JP6173184B2 - Water absorption treatment material - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a water-absorbing treatment material that absorbs liquid such as human or animal excrement.

Patent Document 1 describes an excrement treatment material which is a kind of water absorption treatment material. In this excrement disposal material, a core layer containing fibers and a skin layer covering the core layer are provided. The skin layer includes α starch and fibers. The document states that as an advantage of the excrement disposal material, it can be safely poured into a flush toilet.
JP 2010-104383 A

  However, in order to dispose of the used water-absorbing treatment material in a flush toilet, the water-absorbing treatment material has sufficient water decomposability (bonded fibers and particles are quickly separated by contact with water and dispersed in water. It is necessary to have a property of Insufficient water disintegration property of the water-absorbing treatment material may cause clogging of the toilet. In this regard, the conventional water-absorbing treatment material has room for improvement in terms of water decomposability.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, and aims at providing the water absorption processing material excellent in water decomposability.

  As a result of intensive studies, the present inventors have found that there is a certain relationship between the porosity of the water-absorbing treatment material and the water disintegration property, leading to the present invention. That is, the water-absorbing treatment material according to the present invention is a granular water-absorbing treatment material having voids therein, and the porosity defined as the volume ratio of the voids in the water-absorbing treatment material is 20% or more and 50% or less. It is characterized by being.

  In this water absorption treatment material, the porosity is 20% or more. Thus, by increasing the porosity, the water disintegration property of the water-absorbing treatment material can be improved. However, if the porosity is increased too much, it becomes difficult to manufacture the water-absorbing treatment material. From this viewpoint, the porosity is preferably 50% or less.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the water absorption processing material excellent in water disintegration property is realizable.

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.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of a water-absorbing treatment material according to the present invention. The water absorption treatment material 1 is a granular water absorption treatment material that absorbs liquid. The water absorption treatment material 1 is, for example, an excrement treatment material for pets such as cats and dogs.

  The water-absorbing treatment material 1 has a large number of voids 30 inside (mainly inside the granular core portion 10). Here, the porosity defined as the volume ratio of the voids 30 in the entire water-absorbing treatment material 1 is 20% or more and 50% or less. The porosity is preferably 30% or more and 50% or less, and more preferably 40% or more and 50% or less. The porosity is represented by 1- (Da / Dt) where Dt is the true density of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 and Da is the apparent density.

  The water-absorbing treatment material 1 includes, for example, a polyvinyl chloride wallpaper classification as a main material. Here, the main material refers to a material having the largest weight ratio in the entire material constituting the water-absorbing treatment material 1. The water-absorbing treatment material 1 may contain a water-absorbing polymer (including a highly water-absorbing polymer; the same applies hereinafter). In that case, it is preferable that the content rate of the water absorbing polymer in the water absorption processing material 1 is 10 weight% or less.

  In the present embodiment, the water absorption treatment material 1 includes a granular core portion 10 and a coating layer portion 20. The granular core part 10 has a function of absorbing and retaining a liquid such as urine. The granular core part 10 need only be formed in the shape of a small lump and does not have to be a perfect sphere. Examples of the shape of the granular core 10 include a columnar body (elongated shape) and a flat shape. Moreover, as a material (core part material) which comprises the granular core part 10, what is necessary is just a water retention material which has water retention performance, for example, papers, fibers, woods, plants, plastics, Rubbers and organic sludge materials can be used. Two or more of these may be used in combination.

  Any kind of paper can be used as long as it is made of pulp. Various waste materials can be used as well as virgin pulp. For example, waste paper waste, sanitary paper waste, toilet paper waste, tissue paper waste, toilet paper waste, dust paper waste, paper cotton waste, paper towel waste, toilet seat waste, newspaper waste, magazine waste, buff powder (mainly in printing companies, Fine paper dust generated during bookbinding cutting and scraping), mechanical pulp waste, chemical pulp waste, titanium paper waste, semi-chemical pulp waste, cotton pulp waste, wood pulp waste, waste paper pulp pulverized material, fluff pulp, Water-absorbing fiber waste, non-woven fabric waste, paper dust generated during non-woven fabric manufacture, paper dust generated during the paper making process, paper dust generated during sanitary material manufacture, waste laminate paper, laminated paper printing waste, laminated paper scraps, cardboard Waste, waste paper (trim loss generated by sanitary materials manufacturers, paper waste generated by paper manufacturers, etc.), wrapping paper, paperboard, used Marks can be used punch waste.

  Further, as the papers, polyvinyl chloride wallpaper classifieds may be used. The PVC wallpaper classification refers to a granular material containing paper obtained by classifying a PVC wallpaper. That is, a wallpaper obtained by removing materials other than paper from a PVC wallpaper by classification is a PVC wallpaper classified. However, since it is difficult to completely remove materials other than paper by classification, it is usual that materials other than paper remain to some extent in the PVC wallpaper classified.

  Fibers are a thread-like substance used as a raw material for cloth and the like, and the type is not limited. Natural fibers or chemical fibers may be used. For example, fiber waste (cotton waste, wool waste, hemp waste, lint waste, cloth waste, cotton waste, waste eyebrows, rayon waste, nylon waste, polyester waste, rope waste) discarded from a textile factory can be used.

  As wood, various kinds of waste wood (waste wood for structures, waste wood generated in the manufacture of wooden products, wooden furniture, wooden pallets, wood scraps, sawdust, barks, packing material waste, board scraps, scrap chips, cutting / Waste wood, pruned branches, wood flour, etc. generated by cutting roots) can be used.

  The plant is not limited to any kind, and may be, for example, plant residue, as well as sasa, bamboo, fallen leaves and cut grass. Here, a vegetable residue means the solid unnecessary thing of the plant used as a raw material in a foodstuff manufacturing industry, a pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, a fragrance | flavor manufacturing industry, or a restaurant. For example, sauce lees, soy sauce, koji kasu, sake lees, beer lees, candy lees, laver lees, starch lees, tofu lees, okara, red bean, tea husk, roasted coffee beans extraction residue, rice / flour, soybean lees , Fruit peel / seed, vegetable waste, medicinal herb residue, oil residue.

  Plastics are solid materials of synthetic polymer compounds (polypropylene, vinyl chloride, polychlorinated biphenyls, polystyrene, polyacetal, polycarbonate, polyethylene, polyamide, polyethylene terephthalate, vinylidene chloride, acrylic resin, polyurethane (urethane foam), biodegradable Any type of plastic is acceptable. Various waste materials may be used as plastics. For example, waste plastics, waste polyurethane, waste polystyrene (including foamed polystyrene), waste agricultural film, scraps of various synthetic resin-based packaging materials, waste photo films, waste plastic containers, wire coating scraps, lining scraps, waste polymers , Paint residue, adhesive residue, waste bakeland (printed substrate, etc.) can be used.

  In addition, separation products rich in plastics of waste materials from excrement disposal materials, separation products rich in plastics of waste materials from disposable diapers (such as the exterior of non-standard paper diapers produced by sanitary materials manufacturers), and separation from plastics from sanitary napkin waste materials. Products, milk pad waste plastic-rich separation products, sweat pad waste plastic-rich separation products, incontinence pad waste plastic-rich separation products, animal bed sheet waste plastic-rich separation products, bedding sheet waste plastic Separation products by rich classification, separation products rich in plastics of mask waste materials, separation products rich in plastics of eye mask waste materials, separation products rich in plastics of waste materials for seat head covers, separation materials rich in plastics of vinyl chloride wallpaper waste materials, pillow cover waste materials Products and synthetic resin fiber waste can also be used .

  In addition, waste disposal material waste, disposable diaper waste, sanitary napkin waste, milk pad waste, sweat pad waste, incontinence pad waste, animal bed sheet waste, bedding sheet waste, mask waste, eye mask waste, seat head cover waste Pillow cover waste can also be used.

  Since plastics have a small amount of ash, when it is used, it is possible to reduce the amount after incineration and to increase the amount of heat generated during incineration.

  Any kind of rubber may be used as long as it is a polymer material excellent in stretchability. Natural rubber or synthetic rubber may be used. Various waste materials may be used as rubbers. For example, waste tires and synthetic rubber waste can be used.

  As the organic sludge, for example, a muddy substance remaining after treatment of factory waste water or the like, or a muddy substance generated in the manufacturing process of various manufacturing industries can be used. For example, papermaking sludge, pulp sludge, sewage sludge, digested sludge (excess sludge), and glue residue can be used.

  When two or more types of water retention materials having different properties are appropriately combined as the core material, the water retention performance can be effectively improved by the synergistic effect of these materials.

  For example, a combination of fluff pulp (paper) and vegetable residue (such as okara), a combination of fluff pulp (paper), vegetable residue (such as okara) and wood (wood flour), fluff pulp (paper) ), Plant residues (such as okara) and organic sludge (pulp sludge), combinations of plant residues (such as okara) and organic sludge (pulp sludge), plastics (vinyl chloride wallpaper) and organic Combination with sludge (pulp sludge) is conceivable.

  Even when a water retention material having a low water retention performance is used, a high water retention performance can be realized by combining with other water retention materials. Therefore, even a material having low water retention performance can be suitably used as a water retention material, so the range of selection of the water retention material is expanded.

  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 liquid such as urine during use to form a block. The weight ratio of the coating layer portion 20 in the water-absorbing treatment material 1 is preferably 3% or more and 20% or less. As a material (coating material) constituting the coating layer portion 20, for example, a mixture of an organic material and an adhesive material can be used.

  As the organic material, paper powder, wood powder or okara is preferably used. Examples of paper powder include thin paper, thin paper waste, sanitary paper, sanitary paper waste, toilet paper paper, toilet paper waste, tissue paper paper, tissue paper waste, decorative paper paper, decorative paper waste, dust paper paper, dust paper waste, paper Cotton, paper waste, paper towel, paper towel waste, toilet seat waste, mechanical pulp, mechanical pulp waste, chemical pulp, chemical pulp waste, semi-chemical pulp, semi-chemical pulp waste, cotton-like pulp, cotton-like pulp waste, wood Pulp, wood pulp waste, waste paper pulp pulverized material, fluff pulp, water absorbent fiber waste, paper powder containing water absorbent resin, paper powder generated during bookbinding, paper powder generated during non-woven fabric production, paper powder generated in the papermaking process Paper dust generated at the time of manufacturing sanitary materials can be used. Two or more of these may be used in combination. In any case, it is preferably used after being pulverized into a granular material having a particle size of 0.5 mm or less, more preferably 0.3 mm or less.

  As the adhesive material, various known substances can be used, and examples thereof include a paste, a phenol resin adhesive, a vinyl acetate resin emulsion adhesive, and a water-absorbing polymer. Specifically, for example, starch (potato starch, wheat starch, sweet potato starch, tapioca starch, rice starch, corn starch), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), dextrin, acrylamide, polyacrylamide, sodium polyacrylate Sodium alginate, vinyl ester, bentonite, pullulan, casein, and gelatin. Among them, it is preferable to use starch, CMC, PVA, or a water-absorbing polymer. Two or more of these may be used in combination. The starch may be either α starch or β starch. The water-absorbing polymer is preferably a highly water-absorbing polymer having a particle size of less than 50 μm.

  The effect of the water absorption processing material 1 is demonstrated. In the water-absorbing treatment material 1, the porosity is 20% or more. Thus, the water disintegration property of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 can be improved by increasing the porosity. Therefore, the water-absorbing treatment material 1 is suitable for disposal by flowing into a flush toilet. However, if the porosity is increased too much, it becomes difficult to manufacture the water-absorbing treatment material 1. Specifically, it becomes difficult to form the material into particles. From this viewpoint, the porosity is preferably 50% or less.

  Furthermore, the present inventors have found that there is a certain relationship between the porosity of the water absorption treatment material and the water absorption speed. That is, by increasing the porosity to 20% or more, not only the water decomposability of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 but also the water absorption speed can be improved.

  When the porosity is 30% or more, the water disintegration property and the water absorption speed of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 can be further improved. Furthermore, when the porosity is 40% or more, the water disintegration property and the water absorption speed of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 can be further improved.

  When the main material of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 is a polyvinyl chloride wallpaper classification product, since the polyvinyl chloride wallpaper classification product is a material having a low specific gravity, the water absorption treatment material 1 having a low specific gravity as a whole is obtained. Thus, when the water absorption processing material 1 has small specific gravity, since volume can be earned with few materials, the reduction of the manufacturing cost of the water absorption processing material 1 can be aimed at.

  Furthermore, the polyvinyl chloride wallpaper classification has a lower vinyl chloride content than the polyvinyl chloride wallpaper itself. For this reason, even if it is a case where it heats at the time of manufacture of the water absorption processing material 1 (especially at the time of granulation mentioned later), generation | occurrence | production of gas, such as hydrogen chloride, can be suppressed. Moreover, generation | occurrence | production of the dioxin at the time of incinerating the water absorption processing material 1 can be suppressed. Therefore, the water-absorbing treatment material 1 is not only suitable for disposal by flushing with a flush toilet, but also suitable for disposal by incineration.

  When the water-absorbing treatment material 1 contains 10% by weight or less of a water-absorbing polymer, the agglomeration function can be enhanced without inhibiting the water disintegration property of the water-absorbing treatment material 1.

  The water absorption treatment material 1 includes a granular core portion 10 and a coating layer portion 20 that covers the granular core portion 10. Thereby, for example, the water absorption / water retention function is mainly assigned to the granular core portion 10 and the lumping function is mainly assigned to the covering layer portion 20, so that the functions can be shared. A plurality of functions can be enhanced together by selecting materials suitable for the respective functions as the material of the granular core portion 10 and the covering layer portion 20.

  When the weight ratio of the coating layer portion 20 occupying the water-absorbing treatment material 1 is 3% or more and 20% or less, by providing the coating layer portion 20 with an agglomeration function, without inhibiting the water disintegration property of the water-absorbing treatment material 1, The agglomeration function can be enhanced.

  When the covering layer portion 20 contains okara as an organic material, since okara is a material with high water decomposability, the water decomposability of the water-absorbing treatment material 1 is further improved in combination with the improvement in water decomposability due to an increase in porosity. To do.

  When the coating layer portion 20 contains a superabsorbent polymer having a particle size of less than 50 μm as an adhesive material, the superabsorbent polymer is finely pulverized to increase the adhesive force, so that the agglomeration function of the coating layer portion 20 is enhanced. be able to.

  Then, the manufacturing method of the water absorption processing material 1 is demonstrated. This manufacturing method includes a granulation step, a covering step, a sizing step, and a drying step.

  In the granulation step, the core material is pulverized to a predetermined size with a crusher, and the pulverized core material is put into a mixer at a predetermined ratio and mixed. And after adding water, the said core material is extrusion-granulated with a granulator. At this time, the porosity in the water-absorbing treatment material 1 after manufacture can be adjusted by changing the amount of water added, the hole diameter of the die in the granulator, the distance between the die and the roller, and the like. Here, the amount of water added refers to the weight ratio of the amount of water added to the core material before water addition. Thereby, the granular core part 10 is obtained.

  In the coating step, a coating material is attached around the granular core 10 using a coating apparatus or the like. 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. At this time, the porosity in the water-absorbing treatment material 1 after manufacture can be adjusted by changing the drying time, temperature, and the like. Further, by appropriately adjusting the moisture content of the granular core part 10 by drying, it is possible to prevent the water content of the granular core part 10 from transitioning to the coating layer part 20 and lowering the water absorption capability, and the water absorption treatment material 1 It is possible to prevent mold and the like from being generated during storage.

  In addition, you may perform a fragrance | flavor addition process after a drying process. In this step, a fragrance is placed in a packaging bag used for bagging the water-absorbing treatment material 1. A fragrance | flavor is injected in a packaging bag with air, for example. Such air injection is performed in order to expand the packaging bag. This step is preferably performed prior to the step of filling the water-absorbing treatment material 1 in a packaging bag (bag filling step).

  Since the said fragrance | flavor adheres to the water absorption processing material 1 within a packaging bag, the water absorption processing material 1 which has aromaticity is obtained. Thus, by putting a fragrance | flavor in a packaging bag, it can prevent that a fragrance | flavor adheres to a manufacturing apparatus in the process before it. Therefore, cleaning of the apparatus after manufacture becomes easy.

  When the fragrance is injected into the packaging bag together with air, it is not necessary to provide a device for putting the fragrance in the packaging bag, separately from the device for injecting air into the packaging bag. Therefore, the water-absorbing treatment material 1 having aromaticity can be obtained while avoiding the complexity of the production equipment.

  When the fragrance | flavor addition process is performed ahead of a bagging process, the water absorption processing material 1 can be stuffed in the state which the fragrance | flavor has spread throughout the packaging bag. Therefore, it becomes easy to attach a fragrance | flavor uniformly to the several water absorption processing material 1 in a packaging bag.

  Moreover, since the fragrance | flavor is injected in the packaging bag, it is useless compared with the case where the fragrance is injected outside the packaging bag (for example, when the water-absorbing treatment material 1 before being packed in the packaging bag is injected). The amount of fragrance can be reduced.

  The water absorption treatment material by this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Various deformation | transformation is possible. For example, 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, the water absorption treatment material 1 may have a single layer structure. That is, it is not essential to provide the covering layer portion 20.

  As shown in Table 1, four types of water-absorbing treatment materials (samples 1 to 4) were produced by changing the amount of water added during granulation. That is, Samples 1, 2, 3, and 4 were prepared with the amount of water added in the granulation step being 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%, respectively. Each sample had a single-layer structure without a covering layer portion, and 90 wt% polyvinyl chloride wallpaper classification and 10 wt% water-absorbing polymer were used as materials. As a granulator, a disk pelleter (F-20 type) manufactured by Dalton Co. was used. The inverter set value was 40, the die thickness was 20 mm, the die hole diameter was 3 mm, and the distance between the die and the roller was 8 mm.

  The porosity in this example was substituted by the cross-sectional porosity. The cross-sectional porosity is defined as the ratio of the area of the void portion to the cross-sectional area (cross-sectional area including the void portion) of each sample. As the cross section, a cross section that is perpendicular to the major axis of each sample and passes through the substantially central portion of the major axis is selected.

  The cross-sectional porosity was measured as follows. First, in a state where each sample was embedded and fixed in a resin piece, the cross section was polished, and an image of the cross section was taken. Subsequently, the area ratio of the void portion in the cross section, that is, the cross-sectional void ratio was measured by image analysis software ("A Image-kun" manufactured by Asahi Kasei Engineering Co., Ltd.). As a result, the porosity of Samples 1, 2, 3, and 4 were 15%, 19%, 37%, and 50%, respectively.

  The “water disintegrability” in Table 1 was measured as follows. The sample was stirred with a magnetic stirrer in a state where 10 g of a sample and 400 cc of water were put in a 500 cc beaker. The rotational speed of the magnet stirrer was 250 rpm. Then, the time from the start of stirring to the dissociation of the sample was measured. Stirring was started immediately after the sample was added. The time when the sample was separated and dispersed to such an extent that the individual granular materials could not be distinguished was taken as the time when the sample dissociated, that is, the end point of time measurement.

  As a result, the water disintegration properties of Samples 1, 2, 3, and 4 were 170 seconds, 140 seconds, 100 seconds, and 70 seconds, respectively. Therefore, it was confirmed that at least in the range where the porosity is 15% or more and 50% or less, the water disintegration improves as the porosity increases. It can be said that it is preferable that the porosity is 20% or more and 50% or less because excellent water disintegrability was obtained particularly for Samples 2 to 4.

  The time from the start of stirring until the sample started to rotate according to the flow of water was 117 seconds for sample 1, 80 seconds for sample 2, 65 seconds for sample 3, and 40 seconds for sample 4. Since the sample starts to rotate according to the flow of water after it absorbs water and has a certain weight, this time is considered to reflect the water absorption speed of each sample.

  The “water absorption rate” in Table 1 was measured as follows. With 10 g of sample in the container, 30 cc of water was added. As the container, a bowl-shaped (cuboid shape) made of styrene resin was used. The size (inner dimensions) of the container is a width of 7.5 cm, a depth of 3.0 cm, and a depth of 6.5 cm. And after adding water, the time until a sample finished absorbing water was measured. The time when free water (water not absorbed by the sample) no longer exists in the container was taken as the time when the sample finished absorbing water, that is, the end point of time measurement.

  As a result, the water absorption rates of Samples 1, 2, 3, and 4 were 64 seconds, 48 seconds, 35 seconds, and 21 seconds, respectively. Therefore, it was confirmed that the water absorption rate improved as the porosity increased at least in the range where the porosity was 15% or more and 50% or less. In particular, since excellent water absorption rates were obtained for samples 2 to 4, it can be said that the porosity is preferably 20% or more and 50% or less.

  If the time required for each gram of sample to absorb 1 cc of water is calculated, sample 1 is 21 seconds, sample 2 is 16 seconds, sample 3 is 12 seconds, and sample 4 is 7 seconds.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water absorption processing material 10 Granular core part 20 Covering layer part 30 Space | gap

Claims (9)

It is a granular water-absorbing treatment material having voids inside,
The water-absorbing treatment material has a polyvinyl chloride wallpaper classification as a main material and contains a water-absorbing polymer.
The water-absorbing polymer content in the water-absorbing treatment material is 10% by weight or less,
A water-absorbing treatment material characterized in that a porosity defined as a volume ratio of the voids in the water-absorbing treatment material is 20% or more and 50% or less. The water-absorbing treatment material according to claim 1,
The water absorption treatment material having a porosity of 30% or more. The water-absorbing treatment material according to claim 2,
The water absorption processing material whose said porosity is 40% or more. In the water absorption processing material in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3 ,
A water absorption processing material provided with a granular core part and the coating layer part which covers the said granular core part. In the water absorption processing material of Claim 4 ,
The weight ratio of the said coating layer part which occupies for the said water absorption treatment material is 3% or more and 20% or less of the water absorption treatment material. In the water absorption processing material of Claim 4 or 5 ,
The coating layer portion is a water absorption treatment material including an organic material and an adhesive material. The water-absorbing treatment material according to claim 6 ,
The organic material is a water-absorbing treatment material that is paper powder, wood powder, or okara. In the water absorption treatment material according to claim 6 or 7 ,
The adhesive material is starch, CMC, PVA, or a water-absorbing treatment material that is a water-absorbing polymer. The water-absorbing treatment material according to claim 8 ,
The adhesive material is a water-absorbing treatment material that is a highly water-absorbing polymer having a particle size of less than 50 μm.

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