In addition to the vast commercial market that exists, to some large extent not yet fully exploited, for the productive and profitable use of Coal Ash in the making of Portland Cement and Portland Cement Concrete, which we have already documented in many previous reports and will document further, another large, and perhaps largely untapped, market for Coal Ash exists as a mineral filler in the manufacture of plastics composites.
The word "filler" is an unfortunate one to use, since it implies that a product is being "cheapened" somehow by the addition of a filler.
In the case of plastics or polymers that are "loaded" to one extent or another with filler, that can, to a certain extent, be true. But, in many, if not most, cases, filler is added to a plastic compound in order to help achieve a certain quality, or an improved specific performance, in the final product made from the plastic.
Bowling balls are a good, simple example to use, since just about everyone has, at one time or another, gone bowling and understands that bowling balls, which are basically all now molded from one sort or resin or another, though all bowling balls are the same size, come in a full range of different weights to accommodate the varying sizes and strengths of the people who might use them.
Those different weights are achieved by varying the amount of the powdered mineral added to the plastic or polymer resin from which the balls are molded.
But, again, mineral fillers are added to plastics to help achieve other properties as well; and, given the broad range of products that are made from the broad range of polymers that are now available, an industry has evolved to serve the mineral filler needs of those markets, as represented, for just one example, by:
R.T. Vanderbilt Company, Inc. : About Us Home Page; the R. T. Vanderbilt Company, a New York City company who started out nearly a century ago selling ground clay to paper makers, to help improve the quality and finish of their products. They've expanded since then and now sell a variety of mineral fillers, and other products, to a wide range of industries; but, they explain the use of mineral fillers in plastics and polymers pretty well in:
http://www.rtvanderbilt.com/
And, as we have previously reported, for one instance in:
West Virginia Coal Association | Texas Converts Coal Ash to Cash | Research & Development; which concerned: "US Patent 6,916,863 - Filler Comprising Fly Ash for Use in Polymer Composites", "US Patent 7,241,818 - Filler Comprising Fly Ash for Use in Composites", and "US Patent 7,879,144 - Filler Comprising Fly Ash for Use in Polymer Composites";
it is becoming recognized in the industry that Coal Ash can serve in many cases as just such a mineral filler in plastic and polymer composites.
Herein, we see that a well-known and genuinely major corporation has recognized the value of using Coal Ash as a filler in one specific type of polymer, i.e., foamed-in-place insulation, to help achieve improvement in at least one critical area of performance.
Comment follows excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch to:
"United States Patent 4,425,440 - Flame Retardant Thermally Insulating Material
Date: January, 1984
Inventor: Roel Bloembergen and Jan Verhave, Netherlands
Assignee: Shell Oil Company, Texas
Abstract: The invention provides a flame retardant thermally insulating material which comprises cellular polymer particles and fly ash bound into a coherent mass by a dried synthetic polymer latex binder, and a process for providing between at least two spaced-apart surfaces a flame retardant thermal insulation in the form of such a material. The process has particularly useful application in the field of roof insulation in sloping roofs having spaced-apart outer and inner layers.
Claims: A thermally insulating material, suitable for injection into cavities, which comprises cellular polymer particles, fly ash, a synthetic polymer latex binder, a foaming agent, a foam stabilizer, a thickening agent and a coalescing agent.
A process for providing a flame retardant thermal insulation between at least two spaced-apart surfaces having an air-filled cavity therebetween, which process comprises introducing into the cavity a foamed mixture of a synthetic polymer latex binder, a coalescing agent, a thickening agent, a foam stabilizer, a foaming agent, fly ash and cellular polymer particles.
(Shell Oil are describing "foamed-in-place" insulation, which, if you're not familiar with it, is, rather than the more familiar fiber or solid foam insulation mats and boards that are built into walls, etc., a liquid that is poured, pumped or sprayed into cavities in buildings already constructed, where the liquid foams up as it cures and hardens, doing a better job of filling cracks and crevices, and, in effect, "sealing" the structure against air flows while at the same time providing the insulation material.
More about such "liquid foam insulation" can be learned from our US Department of Energy, via:
Energy Savers: Sprayed-Foam and Foamed-In-Place Insulation; "Liquid foam insulation materials can be sprayed, foamed-in-place, injected, or poured. Their ability to fill even the smallest cavities gives them twice the R-value per inch than traditional batt insulation. Today, some foam insulation consists of materials similar to those found in pillows and mattresses. Also, most foam materials can now be used with foaming agents that don't use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which are harmful to the earth's ozone layer.")
The process ... wherein a liquid mixture containing the synthetic polymer latex binder, the coalescing agent, the thickening agent, the foam stabilizer and the foaming agent is aerated to produce a foam, fly ash is then added with mixing and thereafter the cellular polymer particles are mixed in to form the foamed mixture.
The process ... wherein the foamed mixture is introduced into a cavity between sloping outer and inner layers of a roof.
Background and Field: This invention relates to flame retardant thermally insulating material and to a process for providing a flame retardant thermal insulation between at least two spaced-apart surfaces.
In the interests of energy conservation it has become common and desirable to insulate buildings in order to minimize heat loss. Various means are employed to achieve such insulation, and new buildings tend to incorporate some or all of them as an integral part of their design. Existing buildings which do not incorporate adequate thermal insulation in their original structure may be modified in various ways, e.g. by cladding walls and/or ceilings with sheets, blocks or tiles of thermally insulating material, by fitting double glazing in window apertures, by laying thermally insulating material in loft floors or by introducing insulation into wall or roof cavities.
The provision of insulation in a roof cavity between inner and outer layers of a sloping roof, e.g. between outer slates or tiles ... has generally been achieved hitherto by directing ureaformaldehyde foam into the roof cavity. Although this has resulted in the provision of adequate thermal insulation, the presence of formaldehyde, which is widely acknowledged to have undesirable toxicological properties, in the foam is a significant disadvantage.
It is known ... to form thermally insulating material from cellular polystyrene particles bound together using a synthetic polymer latex binder such as polyvinylacetate and its copolymers (and) it is preferred that the polystyrene particles themselves contain an additive to render them self extinguishing.
Summary: It has now been discovered that inclusion of fly ash in a thermally insulating material in which cellular polymer particles are bound together by a synthetic polymer latex binder can render the material flame retardant without the need to incorporate halogen-containing flame retardant additives.
Fly ash may be relatively inexpensively obtained as a waste product, for example from coal fired electricity generating stations.
(In other words, Fly Ash makes it unnecessary to use "halogen-containing flame retardant additives", which, it has been now generally recognized, as explained more fully in:
http://www.greensciencepolicy.
are not good for people or for the environment. Coal Ash is, thus, a healthier and more environmentally responsible fire retardant option than what was, for many years, the accepted industry standard.)
In its broadest aspect, the invention provides a flame retardant thermally insulating material which comprises cellular polymer particles and fly ash bound into a coherent mass by dried synthetic polymer latex binder.
Blocks or sheets of the thermally insulating material may be formed by mixing expanded polymer particles, fly ash and synthetic polymer latex together, putting the resulting mixture into a mold and allowing it to set. Such a mixture could also be applied as a surface covering e.g. an outside rendering on vertical or horizontal surfaces, which after setting may be coated with a water impermeable surface material e.g. a paint. However, if it is desired to use the material as a cavity insulation, for example in buildings as a cavity wall insulation or a roof insulation in roofs having a cavity between outer tiles or slates ..., the simple ... mixture of expanded polymer particles, fly ash and synthetic polymer latex is generally unsuitable since it is too thick. If the mixture is made dilute by addition of water, problems arise of separation of components both in transportation of the mixture from mixing vessel to cavity (e.g. through pipes by pumping) and in situ before setting and drying has occurred. These problems are overcome in a process which forms a more specific aspect of the invention.
According to a more specific aspect of the invention therefore, a process for providing a flame retardant thermal insulation between at least two spaced-apart surfaces having an air-filled cavity there between comprises introducing into the cavity a foamed mixture of a synthetic polymer latex binder, a coalescing agent, a thickening agent, a foam stabilizer, a foaming agent, fly ash and cellular polymer particles. The foamed mixture spontaneously sets and dries in the cavity to give thermally insulating material in accordance with the invention.
In order to impart optimal flame-retardant properties to the thermally insulating material of the invention, it is important that the fly ash should be incorporated in sufficiently large amounts and should be of such a particle size distribution that it is evenly distributed through the material."
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There you have it.
According herein to the Shell Oil Company, and as officially affirmed by one branch of our United States Government:
Coal Ash, "in sufficiently large amounts", can help to make energy-conserving, fire-
That got about all of the green bases covered?