JP2016041039A - Water-absorbent material and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water absorbent material that is excellent in water absorption property while including papermaking sludge as a chief material, and to provide a method for manufacturing the same.SOLUTION: A water-absorbent material 1 for absorbing liquid includes a granular core part 10 (granulation object). The granular core part 10 includes as a chief material a papermaking sludge that is pulverized while including 40 wt% or more of water content ratio.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a water-absorbing treatment material that absorbs human or animal excrement and other liquids and a method for producing the same.

  Patent Document 1 describes a granular excrement disposal material which is a kind of water absorption treatment material. This excrement disposal material absorbs urine. Therefore, a material having water absorption is used as the main material of the excrement disposal material. In this document, paper sludge is cited as one of such materials. The papermaking sludge is pulverized to a predetermined particle size and then granulated with other materials.

JP 2007-190025 A

  Papermaking sludge is waste generated in the papermaking process. Therefore, by using paper sludge as a material for the water absorption treatment material, it is possible to effectively use waste and reduce material procurement costs.

  Incidentally, papermaking sludge originally contains a large amount of moisture. Therefore, in the conventional water-absorbing treatment material, the papermaking sludge is dried prior to pulverization. However, if the papermaking sludge is dried too much, the fibers contract and become a factor that lowers the water absorption of the papermaking sludge and thus the water absorbing material.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, and it aims at providing the water absorption processing material excellent in water absorption, using papermaking sludge as a main material, and its manufacturing method.

  The water-absorbing treatment material according to the present invention is a water-absorbing treatment material that absorbs liquid, and is mainly made of paper-making sludge (including pulp sludge; the same shall apply hereinafter) pulverized with a moisture content of 40% by weight or more. It is characterized by comprising granules.

  In this water-absorbing treatment material, papermaking sludge pulverized with a water content of 40% by weight or more is used as the main material of the granulated product. When the papermaking sludge is pulverized in such a high moisture content state, it is not necessary to dry the papermaking sludge prior to pulverization. For this reason, the fall of the water absorption of papermaking sludge by excessive drying can be avoided.

  In addition, the method for producing a water-absorbing treatment material according to the present invention includes a pulverization step of pulverizing papermaking sludge having a water content of 40% by weight or more, and a manufactured article containing as a main material the papermaking sludge pulverized in the pulverization step. And a granulating step of granulating the granulated material to form a granulated product.

  In this manufacturing method, papermaking sludge having a moisture content of 40% by weight or more is pulverized, and the papermaking sludge is used as the main material of the granulated material. When the papermaking sludge is pulverized in such a high moisture content state, it is not necessary to dry the papermaking sludge prior to pulverization. For this reason, the fall of the water absorption of papermaking sludge by excessive drying can be avoided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a water-absorbing treatment material excellent in water absorption while using papermaking sludge as a main material and a method for producing the same.

It is a schematic diagram which shows one Embodiment of the water absorption processing material by this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of a water-absorbing treatment material according to the present invention. The water-absorbing treatment material 1 is a granular water-absorbing treatment material that absorbs liquid, and includes a granular core portion 10 (granulated product) and a coating layer portion 20. The water absorption treatment material 1 is, for example, an excrement treatment material for pets such as cats and dogs.

  The granular core part 10 has a function of absorbing and retaining a liquid such as urine. The granular core part 10 is formed into a granular shape. Examples of the shape of the granular core 10 include a sphere, an ellipsoid, and a cylinder. The granular core portion 10 is mainly made of papermaking sludge pulverized in a state where the moisture content is 40% by weight or more (hereinafter referred to as “hydrated pulverized sludge”). Here, the water-containing pulverized sludge is the main material of the granular core part 10 means that the weight ratio of the water-containing pulverized sludge is the largest in the entire material constituting the granular core part 10. The hydrous ground sludge is also the main material of the water-absorbing treatment material 1. The water-containing pulverized sludge is preferably pulverized with a water content (40% by weight or more) of 80% by weight or less.

  The water-containing ground sludge is ground to a particle size (fiber length) of 1 mm or less. That is, the water-containing pulverized sludge is pulverized using a pulverizer having a screen opening of 1 mm or less. The particle size of the hydrous ground sludge is preferably 0.5 mm or less, more preferably 0.3 mm or less.

  The granular core portion 10 uses okara as a secondary material. The okara is preferably dry okara. Here, Okara is a secondary material of the granular core portion 10. The weight ratio of Okara in the whole material constituting the granular core portion 10 is equal to the hydrous ground sludge or the second after the hydrous ground sludge. It is that it is big. Okara is also a sub-material of the water absorption treatment material 1.

  Furthermore, the granular core part 10 contains an adhesive material (first adhesive material). Examples of the first adhesive material include starch, CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose), PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), dextrin, and a water-absorbing polymer. In the present embodiment, a water-absorbing polymer is particularly used as the first adhesive material. The average particle diameter of the water-absorbing polymer is preferably 50 μm or less, more preferably 20 μm or less. Here, the average particle diameter means a minimum opening through which particles of 50% by weight or more can pass when a water-absorbing polymer that is an aggregate of a large number of particles is passed through a sieve. Therefore, an average particle size of 50 μm or less means that particles of 50% by weight or more can pass when the water-absorbing polymer is passed through a sieve having an opening of 50 μm. The weight ratio of the first adhesive material in the granular core 10 is preferably 5% or more and 30% or less.

  The covering layer portion 20 covers the granular core portion 10. The covering layer part 20 may cover the entire surface of the granular core part 10 or may cover only a part of the surface of the granular core part 10. The covering layer portion 20 has a function (blocking function) for adhering the water-absorbing treatment materials 1 that have absorbed liquids such as urine during use to make them solid.

  In the present embodiment, the coating layer portion 20 also uses water-containing ground sludge as the main material. That is, the weight ratio of the water-containing pulverized sludge is the largest among all the materials constituting the coating layer portion 20. Thus, in the water-absorbing treatment material 1, the water-containing ground sludge is contained in both the granular core portion 10 and the coating layer portion 20.

  The covering layer portion 20 uses okara as a secondary material. That is, among all the materials constituting the coating layer portion 20, the weight ratio occupied by okara is equal to the water-containing ground sludge or the second largest after the water-containing ground sludge.

  Furthermore, the coating layer portion 20 contains an adhesive material (second adhesive material). The second adhesive material may be the same material as the first adhesive material, or may be a different material. In the present embodiment, a water-absorbing polymer is also used as the second adhesive material. However, it is preferable that the average particle diameter of the water-absorbing polymer used as the second adhesive material is smaller than the average particle diameter of the water-absorbing polymer used as the first adhesive material.

  Then, an example of the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material 1 is demonstrated as one Embodiment of the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material by this invention. This manufacturing method includes a pulverization process, a granulation process, a coating process, a sizing process, and a drying process.

  The pulverization step is a step of pulverizing papermaking sludge having a moisture content of 40% by weight or more. The papermaking sludge preferably has a moisture content of 80% by weight or less. In this step, the papermaking sludge is pulverized to a particle size of 1 mm or less. Specifically, the papermaking sludge is pulverized using a pulverizer having a screen opening of 1 mm or less (preferably 0.5 mm or less, more preferably 0.3 mm or less). Thereby, a hydrous ground sludge is obtained.

  The granulation step is a step of forming the granular core part 10. In this step, a granulated material containing hydrous ground sludge as a main material is granulated using a granulator. At this time, no water is added to the granulated material. The granulated material contains okara as a secondary material. In addition, the granulated material includes a first adhesive material. The weight ratio of the first adhesive material to the granulated material is preferably 5% or more and 30% or less. Such a granulated material can be obtained by mixing water-containing ground sludge, okara and the first adhesive material at a predetermined ratio using a mixer.

  The covering step is a step of forming the covering layer portion 20. In this process, the material (coating material) which comprises the coating layer part 20 is made to adhere to the surface of the granular core part 10 using a coating apparatus etc. At this time, no water is added to the granular core 10. The coating material contains water-containing ground sludge and okara as a main material and a secondary material, respectively. Moreover, the coating material contains a second adhesive material. The coating material can be applied, for example, by spraying or spraying. Thereby, the coating layer part 20 is obtained.

  In the sizing step, the water-absorbing material produced in the previous step is passed through a sieve having a sieve with a predetermined size. Thereby, only the water absorption processing material which satisfy | fills a predetermined specification is extracted.

  In the drying step, the water-absorbing treatment material extracted in the previous step is dried with a dryer. The moisture content of the granular core part 10 is appropriately adjusted by drying. Thereby, while preventing the water | moisture content of the granular core part 10 from changing to the coating layer part 20 and a water absorption capability falling, it can prevent that mold | fungi etc. generate | occur | produce at the time of preservation | save of the water absorption processing material 1. FIG.

  The effect of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the papermaking sludge having a moisture content of 40% by weight or more is pulverized, and the papermaking sludge (hydrous pulverized sludge) is used as the main material of the granulated material. Thereby, in the water-absorbing treatment material 1, water-containing pulverized sludge is the main material of the granular core portion 10. When the papermaking sludge is pulverized in such a high moisture content state, it is not necessary to dry the papermaking sludge prior to pulverization. In fact, in the above-described manufacturing method, the drying process for the papermaking sludge is not performed prior to the pulverization of the papermaking sludge. For this reason, the fall of the water absorption of papermaking sludge by excessive drying can be avoided. Therefore, the water absorption processing material 1 excellent in water absorption (water absorption amount, water absorption speed) and its manufacturing method are implement | achieved.

  In addition, by not drying the papermaking sludge more than necessary before granulation, the porosity inside the granulated product (granular core portion 10) can be increased. Here, the porosity means the volume ratio of the voids in the granulated product. Such a large porosity is advantageous for enhancing the water absorption of the water-absorbing treatment material 1, and also the water disintegration property of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 (bonded fibers and particles are quickly separated by contact with water, It is also advantageous to enhance the property of being dispersed in water. Therefore, since the water-absorbing treatment material 1 is also excellent in water disintegration property, it is suitable for disposal after flowing into a flush toilet.

  Furthermore, according to this embodiment, since the process of drying the papermaking sludge before pulverization can be omitted, the amount of carbon dioxide emission can be reduced. Moreover, since the moisture necessary for granulation can be covered by the abundant moisture in the hydrous ground sludge, it is not necessary to add water to the granulated material. In fact, in the manufacturing method described above, the granulated material is granulated without adding water to the granulated material. This contributes to water saving in addition to simplification of the manufacturing process of the water-absorbing treatment material 1.

  By using the water-containing pulverized sludge as described above, it is possible to improve the water absorption and water disintegration properties of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 and to reduce the environmental load. However, if the water content of the water-containing ground sludge is too high, the granulation in the granulation step may be hindered. From this point of view, it is preferable that the water-containing ground sludge is ground in a state where the water content is 80% by weight or less.

  The hydrous ground sludge is ground to a particle size of 1 mm or less. Thus, the water disintegration property of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 can be improved by finely pulverizing the water-containing pulverized sludge. From this viewpoint, the water-containing crushed sludge is preferably pulverized to a particle size of 0.5 mm or less, and more preferably pulverized to a particle size of 0.3 mm or less. On the other hand, if the particle size of the hydrous ground sludge is too small, the granulation of the granulated material may be hindered. From this viewpoint, it is preferable that the particle size of the water-containing pulverized sludge that is the main material of the granular core 10 is 0.1 mm or more.

  The granular core 10 (granulated material) uses okara as a secondary material. Since Okara is a material with high water disintegrability, it contributes to the improvement of the water disintegration property of the water-absorbing treatment material 1.

  The granular core part 10 contains the 1st adhesive material. This facilitates granulation of the granulated material. In the present embodiment, a water-absorbing polymer is particularly used as the adhesive material. The water-absorbing polymer is finely pulverized to increase the adhesion (viscosity). Therefore, sufficient adhesiveness can be exhibited even with a small amount of water-absorbing polymer. From this viewpoint, the average particle diameter of the water-absorbing polymer is preferably 50 μm or less, and more preferably 20 μm or less. In addition to the water-absorbing polymer, starch, CMC, PVA and dextrin can also be suitably used as the first adhesive material.

  Thus, from the viewpoint of facilitating the granulation of the granulated material, the weight ratio of the first adhesive material in the granular core portion 10 is preferably 5% or more. On the other hand, when there are too many adhesive materials, in addition to the increase in material procurement cost, the water disintegration property of the water absorption processing material 1 will fall. From this point of view, the weight ratio of the first adhesive material in the granular core 10 is preferably 30% or less.

  The hydrous pulverized sludge is used not only as the granular core part 10 but also as a material for the coating layer part 20. Thereby, the material procurement cost of the water absorption processing material 1 can further be reduced.

  In the coating step, the coating material is adhered to the surface of the granular core 10 without adding water to the granular core 10. Thereby, since the water addition process with respect to the granular core part 10 becomes unnecessary, the simplification of the manufacturing process of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 and further water saving can be achieved. In this embodiment, even if the hydration process is omitted in this way, moisture necessary for adhesion of the coating material is obtained by the abundant moisture in the hydrous ground sludge contained in the granular core portion 10 and the coating layer portion 20. I can cover it.

  The covering layer portion 20 contains a second adhesive material. Thereby, the agglomeration function of the coating layer part 20 can be improved. In the present embodiment, a water-absorbing polymer is particularly used as the adhesive material. The water-absorbing polymer swells when it absorbs liquid. The swollen water-absorbing polymer blocks water from the outside (for example, water in a flush toilet) from reaching the granular core 10. For this reason, the swelling of the water-absorbing polymer in the coating layer portion 20 becomes a factor of reducing the water disintegration property of the water-absorbing treatment material 1. In this respect, the water-absorbing polymer is finely pulverized to suppress swelling during liquid absorption. Therefore, the average particle diameter of the water-absorbing polymer (second adhesive material) contained in the coating layer part 20 is contained in the granular core part 10 in order to suppress the swelling of the water-absorbing polymer in the coating layer part 20 as much as possible. It is preferably smaller than the average particle diameter of the water-absorbing polymer (first adhesive material).

  The water-absorbing treatment material and the manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention are not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. In the said embodiment, the example in which the granular core part 10 contained okara was shown. However, it is not essential that the granular core 10 contains okara. For example, the granular core part 10 may be made of water-containing ground sludge and an adhesive material, or may be made only of water-containing ground sludge.

  In the said embodiment, the coating layer part 20 showed the example which consists of a water-containing grinding | pulverization sludge, an okara, and an adhesive material. However, the composition of the coating layer portion 20 is arbitrary. For example, the coating layer portion 20 may be made of paper powder and an adhesive material other than the water-containing pulverized sludge.

  In the said embodiment, the water absorption processing material 1 of the multilayer structure which consists of the granular core part 10 and the coating layer part 20 was shown. However, it is not essential to provide the covering layer portion 20. That is, the water-absorbing treatment material 1 may have a single-layer structure including only the granular core portion 10.

1 Water-absorbing treatment material 10 Granular core (granulated product)
20 Coating layer

Claims (28)

A water-absorbing treatment material that absorbs liquid,
A water-absorbing treatment material comprising a granulated material mainly composed of paper sludge pulverized with a water content of 40% by weight or more. The water-absorbing treatment material according to claim 1,
The papermaking sludge is a water-absorbing treatment material that is pulverized with a water content of 80% by weight or less. In the water absorption treatment material according to claim 1 or 2,
The granulated product is a water-absorbing treatment material using okara as a secondary material. In the water absorption processing material in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3,
The papermaking sludge is a water-absorbing treatment material that is pulverized to a particle size of 1 mm or less. In the water absorption processing material of Claim 4,
The papermaking sludge is a water-absorbing treatment material that is pulverized to a particle size of 0.5 mm or less. The water-absorbing treatment material according to claim 5,
The papermaking sludge is a water-absorbing treatment material pulverized to a particle size of 0.3 mm or less. In the water absorption processing material in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 6,
The granulated product is a water absorption treatment material containing an adhesive material. The water-absorbing treatment material according to claim 7,
The adhesive material is a water absorption treatment material which is starch, CMC, PVA or dextrin. The water-absorbing treatment material according to claim 7,
The adhesive material is a water-absorbing treatment material which is a water-absorbing polymer having an average particle size of 50 μm or less. The water-absorbing treatment material according to claim 9,
The water-absorbing treatment material has an average particle diameter of 20 μm or less. In the water absorption processing material in any one of Claims 7 thru | or 10,
The water absorption processing material whose weight ratio of the said adhesive material to the said granulated material is 5% or more and 30% or less. In the water absorption processing material in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 11,
A water absorption treatment material provided with the coating layer part which covers the said granulated material. The water-absorbing treatment material according to claim 12,
The papermaking sludge is a water-absorbing treatment material contained in both the granulated product and the coating layer portion. A pulverizing step of pulverizing paper sludge having a moisture content of 40% by weight or more;
A granulation step of granulating a granulated material containing the papermaking sludge pulverized in the pulverization step as a main material;
A method for producing a water-absorbing treatment material, comprising: In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material of Claim 14,
The papermaking sludge pulverized in the pulverization step is a method for producing a water-absorbing treatment material having a water content of 80% by weight or less. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material of Claim 14 or 15,
The said granulated material is a manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material which contains Okara as a submaterial. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material in any one of Claims 14 thru | or 16,
In the pulverization step, a method for producing a water-absorbing treatment material, wherein the papermaking sludge is pulverized using a pulverizer having a screen opening of 1 mm or less. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material of Claim 17,
The method for producing a water-absorbing treatment material, wherein the screen has an aperture of 0.5 mm or less. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material according to claim 18,
The method for producing a water-absorbing treatment material, wherein the screen has an aperture of 0.3 mm or less. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material in any one of Claims 14 thru | or 19,
The said granulated material is a manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material containing an adhesive material. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption treatment material according to claim 20,
The said adhesive material is a manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material which is starch, CMC, PVA, or dextrin. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption treatment material according to claim 20,
The said adhesive material is a manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material which is a water absorbing polymer with an average particle diameter of 50 micrometers or less. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material of Claim 22,
The water absorbent polymer has a mean particle size of 20 μm or less. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material in any one of Claims 20 thru | or 23,
The method for producing a water-absorbing treatment material, wherein a weight ratio of the adhesive material in the granulated material is 5% or more and 30% or less. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material in any one of Claims 14 thru | or 24,
A method for producing a water-absorbing treatment material, comprising a covering step of forming a covering layer portion covering the granulated material by attaching a coating material to the surface of the granulated material formed in the granulating step. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material of Claim 25,
The said coating material is a manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material containing the said papermaking sludge grind | pulverized in the said grinding | pulverization process. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material of Claim 25 or 26,
In the coating step, the water-absorbing treatment material is produced by adhering the coating material to the surface of the granulated product without adding water to the granulated product. In the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material in any one of Claims 14 thru | or 27,
In the granulation step, the water-absorbing treatment material is produced by granulating the granulated material without adding water to the granulated material.

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