TWI852011B - Cat litter and preparation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A cat litter includes 40 to 110 parts by weight of residues of a tuber crop, 110 to 160 parts by weight of a starch, 1 to 10 parts by weight of a bonding agent, and 100 to 160 parts by weight of a sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution. A preparation method of the cat litter is to mix the aforementioned components into a mixed material, and then place the mixed material in an extruder to perform a granulation process, so as to form a plurality of granulated or rod-shaped cat litters.

Description

Cat litter and preparation method thereof

This case is about a cat litter and a preparation method thereof, in particular, a cat litter prepared using potato residue and a preparation method thereof.

Cat litter is a kind of bedding used by pet owners to bury cat feces and urine. It is a necessary and highly consumable pet product. Household cat litter can be divided into two categories according to the source of materials. One is inorganic, with mineral sand (bentonite) and crystal sand (silicon dioxide) as the main products. This type of product is bulky and difficult to handle. The other is organic, focusing on biodegradability. The relevant materials are such as paper, wood, and tofu dregs. The main adsorbents are mostly fiber and starch. Adhesives (such as starch, Guanhua soybean glue, Sanxian glue, etc.), deodorants, and food-grade preservatives (calcium propionate, citric acid, etc.) are added according to the required usage characteristics of the cat litter. The claim of organic cat litter is that it can be made into compost or discharged through the toilet after use.

Ore sand and crystal sand on the market are often used because of their small particle size, material structure and biodegradability. They are advertised as having strong urine and feces coating and less likely to stink after absorbing excrement. However, their main disadvantages are that they are not environmentally friendly, are easily caught in cats' hands and produce dust. Biological materials such as sawdust, tofu dregs, wheat, grains, recycled paper and other biodegradable cat litters are marketed as environmentally friendly, but their main disadvantage is that they are easy to stink after being left for a long time.

Therefore, in order to improve the defects of the prior art, it is necessary to develop an improved cat litter and a preparation method thereof, so that the cat litter has water absorption and feces coating properties, and can be discharged through a household toilet, meeting environmental protection requirements.

The purpose of this case is to provide an improved cat litter and a preparation method thereof, which mainly utilizes biodegradable materials to prepare cat litter to reduce pollution to the environment and at the same time improve the water absorption and disintegration capacity of cat litter.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cat litter, comprising 40 to 110 parts by weight of potato residue, 110 to 160 parts by weight of starch, 1 to 10 parts by weight of a binder, and 100 to 160 parts by weight of a sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution.

In one embodiment, the potato residue is cassava residue, potato residue, taro residue, yam residue, sweet potato residue, purple potato residue or a combination thereof.

In one embodiment, the starch is tapioca starch, corn starch, potato starch, wheat starch, rice starch, glutinous rice starch or a combination thereof.

In one embodiment, the adhesive is pregelatinized starch, guanhua bean gum, sanxian gum, locust bean gum or a combination thereof.

In one embodiment, the concentration of the sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution is 0.5-2% (w/v).

In one embodiment, the cat litter further comprises 1 to 10 parts by weight of a coagulation and strengthening agent, wherein the coagulation and strengthening agent is a calcium salt.

To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention further provides a method for preparing cat litter, comprising: mixing 40 to 110 parts by weight of potato residue, 110 to 160 parts by weight of starch, 1 to 10 parts by weight of a binder, and 100 to 160 parts by weight of a sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution into a mixed raw material; and placing the mixed raw material in an extruder to perform a granulation process to form a plurality of broken granules or elongated cat litters.

In one embodiment, the preparation method further comprises mixing 1 to 10 parts by weight of a coagulation and strengthening agent with the potato residue, the starch and the adhesive, wherein the coagulation and strengthening agent is a calcium salt.

In one embodiment, the preparation method further comprises a step of drying the semi-finished product after granulation by the extruder, and the drying temperature is 60-95°C.

In one embodiment, the preparation method further comprises a step of screening the cat litter, wherein the mesh number of the screening step is 6-20 mesh.

In one embodiment, the preparation method further comprises the step of mixing the granular cat litter with the strip cat litter, wherein the proportion of the granular cat litter is 10-90%.

To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present case further provides a method for preparing cat litter, comprising: mixing 40 to 110 parts by weight of potato residue, 110 to 160 parts by weight of starch, and 100 to 160 parts by weight of sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution into a mixed raw material; placing the mixed raw material in an extruder to perform a granulation process to form a plurality of sand grain bodies; and coating the outside of the sand grain body with an adhesive to form an aqueous viscosity-enhancing layer.

In one embodiment, the preparation method further comprises the step of applying oil to the plurality of sand grain bodies obtained after granulation.

Some embodiments that embody the features and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail in the following description. It should be understood that the present invention can have various variations in different forms without departing from the scope of the present invention, and the descriptions and drawings are essentially for illustrative purposes rather than for limiting the present invention.

In order to be friendly to the environment, this case develops an improved cat litter and its preparation method, which uses biodegradable materials to prepare cat litter and strives to improve its water absorption and feces coating properties, thereby providing owners with a better choice. On the other hand, tuber crops (also known as root crops) are a type of crop rich in starch. After harvesting, their tubers can be used for food, starch extraction and feed. Taking cassava (also known as tree sap) as an example, the cassava starch production process is mainly to wash, peel, crush, screen and remove the residual skin of the harvested cassava blocks, and dry them. Cassava residue is the waste generated in the aforementioned crushing and screening steps, which still contains 30-40% fiber and 20-40% starch, and has high bioavailability. In addition, the total hydrocyanic acid content of cassava residue is less than 1 mg/kg, and no heating is required for detoxification. Therefore, this case further reuses cassava residue to prepare cat litter, using the characteristics of the material itself to promote cat litter water absorption and agglomeration, in order to overcome the shortcomings of various existing cat litter materials.

FIG1 is a flow chart showing the method for preparing cat litter in the present invention. As shown in FIG1, the method for preparing cat litter in the present invention mainly includes the processes of mixing (step S1) and granulating (step S2).

First, in step S1, raw materials such as cassava residue, starch and adhesive are mixed with sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution, wherein the mixing ratio of each component is 40 to 110 parts by weight of cassava residue, 110 to 160 parts by weight of starch, 1 to 10 parts by weight of adhesive, and 100 to 160 parts by weight of sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution.

In this embodiment, the cassava residue is waste cassava residue produced in the process of cassava starch refining, which contains 30-40% cassava fiber and can be provided as an adsorbent in cat litter. In other embodiments, the cassava residue can also be replaced by other potato residues, such as potato residue, taro residue, yam residue, sweet potato residue, purple potato residue or a combination thereof, which also contain plant fiber and can also be used as an adsorbent in cat litter.

In one embodiment, the raw materials for preparing cat litter may further include other plant fibers, such as barley fiber, pea fiber, soybean fiber and other plant fibers or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, the starch is cassava starch, but is not limited thereto, and may also be corn starch, potato starch, wheat starch, rice starch, glutinous rice starch, or various plant starches or combinations thereof. Plant starch is helpful for forming the bars and can be quickly disintegrated in water.

In one embodiment, the adhesive can be pre-gelatinized starch, guar bean gum, safflower gum, locust bean gum, or a mixture thereof. The adhesive can make the balls sticky, and can stick to and wrap cat urine and feces, which helps to form balls and increase the hardness of the cat litter balls, so that the finished cat litter will not easily fall apart when it is removed.

In one embodiment, the sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution is formed by mixing sodium bicarbonate and water, and its concentration is 0.5-2% (w/v), preferably 0.5-1% (w/v), but not limited thereto. The purpose of adding sodium bicarbonate is to neutralize organic acids and eliminate the odor or stink of cat urine when preparing cat litter.

In one embodiment, the raw materials for preparing cat litter may further include a coagulating and strengthening agent, the mixing ratio of which is 1 to 10 parts by weight, and various calcium salts, such as but not limited to calcium carbonate, may be mixed evenly with the above raw materials in a mixing bowl. The function of the coagulating and strengthening agent is to help form balls and increase the strength of the balls.

Then, in step S2, the mixed raw materials are subjected to granulation processes such as stripping, drying, crushing, and screening. First, the mixed raw materials are poured into an extruder (such as a pelletizing machine) in batches to extrude strips (step S21), wherein the specific mechanical energy of the machine is 0.01-3 kW hr/kg. Then, the semi-finished cat litter strips extruded by the pelletizing machine are placed in a tray and dried at 60-95°C in a hot air dryer (step S22), wherein the moisture content of the semi-finished cat litter after drying is about 12-18%. Afterwards, the dried cat litter strips are cut and crushed by a pelletizing machine (step S23) or not cut, and finally screened (step S24) to remove larger particles to obtain the cat litter product. In one embodiment, the number of meshes of the screen is 6-20 mesh, but it can be adjusted according to actual needs and is not limited thereto.

In one embodiment, the finished cat litter is in the shape of granules or strips with a diameter of 1 to 3 mm. The granules and strips can be used separately or mixed together. If mixed, the proportion of the granules can be 10 to 90%, but not limited thereto.

The following will use examples to illustrate the cat litter and its preparation method in this case, and further test its ball weight, water absorption and disintegration force to understand the performance of the finished cat litter in this case.

The ball weight test method is as follows. First, weigh 50 grams of cat litter sample in a 100 mL glass beaker, and add 15 mL of water with a burette. After ten minutes, pour the water-absorbing balls in the cup into the cat litter shovel and weigh the balls. This test method is to observe how many grams of cat litter is needed to absorb 15 mL of water. Therefore, the higher the ball weight value, the greater the consumption of cat litter per unit of urine, which means that the owner needs more cat litter and the higher the cost.

The water absorption test method is as follows. Weigh 10 grams of cat litter sample, put it into a round plate with mesh holes at the bottom, place a pre-weighed beaker below, and gradually add distilled water. The water that falls into the beaker is the unabsorbed water. Calculate the water absorbed by each gram of cat litter, evaluate the instantaneous absorption capacity and water absorption of the cat litter, which is the water absorption of the cat litter (g water absorption/g cat litter, that is, the number of grams of water absorbed by each gram of cat litter, or the water absorption multiple).

The disintegration test method is as follows. Weigh 50 grams of the sample in a 100 mL glass beaker, add 15 mL of water with a burette, and after ten minutes, pour the water-absorbing balls in the cup into a cat litter shovel. After swaying it left and right ten times, pour the balls into 500 mL of water and record the seconds to start disintegration. The lower the seconds to start disintegration, the better the disintegration force, which is conducive to flushing into the toilet.

Example 1: 40 parts by weight of cassava residue, 160 parts by weight of cassava starch, 5 parts by weight of pre-gelatinized starch, 1 part by weight of calcium carbonate, and 100 parts by weight of 1% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution were mixed, and the mixed raw materials were placed in a pelletizing machine to granulate into strips, and then dried, crushed, sieved, etc. to obtain cat litter sample 1. After testing, the ball weight of cat litter sample 1 was 36.5 grams, the water absorption capacity was 1.7 times, and the disintegration time was 5 seconds.

Example 2: 65 parts by weight of cassava residue, 140 parts by weight of cassava starch, 10 parts by weight of pre-gelatinized starch, and 110 parts by weight of 2% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution were mixed, and the mixed raw materials were placed in a pelletizing machine to granulate into strips, and then dried, crushed, sieved, etc. to obtain cat litter sample 2. After testing, the ball weight of cat litter sample 2 was 30.5 grams, the water absorption capacity was 2.0 times, and the disintegration time was 13 seconds.

Example 3: 80 parts by weight of cassava residue, 130 parts by weight of corn starch, 5 parts by weight of guanhua soy gum, 1 part by weight of calcium carbonate, and 120 parts by weight of 0.5% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution were mixed, and the mixed raw materials were placed in a pelletizing machine to granulate into strips, and then dried, crushed, sieved, etc. to obtain cat litter sample 3. After testing, the ball weight of cat litter sample 3 was 30.0 grams, the water absorption capacity was 2.3 times, and the disintegration time was 18 seconds.

Example 4: 95 parts by weight of cassava residue, 120 parts by weight of potato starch, 5 parts by weight of Guanhua soybean gum, 5 parts by weight of calcium carbonate, and 140 parts by weight of 1% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution were mixed, and the mixed raw materials were placed in a pelletizing machine to granulate into strips, and then dried, crushed, sieved, etc. to obtain cat litter sample 4. After testing, the ball weight of cat litter sample 4 was 32.0 grams, the water absorption capacity was 2.2 times, and the disintegration time was 10 seconds.

Example 5: 110 parts by weight of cassava residue, 110 parts by weight of cassava starch, 5 parts by weight of Guanhua soybean gum, 2 parts by weight of calcium carbonate, and 160 parts by weight of 2% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution were mixed, and the mixed raw materials were placed in a pelletizing machine to granulate into strips, and then dried, crushed, sieved, etc. to obtain cat litter sample 5. After testing, the ball weight of cat litter sample 5 was 28.0 grams, the water absorption capacity was 2.8 times, and the disintegration time was 10 seconds.

Example 6: 80 parts by weight of cassava residue, 130 parts by weight of cassava starch, 1 part by weight of pre-gelatinized starch, 10 parts by weight of calcium carbonate, and 120 parts by weight of 2% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution were mixed, and the mixed raw materials were placed in a pelletizing machine to granulate into strips, and then dried, crushed, sieved, etc. to obtain cat litter sample 6. After testing, the ball weight of cat litter sample 6 was 32.9 grams, the water absorption capacity was 2.2 times, and the disintegration time was 5 seconds.

The sample composition and test results of Examples 1 to 6 are summarized in Table 1. As can be seen from Table 1, the weight of the cat litter prepared in this case after absorbing water is between 28 and 40 grams, and the water absorption capacity can reach 1.7 to 2.8 times, and the disintegration time can reach less than 20 seconds, indicating that the cat litter prepared in this case has a good ball-forming effect and has a very good water absorption and disintegration capacity. Table 1 Sample Potato residue Starch Adhesive/coagulation enhancer Sodium bicarbonate Ball weight Water absorption Disintegration force 1 40 parts by weight of cassava residue 160 parts by weight of tapioca starch 5 parts by weight of pre-gelatinized starch, 1 part by weight of calcium carbonate 100 parts by weight 1.0% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate 36.5 1.7 times 5 seconds 2 65 parts by weight of cassava residue 140 parts by weight of tapioca starch 10 parts by weight of pre-gelatinized starch 110 parts by weight 2.0% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate 30.5 2.0 times 13 seconds 3 80 parts by weight of cassava residue 130 parts by weight corn starch 5 parts by weight of Guanhua soybean gelatin, 1 part by weight of calcium carbonate 120 parts by weight 0.5% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate 30.0 2.3 times 18 seconds 4 95 parts by weight of cassava residue 120 parts by weight potato starch 5 parts by weight of Guanhua soybean gelatin, 5 parts by weight of calcium carbonate 140 parts by weight 1.0% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate 32.0 2.2 times 10 seconds 5 110 parts by weight of cassava residue 110 parts by weight of tapioca starch 5 parts by weight of Guanhua soybean gelatin, 2 parts by weight of calcium carbonate 160 parts by weight 2.0% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate 28.0 2.8 times 10 seconds 6 80 parts by weight of cassava residue 130 parts by weight of tapioca starch 1 part by weight of pre-gelatinized starch, 10 parts by weight of calcium carbonate 120 parts by weight 2.0% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate 32.9 2.2 times 5 seconds

In addition, this case further conducted the same test on 5 commercially available products (Comparative Examples 1 to 5), and the test results are summarized in Table 2. As can be seen from Table 2, the disintegration time of Comparative Examples 1 to 5 is as long as 30 seconds or even more than 150 seconds, while the disintegration time of the cat litter prepared in this case can be less than 20 seconds, indicating that the cat litter in this case has a particularly good disintegration force, so that the cat litter after use can be directly discharged through the toilet, which not only reduces the amount of garbage, but also avoids the odor of excrement accumulation in the home. The performance of the cat litter in this case in terms of ball weight and water absorption is not inferior to commercially available products. Table 2 Sample Ball weight Water absorption Disintegration force Comparison Example 1 32.0 1.5~2.2 times 60~75 seconds Comparison Example 2 33.5 1.5~2.1 times 90~120 seconds Comparison Example 3 28.5 2.2 times 60~75 seconds Comparison Example 4 40.5 1.9 times More than 150 seconds Comparison Example 5 36.5 1.9 times 30 seconds

According to the above, the present invention provides a cat litter, including 40 to 110 parts by weight of potato residue, 110 to 160 parts by weight of starch, 1 to 10 parts by weight of adhesive, and 100 to 160 parts by weight of sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution, which can effectively eliminate the odor or stink of cat urine by neutralizing organic acid with sodium bicarbonate. In particular, the potato residue can reuse the plant fiber contained in the waste residue, so that the cat litter made is easy to agglomerate, and has good water absorption and disintegration power, and is a degradable cat litter. Furthermore, the raw materials of the cat litter in the present invention are all biodegradable materials, and do not contain mineral sand such as bentonite or other crystal sand components, which can reduce pollution to the environment.

The present invention further provides a method for preparing cat litter, comprising mixing 40 to 110 parts by weight of potato residue, 110 to 160 parts by weight of starch, 1 to 10 parts by weight of a binder, and 100 to 160 parts by weight of a sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution to form a mixed raw material, and placing the mixed raw material in an extruder to perform a granulation process to form a plurality of broken granules or elongated cat litters.

In the aforementioned embodiments, the adhesive is mixed with other raw materials before granulation, but the cat litter preparation method of the present case is not limited to this procedure. In other embodiments, the adhesive can also be added after the granulation step, that is, the preparation method is adjusted to first granulate the potato residue and starch with the sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution to obtain the sand body, and then mix the sand body with the adhesive and/or coagulation strengthening agent and other viscosity-enhancing raw materials, so that the viscosity-enhancing raw materials are coated on the surface of the semi-finished sand body to form an aqueous viscosity-enhancing layer. When this aqueous viscosity-enhancing layer contacts water, its viscosity will increase, which helps to adhere to and wrap cat urine and feces to form cat litter balls. Therefore, the cat litter structure obtained by the preparation method of first granulating and then coating the thickening raw materials includes a sand body and a water-based thickening layer, wherein the sand body is obtained by mixing and granulating potato residues and starch, and the water-based thickening layer is coated on the outside of the sand body.

For example, cassava residue, starch and sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution can be mixed first, and then the mixed raw materials are poured into an extruder in batches to extrude strips to obtain a semi-finished cat litter. In addition, an adhesive and a coagulation and strengthening agent are mixed, for example, pre-gelatinized starch, Guanhua soybean gum and calcium carbonate are evenly mixed to obtain a tackifying raw material. Afterwards, the semi-finished cat litter is placed in an aluminum tray, sprinkled with the tackifying raw material for powder coating, and the powder coating process needs to be constantly stirred so that the surface of the semi-finished cat litter is evenly coated with the tackifying raw material, and then drying, crushing, sieving and other steps are performed to obtain a finished cat litter. In one embodiment, oil can also be applied to the semi-finished cat litter before coating, so that the tackifying raw material is more easily coated on the semi-finished cat litter.

In summary, this case provides a new cat litter and its preparation method, which mainly uses potato residue to prepare cat litter. Since plant fiber and plant starch are used as adsorbents, it is a biodegradable material that can reduce pollution to the environment, and has a strong adsorption capacity for odors, which can reduce the generation of odors, so it has deodorizing effect. Furthermore, by utilizing the characteristics of the material itself, the prepared cat litter is easy to clump, and has good water absorption and disintegration power, and can be flushed into the toilet for direct discharge, which not only reduces the amount of garbage, but also avoids the odor of excrement accumulation at home.

Although the present invention has been described in detail by the above embodiments, it can be modified in various ways by those skilled in the art, but it does not deviate from the scope of protection of the attached patent application.

S1, S2, S21~S24: Step S1, Step S2, Step S21~S24

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the method for preparing cat litter in this case.

S1, S2, S21~S24: Step S1, Step S2, Step S21~S24

Claims (16)

A cat litter is prepared by placing a mixed raw material in an extruder and performing a granulation process, wherein the mixed raw material includes 40 to 110 parts by weight of cassava residue, 110 to 160 parts by weight of starch, 1 to 10 parts by weight of a binder, and 100 to 160 parts by weight of a sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution, and the specific mechanical energy of the extruder is 0.01 to 3kW hr/kg. Cat litter as described in claim 1, wherein the starch is cassava starch, corn starch, potato starch, wheat starch, rice starch, glutinous rice starch or a combination thereof. The cat litter as described in claim 1, wherein the adhesive is pre-gelatinized starch, Guanhua bean gum, Sanxian gum, locust bean gum or a combination thereof. Cat litter as described in claim 1, wherein the concentration of the sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution is 0.5~2% (w/v). The cat litter as described in claim 1, wherein the mixed raw material further includes 1 to 10 parts by weight of a coagulation and strengthening agent, wherein the coagulation and strengthening agent is a calcium salt. A method for preparing cat litter, comprising: mixing 40 to 110 parts by weight of cassava residue, 110 to 160 parts by weight of starch, 1 to 10 parts by weight of a binder, and 100 to 160 parts by weight of a sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution into a mixed raw material; and placing the mixed raw material in an extruder to perform a granulation process to form a plurality of granular or long strip cat litters, wherein the specific mechanical energy of the extruder is 0.01~3kW hr/kg. The preparation method as described in claim 6, wherein the starch is cassava starch, corn starch, potato starch, wheat starch, rice starch, glutinous rice starch or a combination thereof. The preparation method as described in claim 6, wherein the adhesive is pre-gelatinized starch, Guanhua bean gum, Sanxian gum, locust bean gum or a combination thereof. The preparation method as described in claim 6, wherein the concentration of the sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution is 0.5~2% (w/v). The preparation method as described in claim 6 further includes mixing 1 to 10 parts by weight of a coagulation enhancer with the cassava residue, the starch and the adhesive, wherein the coagulation enhancer is a calcium salt. The preparation method as described in claim 6, wherein after the extruder granulates, it further includes a step of drying the semi-finished product after granulation, and the drying temperature is 60~95℃. The preparation method as described in claim 6 further includes a step of screening the cat litter, wherein the mesh number of the screening step is 6-20 mesh. The preparation method as described in claim 6 further includes the step of mixing the granular cat litter with the long strip cat litter, wherein the proportion of the granular cat litter is 10-90%. A method for preparing cat litter comprises: mixing 40 to 110 parts by weight of cassava residue, 110 to 160 parts by weight of starch, and 100 to 160 parts by weight of sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution into a mixed raw material; placing the mixed raw material in an extruder to perform a granulation process to form a plurality of sand body particles, wherein the specific mechanical energy of the extruder is 0.01 to 3 kW hr/kg; and coating the outside of the sand body particles with an adhesive to form an aqueous viscosity-enhancing layer. The preparation method described in claim 14 further includes the step of applying oil to the plurality of sand grain bodies obtained after granulation. In the preparation method described in claim 14, the adhesive is pre-gelatinized starch, Guanhua bean gum, Sanxian gum, locust bean gum or a combination thereof.

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