WO2001046297A2

WO2001046297A2 - Process for rigid foam obtention from a fibrous material and foam produced therefore

Info

Publication number: WO2001046297A2
Application number: PCT/BR2000/000143
Authority: WO
Inventors: Fernando Neto Schneider; Flávio Marques FERREIRA
Original assignee: Fernando Neto Schneider; Ferreira Flavio Marques
Priority date: 1999-12-20
Filing date: 2000-12-20
Publication date: 2001-06-28
Also published as: AU2130801A; WO2001046297A3

Abstract

Process for rigid foam obtention from a fibrous material and foam produced therefore wherein the rigid foam is produced from several fibrous materials such as cellulose (cellulose slurry), ready to use or recycled paper, vegetal or synthetic fibers or any suitable material, the rigid foam of the invention comprises aninert product having high mechanical resistance and being biologically decomposed, without waste of residue is totally able to be recycled and, depending on the final use of the product, the foam can have thermal, acoustic, fireproofing, fire insulating, cushion, waterproofing, shielding, etc., and obtaining a product having high hardness degree which is controlled during the process.

Description

PROCESS FOR RIGID FOAM OBTENTION FROM A FIBROUS MATERIAL AND FOAM PRODUCED THEREFORE OBJECT OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention refers to a process for obtention of a rigid foam produced from a fibrous material, and the foam produced therefore. The above mentioned process can use any kind of fibrous material, such as cellulose (cellulose slurry) ready to use or recycled paper, vegetal or synthetic fibers, or ever other suitable material in order to achieve this objective. The material is chosen in view of its

I particular application and the obtained rigid foam is a inert product, having mechanical resistance and being able to be biologically decomposed; the decomposed foam makes no residue when eliminated and the used foam can be also recycled, corresponding to a environmental favorable product. The phisical-chemical properties of the foam permits several applications in the industry: articles and packages having multiple ends, one way use products, advising road signals, medical products, car accessories, etc. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: In the above mentioned process, the obtained foam, in view of its application, can have a particular shape and present thermal, acoustic, fireproofing or fire insulating properties; the foam can also present cushion, waterproofing and shielding properties: the foam further present hardness property which can be provided during the process of obtention, depending on the final application. The foam, at the beginning of the obtention process, is in a paste state in order to be shaped; this is achieved via any moulding process of the art, so the the final product can have any suitable shape varying from a simple form, e.g., paper card sheet, to a complex type. The paste, after the moulding step, is submitted to a thermal treatment for permit provide a rigid feature at the end of the obtention process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:

Most of the plastic or elastomeric foams are presently produced from oil derivates such as polystyrene, expanded polystyrene (Isopor™). polypropylene, expanded polypropylene, expanded polyethylene, expanded poiyurethane, ethyl vinyl acetate, ethylene- propylene-diene monomer, etc. However, all these known raw materials based processes have a crucial problem: said processes do not permit the control of the foam phisical-chemical properties, thus the foam use is limited and the foam product is not biologically decomposed or able to be recycled. The present invention is to overcome the above mentioned limitations. The PROCESS FOR OBTENTION OF A RIGID FOAM PRODUCED FROM A FIBROUS MATERIAL AND FOAM PRODUCED THEREFORE can employ fibrous materials such as cellulose (cellulose slurry), ready to use or recycled cellulose, vegetal or synthetic fibers or other suitable material, the raw material is selected in view of the final application of the product; said material is first crushed by a mechanical mill for obtain reduced size fibers, the size of fibers, defined in view of the final use of the fibrous foam product, is ranging from 0.005mm to 10mm. The crushed fibers are placed in a mixer device having orbital rotation; the amount of the raw material can reach 90% of the final rigid foam composition, depending on the final use of the product. The fiber material mixture contains solvent, adhesive and dye. The solvent can be water or any volatile solvent, corresponding to a content varying to up to 10% of the rigid foam final composition, the adhesive content is not greater than 10% of the rigid foam final composition; the dye content is not greater than 1 % of the rigid foam final composition; the mentioned amounts are also fitted to final application of the foam. The mixture is a moisten paste which is able to be shaped, in accodance to the final use of the foam product, by any moulding process of the art.

After the moulding step, the paste mass is ready to be submitted to a thermal treatment for permit a dry and rigid form of the foam. This occurs when the paste is heated at a temperature ranging from 100°C to 180°C. The heating procedure is performed by microwave irradiation at a frequence of up to 2.45 GHz, or via proton source heating for reduce the solvent content and stabilize the dye, but without modifying the structural features of the of the product.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1) PROCESS FOR RIGID FOAM OBTENTION FROM A FIBROUS MATERIAL AND FOAM PRODUCED THEREFORE whrein the process of obtention is characterized bv employing fibrous material such as cellulose (cellulose slurry), ready to use or recycled paper, vegetal or synthetic fibers or any other suitable material, the selected raw material is defined in view of the final use, the raw material is first crushed by mechanical mill, obtaining reduced fibers having a size ranging from 0.005 mm and to 10 mm and being defined in view of the final use, the crushed fibers are placed in a mixer device having orbital rotation, the raw material can reach 90% of the final rigid foam composition; said fibers are mixed to a solvent, an adhesive and a dye; the solvent content is not greater than 10% and the solvent can be water or any volatile solvent; the adhesive content is not greater than 10% of the final rigid foam composition; and the dye content is not greater than 1 % of the final rigid foam composition; the raw material is mixed to the solvent, the adhesive and the dye for produce a moisten paste which is able to be submitted to the moulding step which can be any moulding step of the art; the moulded paste is submitted to a thermal treatment for permit obtain a fibrous foam having dry and rigid features, at the end of the process; the thermal treatment is performed at a temperature ranging from 100°C to 180°C in order to reduce the solvent content and stabilize the dye, without modifying the structural features of the final product. 2) PROCESS, according to claim 1 , wherein the rigid foam is characterized in that is obtained from a raw material consisting fibrous materials such as cellulose (cellulose slurry), ready to use or recycled paper, vegetal or synthetic fibers or any other suitable fibers, the raw material is selected in veiw of the final use of the product; the size of the raw material fibers can range from 0.005mm to 10mm and can correspond to up to 90% of the final rigid foam composition; the fibers are mixed to a solvent, an adhesive and a dye; the solvent can be water or any volatile solvent and its content comprises up to 10% of the final rigid foam composition; the adhesive content comprises up to 10% of the final rigid foam composition; the dye comprises up to 1 % of the final rigid foam composition; the rigid foam has, at the beginning of the process, a moisten paste consistency which is able to be moulded by any moulding process of the art and thus permitting produce articles with several configurations, the moisten paste is the first step of the rigid foam obtention, since after the moulding step, the paste is submitted to a thermal treatment for produce a rigid and dry mass, but without modifying the strucutral features of the final product; the moulded dry mass is inert, has mechanical resistance and is totally biologially decomposed and recyclable; the rigid foam product can have thermal, acoustic, fireproofing, fire insulant, cushoin, waterproof and shielding properties or any other suitable properties, comprising a product having high hardness and having its obtention process able to be controlled.