WO2008119867A1

WO2008119867A1 - Product, such as paint, for protecting structure materials

Info

Publication number: WO2008119867A1
Application number: PCT/FI2007/000083
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jarmo Hukkanen; Kaino Virtanen
Original assignee: Jarmo Hukkanen; Kaino Virtanen
Priority date: 2007-04-03
Filing date: 2007-04-03
Publication date: 2008-10-09

Abstract

The invention relates to a product, such as paint, for protecting structure material, and a method for producing the product. The product comprises as components water, water glass and mineral substance such as graphite. The product may also comprise additives, such as linseed oil, fish oil, chalk, sugar and/or clay as additives for improving the properties of the product. The product may also comprise colour pigments known as such.

Description

PRODUCT, SUCH AS PAINT, FOR PROTECTING STRUCTURE MATERIALS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a product, which protects structure materials in various ways. For example, the invention relates a paint composition which has water, wa- ter glass and mineral substance, such as graphite, as components. If required, the material may further include colorants known as such. The product protects materials in a manner of ordinary paints, and further gives fire resistance and antifoul- ing protection for the surface.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

The most ecological prior art preservative method is structural antifouling, which means keeping the moisture away from wooden surfaces. Another prior art method is based on using dense heartwood in wooden structures which are located in wet spaces. A third prior art method is to use suitable wood species according to the circumstances. For example, larch suits well in wet spaces. The newest prior art antifouling method is heat treatment of wood. It has been verified that the heat treatment gives almost as good antifouling characteristics as impregnated wood. Flax based and tar based substances are the most ecological substances when the conventional, manually brushable antifouling materials are concerned. Their ecological properties depend on the quantity and quality of solvent substances. Currently the most used antifouling method is probably pressure impregnation. In pressure impregnation chemically functional protecting substances are impregnated into the wood, thus preventing harmful activity of micro organisms, such as rot funguses. These substances commonly include arsenic, chrome, and/or various copper compounds, which may be dangerous for humans. Therefore pressure impregnated wood is hazardous waste after it has been removed from use, and it must be delivered to a collecting point for hazardous waste.

The currently known treatment methods such as pressure impregnation are functional as such, but their use causes hazardous waste, which involves risks to the environment and to the health of humans. Structural antifouling limits the use of wood only to interiors or to targets which are protected by other materials. However, wood is quite often used in such places where structural protection does not work or it is not possible. The protection based on the use of heart wood or selected wood species is a problem, because it leads to an unbalance in the de- mand and supply of certain wood species, which are rather rare in many areas. Further, the antifouling effect thus achieved is not adequate in relation to the present standards. Good results have been achieved with heat treatment of wood. However, the heat treatment is a relatively slow and expensive process, and therefore heat treated wood can be only used in special locations where the share of rising material costs does not have much significance. And further, nowadays there are still some unresolved problems related to heat treated wood. This includes e.g. colour changes, which are problematic with certain hardwood species.

THE OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the invention to provide a new paint-like product for protecting structure material, with which it is possible to avoid or reduce problems related to the prior art protection methods and the related antifouling substances. It is also an object of the invention to provide a product by which it is possible to improve the fire resistance of wood or other burning material. It is a further object to pro- vide a product for protecting ail kinds of structure materials, such as wood, plastics, rubber and metals, which product does not include chemicals which are harmful to the environment or to humans.

The "wooden material" means in this application felled timber, sawn timber, and wooden structures in use, but also processed products such as chipboard, ply- wood and hardboard. "Rotting" means here non-desired reactions in wooden material caused by various micro-organisms, such as colour changes, cracking and reduction of strength. "Antifouling" means preventing or slowing said reactions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is based on a discovery that a mixture of water glass and mineral component in a paint-like product gives good fire resistance and antifouling properties for the product. Further, it has been discovered that using certain additives in the product it is also possible to achieve other properties which are required on a paint-like product.

The object of the invention is thus achieved with a new paint-like product which has several mixture components. The product, such as paint, according to the invention for protecting structural material, which product has as its components water, water glass and mineral substance, is characterised in that the composition comprises vegetable oil, preferably linseed oil, and/or animal oil, preferably fish oil, chalk, sugar and solvent as additives improving the properties of the product.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

The product according to the invention has good fire resistance and antifouling properties. One advantage of the invention is its manufacturing from components which are readily available. The product is also harmless for the environment and humans. Further, its use for coating materials is easy by e.g. brush painting, spraying, dipping or also by the method being used in pressure impregnation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION, EXAMPLES

Next the product according to the invention is described with an example, wherein in a certain case the composition according to the invention has 10-60% dry water glass, 1-70%, preferably 10-30 % graphite and more than 3% water, and 5-20%, preferably 10-15% sugar. Further, the mixture comprises 2-5% unseed oil, approximately 10-20% fish oil "NECOWELL^® 55" by its trade name, and 10-20% chalk "QUEENSFIL^® 300" by its trade name. Further, approx. 10% solvent is added. The solvent is preferably biologically degradable, such as dimethyl sulfoxide, DMSO. The The mentioned percentages are by weight. Added pigments are used when colour is needed for the product.

If a colourless product is desired, graphite is replaced by e.g. 1-2 weight-% silicon dioxide. Also, if white colour is needed graphite should be replaced by e.g. 10-20 weight-% of titanium dioxide.

It is possible to use still other components in the product in order to improve its properties. One such component is FLUOW ET^® by its trade name, which can be used as 3-5 weight-% of a finished composition. The substance is fluorocom- pound, a salt of fluoropolyether sulphate. Another similar compound is ZONYL^® by its trade name, which can be used as e.g. 1 weight-% as an alternative to the Fluowet^®. These additives improve the brushability and spreading of the product. Also zinc barium and barium salt are possible additives, and their share of the finished composition is 2-4% by weight of the finished composition. Also, adding wet wax in the product improves the moisture resistance of the product.

The antifouiing effect of the water glass is based on the fact that oxygen and moisture do not penetrate through a membrane which is formed by the hardened water glass on the surface of wood material. Graphite and water glass together improve fire resistance because graphite is non-burning material when mixed with water glass, and the graphite does not penetrate inside the wood by itself.

One advantage of linseed oil, fish oil and chalk are in that they improve the brushability and fastness of the product on the surface of various materials, as well as the mechanical properties. Additionally, the mixture achieves the required properties of processability, fastness and preservation.

Especially, the linseed oil improves the moisture resistance. The fish oil is used in order to absorb into the wooden material and improve the adhesion of the prod- uct. Fish oil also functions partly as solvent in the mixture. The purpose of sugar is to improve the elasticity by softening the water glass silicate, and to prevent blistering. These properties can also be enhanced by adding clay. Further, the purpose of chalk is to make the product breathable.

The product according to the invention can be produced by using e.g. the follow- ing process steps:

a) sugar is dissolved into water to achieve a rigid solution with approx. 80% sugar,

b) approx. 10 weight-% of dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) is added as a solvent;

c) the composition is mixed,

d) the remaining components and additives are mixed, and

e) the mixture of remaining components is added to the composition of water, sugar and solvent while mixing.

If necessary, the product can be diluted with a diluent which is e.g. produced as follows:

1) Water and lye are mixed in ratio 4:1 by weight;

2) Dry matter water glass silicate is added to the mixture in ratio 1 :1 by weight.

Fire resistance has been tested for product specimens which have been produced according to the principles described above. The product has been used as coating for pine panels. The tests have been performed in accredited laboratories such as Tratek Stockholm, and SP Swedish National Testing and Research fnsti- tute. The tests were performed according to standards EN 13823 for fire endur- ance and EN ISO 11925-2 for ignitability. The tests have shown that the product has good fire resistance properties and fulfils Euroclass C (SBI) requirements for fire protection.

The invention is not restricted to the above preferable embodiments or usages, but can vary within scope of the inventive idea determined by the claims.

For example, although graphite has been mentioned as one mineral substance to be used as a mixture component of the product, also other alternatives exist, such as titanium dioxide and silicon dioxide. Also, other form of carbon can be used as a mineral substance instead of graphite. However, it has appeared that carbon black which is often used as black colour additive does not have optimal fire resistance and antifouling properties in the product according to the invention.

Further, the described embodiment includes the use of linseed oil and fish oil. However, it may be possible to use some other vegetable oil instead of linseed oil, and some other animal oil instead of fish oil. Also, if fish oil is used as a solvent, it may be possible to produce the product without other solvent, even if adding other solvent is preferable.

Claims

1. Product, such as paint, for protecting structural material, which product has as its components water, water glass and mineral substance, characterised in that the composition comprises vegetable oil, preferably linseed oil, and/or animal oil, preferably fish oil, chalk, sugar and solvent for improving the properties of the product.

2. A product according to claim 1, characterised in that the mineral substance is graphite.

3. A product according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the product also comprises colour pigments.

4. A product according to claim 1 , characterised in that the mineral substance is titanium dioxide.

5. A product according to claim 4, characterised in that the product is white.

6. A product according to claim 1 , characterised in that the mineral substance is silicon dioxide.

7. A product according to claim 7, characterised in that the product is colourless.

8. A product according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the proportional amounts of water glass and mineral component are sufficient to give substantial fire resistance and antifouling protection for the structural material.

9. A product according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that the product also comprises as an additive fluorocompound, such as fluoropolyether salt for improving the brushability of the product.

10. A product according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that the product also comprises as an additive 0,1-5%, preferably 2-4% zinc barium salt or barium sulphate by weight.

11. A product according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that the product comprises a small amount, such as 0,01-10% and preferably 0,1-5%, of additive improving water resistance, such as fungiside, fungiside compounds, sugar compounds, clay, clay compounds and/or other corresponding compounds.

12. A product according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that it comprises 10-60% and preferably 20-50% dry matter water glass in weight.

13. A product according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that it comprises 1-70% and preferably 10-30% graphite or other form of carbon in weight.

14. A product according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that the it comprises 1-20% and preferably 3-15% solvent in weight.

15. A product according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that the solvent is biologically degradable.

16. A product according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that the solvent is dimethyl sulfoxide DMSO.

17. A product according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that it comprises 5-25% and preferably 10-15% sugar in weight.

18. A product according to any of the previous claims, characterised in that the product is paint.

19. A method for producing a product, such as paint, for protecting structural material, characterised in that the product is made of at least following components: water, water glass, sugar, mineral substance, solvent and chalk; and vege- table oil, preferably linseed oil, and/or animal oil, preferably fish oil.

20. A method according to the claim 18, characterised in that the method comprises at least following steps:

a) sugar is dissolved into water to achieve a rigid solution,

b) solvent is added; c) the composition is mixed,

d) remaining components of the product and additives are mixed, and

e) the mixture of said remaining components is added to said composition of water, sugar and solvent while mixing.

21. A method according to the claim 18 or 19, characterised in that also additive such as fungiside, fungiside compounds, sugar compounds, clay, clay compounds and/or other corresponding compounds are added in the product for improving water resistance.