we were actually sculpting as we shaved."

After the SPF application and shaving process, the crew applied two coats of brown Sherwin Williams paint using paint brushes and rollers to render the replica with the most realistic resemblance to a giant boiled peanut.

The EOA crew used one of their rigs at the warehouse equipped with a Graco Reactor H-25 and a Graco Fusion air purge plural-component spray gun. With a crew of 10 on the job, the world's biggest boiled peanut was completed after 30 days from the project's start.

"There would be no shell without SPF," said Colleran. "The outline is just an outline, but without a skin we would have nothing. The SPF application was the most crucial part when it came to creating the object we set out to create and helped us achieve our goal."

Colleran noted that moving the giant boiled peanut out of the warehouse to the festival proved challenging, as the peanut weighed nearly 500 lbs. once completed. He explained that on each end of the steel tube holding the plywood frame together was a two-inch opening that additional steel tubes were inserted in to make the transporting of the structure easier. With two men on each side holding the additional tubes and four men using straps placed underneath the peanut, they were able to place the giant structure onto a flatbed trailer and roll it out to the Boiled Peanut Festival. The peanut was unveiled and displayed at the festival, which took place on August 24th. Colleran said that the public response of the festival attendees was noteworthy.

"Everybody was pretty loud about it," said Colleran. "We constantly had kids come up to it and ask 'Is that thing real?' I don't know how many people took photographs in front of it, but I'll guarantee Facebook and Instagram are littered with pictures of people standing in front of the world's biggest boiled peanut."

After the festival, the peanut was taken over to Cahill's Market, a local meet and greet restaurant in Bluffton, where it sits on display today. According to Colleran, there are big plans for the world's largest boiled peanut as the Bluffton Boilers were contacted by an undisclosed television network interested in showcasing the peanut on a nationally televised program.

"There's a national T.V. program that is looking to move the peanut yet again," said Colleran.

About Energy One America: Energy One America specializes in spray foam insulation, crawl space insulation, and mold prevention and services homes in cities throughout the Southeast in: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and beyond, including, Wilmington, Winston-Salem and Charlotte, NC; Myrtle Beach, Bluffton and Charleston, SC; and Augusta, GA. For more information about Energy One America and the Bluffton Boilers, please use the contact details and links provided below.