Glass manufacturing – Processes of manufacturing fibers – filaments – or preforms – Formation of fiber or preform utilizing fluid blast
Patent
1994-08-02
1997-02-11
Hoffmann, John
Glass manufacturing
Processes of manufacturing fibers, filaments, or preforms
Formation of fiber or preform utilizing fluid blast
65523, C03B 3704
Patent
active
056016280
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method for producing mineral wool consisting of thermoplastic mineral materials with high melting points or high liquidus temperatures, and more precisely to such a method employing a fiberization process that comprises so-called internal centrifuging the molten mineral material. The thermoplastic materials in question are more precisely basaltic materials, either natural or modified basalts, or by-products of the iron and steel industry, in particular blast furnace slags (scoriae). In general, the invention applies to the production of mineral wool, so-called rock wool with a wide range of use, particularly in the field of thermal and acoustic insulation.
2. Description of Related Art
On the one hand, these materials are chosen for their low costs, and on the other hand for their properties, especially their good resistance against high temperatures. Their production, however, creates specific problems. These problems particularly stem from the conditions in which these materials are workable.
Their high melting temperatures present a difficulty in itself. The melting temperature is the temperature to which the raw materials have to be heated to guarantee melting. Furthermore, where production is concerned, it is the temperature above which the material must be kept such that it will not solidify before its transformation into fibers.
Another particularity discerning these materials from the glasses mostly used for glass wool production is that, as a rule, they are highly fluid at temperatures in close proximity of their liquidus temperatures.
Also due to the required high temperatures, the devices getting into contact with the materials to be fiberized are subject to very intensive corrosion. Operational lifetime of these devices presents a problem even with conventional glasses. The problem becomes even more critical with high liquidus materials.
In the past, the above-mentioned difficulties meant that only certain fiberizing techniques could be applied with the materials in question. There are essentially two kinds of techniques: those employing centrifuging or spinning off the molten mineral material, and those where the material is fed through a stationary nozzle and attenuated into fibers by gas flows often accelerated to supersonic speeds (blast drawing method).
For techniques applying a fixed nozzle, it is necessary to utilize a nozzle which is able to resist the attack of the molten mineral material. Traditionally, these are platinum nozzles able to withstand these attacks even at such high temperatures. Production capacity of each nozzle, however, is limited. In addition, the use of such attenuating gas flows generates comparatively high energy costs.
Techniques employing centrifuging or spinning off allow considerable production quantities per unit. Those are techniques summarized under the generic term "external centrifuging", in order to indicate that the molten mineral material remains outside the spinner. The molten mineral material is either applied to the front surface of a disk or to the peripheral surface of a cylindrical rotor, or a plurality thereof. An advantage of these techniques is the simplicity of the parts of the device entering into contact with the molten mineral material. With respect to this relative simplicity, the parts in question and in particular the spinner rims are relatively cheap and therefore can be exchanged within relatively short time spans. The proportion of such material costs of total production costs remains relatively low. The fact that these device parts are subject to intensive wear upon contact with the molten mineral material does therefore not turn out to be an obstacle.
The main disadvantage of mineral wool production by external centrifuging lies in the fact that the properties of the final product are inferior to those of glass wool which is mainly produced by so-called "internal centrifuging".
In external centrifuging, the material flows onto the spinning wheel
REFERENCES:
patent: 2931062 (1960-04-01), Leaman
patent: 3012281 (1961-12-01), Stalego
patent: 3304164 (1967-02-01), Charpentier
patent: 3785791 (1974-01-01), Perry
patent: 4046539 (1977-09-01), Pitt
patent: 4392879 (1983-07-01), Takeuchi
Battigelli Jean
Berthier Guy
Furtak Hans
Sainte-Foi Daniel
Hoffmann John
Isover Saint-Gobain
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