Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
  • C10L—FUELS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NATURAL GAS; SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS OBTAINED BY PROCESSES NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C10G, C10K; LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS; ADDING MATERIALS TO FUELS OR FIRES TO REDUCE SMOKE OR UNDESIRABLE DEPOSITS OR TO FACILITATE SOOT REMOVAL; FIRELIGHTERS
  • C10L11/00—Manufacture of firelighters
  • C10L11/04—Manufacture of firelighters consisting of combustible material

Definitions

• This invention relates to solid firelighters of the type which may be used, predominantly, to initiate combustion of i) barbecues (BBQ), irrespective of whether the barbecue fuel is in the form of charcoal lump wood or briquettes, ii) natural wood in outdoor wood fires or iii) any domestic or commercial fires.
• BBQ barbecues
• So called 'natural' firelighters are already known and are supplied in the form of a scored softboard or fibreboard which has subsequently been impregnated with a high energy fuel additive, usually a wax.
• the fibreboard used is categorized as 'Low-density fibreboard' and has a density of between 0.35g/cm 3 and 0.5g/cm 3 with voids to enable it to be impregnated with sufficient wax to perform adequately as a firelighter.
• the board is made on specialist board-making equipment by board manufacturers in generally 4 feet by 8 feet sheets, which is then shipped to other companies to be made into firelighters by the subsequent cutting to the desired size followed by addition of fuel additives such as slack wax by dipping or spraying the softboard with heated wax in the liquefied state.
• fuel additives such as slack wax by dipping or spraying the softboard with heated wax in the liquefied state.
• the firelighters are designed to be applied either below or dispersed amongst pieces of BBQ or domestic fireplace fuel.
• the board fibre used is derived from trees with a growth cycle of at least 8 to 12 years.
• the wax used to impregnate the softboard is quite often a petroleum based wax which is contrary to the term "Natural" in the name.
• GB2213829 discloses the use of both cellulosic and non-cellulosic combustible fillers in combination with specifically a non-natural petroleum derived wax in a method of formation of a solid fuel material by compression, either ram compaction or extrusion.
• GB2310670 also discloses combustible fillers in combination with natural derived waxes. Manufacture is carried out using compression, in order to provide a product of the required density. From test work performed, however, it has also been found that the waxes cited alone or in combination will not compress and bind adequately when using ram compaction as the chosen technique. Also, some stickiness of the wax in the pressed units prevents mould release from the press tooling, resulting in incomplete ejection of the compressed units from the press tooling.
• the present invention provides a firelighter comprising a fibre component and a natural wax component, wherein the wax component comprises a long chain fatty ester of length C42 to C60 at an inclusion level of between 20% and 80% by weight of the total firelighter.
• the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a firelighter according to the first aspect, the method comprising the steps of:
• Firelighters according to the present invention are made substantially entirely from naturally-occurring ingredients and possess the following attributes:
• the fibre component can be any combustible material containing fibres but is preferably an agricultural by-product, preferably selected from linseed, flax or hemp fibres and waste wood or combinations thereof, coppice willow or Miscanthus.
• the fibre is preferably comminuted to particulate form for example by grinding and may be similar to sawdust in particle size and appearance.
• coarser particles up to 3mm diameter
• the wax component is a natural wax component.
• the wax is a wax from a renewable source such as a plant, insect or animal, as opposed to a wax derived from fossil fuels, such as paraffinic or microcrystalline wax or a "polymer wax” such as polyethylene or polypropylene wax.
• the wax from an animal would be from the exterior of a living animal such as lanolin (wool grease). It has been found that, by the use of long chain fatty esters of carbon chain length between C42 and C60 at inclusion levels in the wax blends of between 20% to 80% by weight, sticking is overcome entirely and product binding is excellent.
• Natural waxes for use in the present invention may include minor amounts of fatty acids or alcohols such as stearic acid and/or palmitic acid or the corresponding alcohols.
• the natural wax component of firelighters according to the invention is from 20 to 40% by weight, more preferably 25 to 30% by weight, depending on cost and performance considerations such as intended bum time and the properties of the fibre component.
• Suitable waxes may readily be derived from for example oilseed rape, soy bean oils or sunflower oils and may also be obtained from beeswax, Candelilla, lanolin or carnauba wax or derivatives thereof.
• the premix is subject to cold pressing at pressures under which the wax is capable of plastic flow at ambient or room temperatures of less than say 30°C, more likely less than 25°C but in most cases not less than 15°C.
• the wax forms a substantially continuous pathway between the particles of fibrous material and binds them together substantially without absorption of wax and, on ignition in use, the inter-particle wax pathway provides a wicking effect to promote combustion.
• Pressures which may be used are typically from 5tons/in 2 upwards.
• a fuel preferably in the form of a finely ground, grated or powdered natural wax is added.
• This wax can be for example triacylglycerols or derivatives thereof, preferably fully hydrogenated, and is added prior to the compression stage to form the finished product in a single process.
• the resulting board may contain 'snap-off' firelighters or individually formed firelighters of varying sizes and shapes.
• firelighters according to the invention are safe to use and, when ignited, they bum steadily without flaring, sudden deflagration, spitting, dripping or explosion. It has also been found that any flare resulting from the firelighter being applied directly to hot charcoal is much reduced and inherently less dangerous than with other firelighters, especially those based on alcohol gels and liquids.
• 'firelighter' is interchangeable with 'firestarter', both being internationally recognised terms for products initiating and aiding combustion.
• Pre-formed chips of coppice willow were ground to particulate form and mixed with palm wax (75% by weight) and sunflower wax (25% by weight), the proportion of wood to wax being 50:50 by weight.
• Mixing of the components was continued until the mixture was homogenous and the cold mix was then compressed in a suitably-sized and shaped dye and punch assembly at a pressure of 6.0 tons/in 2 , whereby the mixture formed a solid material which did not adhere to the press tooling.
• the dye was shaped to form a "chocolate bar" style product from which individual firelighter pieces could readily be broken away for use but, in an alternative embodiment, the dye formed individual firelighter units. In either case, the resulting product was wrapped to prevent losses by evaporation, for transportation and storage before use.
• the resulting firelighter was used as a lighting medium for a barbecue in which the fuel was briquette charcoal, notably more difficult and slower to light than lump wood varieties. Charcoal was satisfactorily ignited to a condition suitable for grill cooking to commence after 20-30 minutes, this being comparable with currently commercially-available firelighters and liquids.
• Example 1 The process of Example 1 was repeated using comminuted hemp fibres in place of the coppice willow, again reduced to particulate form by milling.
• the wax component was palm wax (40% by weight) and sunflower wax (60% by weight), mixed 50:50 by weight with the fibre.
• the resulting product was suitable for use as a firelighter, as with the product of Example 1.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Dry Formation Of Fiberboard And The Like (AREA)
• Solid Fuels And Fuel-Associated Substances (AREA)

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Publications (1)

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Cited By (5)

Citations (7)

• 2009
  • 2009-02-23 GB GB0903038A patent/GB0903038D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2010
  • 2010-02-22 EP EP10154287A patent/EP2226378A1/fr not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (7)

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