The paper mill lab

 

 In the paper mill lab my goal was to hypothesize a type of particle board or other building materials out of recycled plastics and paper sludge. I basically got my idea from a plastics technology website that stated Kadent Composites ( a company from Ontario, Canada), has found a new way to make the excess paper sludge from a paper mill near the company into an attractive building or decking material. The usefulness of this product could substantially change the worlds growing demand for wood based products or made products for the lumber industry. Realistically I believe this product would work, however the paper sludge is very brittle and can break apart very easily. In the process of making this board an epoxy or a glue of some sort will be needed to make the sludge stick together during the making and lifetime of this board. The cost of this board is not known at this time do to the processes and additive's in making this board. This is an efficient product because it is made out of recycled materials. This product is very safe for humans and pets because there is no actual active products being used to make the board. The global impact this product would make is a huge leap into alternative ways to make products just as durable and as quality as wood products, this would mean that the population in trees being harvested to make conventional boards would save a tree or even more trees. Which would also mean a better habit areas for animals which need the forest to survive. The time depends mainly on how the company makes the board, in my experiment the time it took to dry the product out was in half a day at the most. And it also depends on what the processes are needed to make this kind of board. The spaces needed would be a series of compressors, mixers, holding bins, and furnaces to make this product. It would have to have a production line inside a factory. This product would last for many years under extreme conditions and usage, however it depends mainly on what kind of additive is used to bind the board together. Mainly do because if the binding agent is a petroleum product it may decompose over the years as the board is being used. However Kadent Composites uses rice hulls as the additive because it is a rapidly-renewable resource and it last longer than plastics because they don't decompose as fast. The Particle board is very environmental friendly because it is only made up of recycled products. The reason I believe this product should be made is because this product is fairly easy to obtain, it does not involve a lot of processes to make this kind of a product, it is made up of completely recycled products and it is very environmental friendly. This product will save the amount of trees used for making boards similar to this product and this makes a longer and better image of ways for using recycled products that the worlds industries make. The chemistry involved in this product is mainly how the additive reacts to the paper sludge when It is melted and compressed together. The limitations that I came across is the time, space, additives and equipment to make this board. Kadent Composites uses rice hulls as the additive because they have an abundance of it, however in the northwest we do not have a lot of rice hulls which means we would have to think of a new alternative such as hazelnut shells or cereal grain hulls. I think with further testing one of these alternative bi products could improve a very beneficial key part to my product.

Sources:
http://www.geodeck.com/why_geodeck/our_science/formula

http://www.specialchem4coatings.com/product-directory/adhesion-promoters-bonding-agents_0_12318/organometallic-compounds_1_12321/cellulosic-resins_7_12799/index.aspx?did=0&d=1

 The 6 inch tube of PVC that is a small scale model of a giant cylinder or tube that holds the paper sludge and the additive before it gets compressed.

The C-clamp is the small scale compressing clamp that is used to compressed the mixture of paper sludge and the additive of glue. This is only a small scale model, the real life model is a giant air compressor that can compress 5,000 pounds of mixture and make it into the size of a 2x4 board.

 the wooden circles are used as a compressor pad to help pack down the mixture when the C-clamp compresses down. The real life scaled compressor has big giant pads that force the mixture into a flat object.













 Materials:

SPN paper sludge
50ml-150ml beaker
C-clamp
6in PVC pipe
2in wide wood holes
3 balloons
Aluminum foil
Bunsen Burner
Ring stand
ring holder
Scissors



Procedure:
1. find a table to work at, i will have my model ready to begin testing
2. gather materials, weight the paper sludge in a 50ml beaker record the mass of the beaker (empty) and beaker with paper sludge
3.  next cut up the three balloons i have brought as a adhesive weight the cut up balloons
4.then mix the balloons with the paper sludge till the beaker shows it is up to 50ml. weight it all together
5.with the model i have built, put the mixture in the PVC tube and begin compressing down until it is tight
6. when all or most of the water is compressed let it sit for over a night then take out the little compressed disc
7. then wrap the disc up in a layer of aluminum foil. if the disc does not heat up wrap it again until the balloons melt and bond with the paper sludge.
8. after the disc has been cooled up let it sit for a while for it to cool down and then unwrap the foil to reveal the disc.

Observations:
my observations were that the paper sludge can compact fairly tight. and does not stick together very well. i tried to burn the paper sludge to see if it would stick together but it breaks apart. that is where I needed to figure out a glue of some sort. my idea was recycled petroleum products like plastic bags, or balloons. i figured out my glue but as i researched about the rubber or plastic, I found out that over the years the plastic begins to decompose, which means that the board will fall apart. now my question is could a natural product like sap from trees or hulls from hazelnuts and wheat be used as a bonding agent with the paper sludge? I did not have a chance to test this out but I believe it would be a better alternative.

 Calculations:

Additive's name: TYZOR
Suppliers name: DuPont
Chemical composition:
  Bis (ethylacetoacetato) bis (alkanolato) titanium

Product Type:

• Crosslinking/Coupling/Curling Agents
• Moisture scavengers
• Adhesion promoters/ Bonding agents >> Organometallic compounds >> Titanates
• Catalyst/ Accelerators >> Organometallic  

Physical form:
Liquid

Product performance:
Yellow to red colored, flammable, solvent free titanium ethylacetoacetate. Used in coatings to give surface hardness, adhesion promotion, improved dispersibility, coloring effects, heat and light enhancement
.

My hypothesis now is that I can use TYZOR as an additive to my paper sludge mixture to make my product. TYZOR has capabilities of bonding with organic mater such as the cellulose in the paper sludge and organic matter such as the clay content as well. It helps the silicon bind together in the mixture to build up to durability when the board goes through to bonding process and its general form.