Compositions – Water-softening or purifying or scale-inhibiting agents – Plant or organic material containing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-10
2001-02-20
Lovering, Richard D. (Department: 1712)
Compositions
Water-softening or purifying or scale-inhibiting agents
Plant or organic material containing
C210S728000, C516S113000, C521S040500, C524S922000, C525S329400, C525S331200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06190575
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a polymer electrolyte which includes a sulfonated polystyrene resin, further to a polymer aggregating agent and a disposal of waste water.
2. Description of Prior Art
The polystyrene resin is transparent, and is excellent in electric properties, rigidity, and resistance to water. In addition, it requires less cost for production. Accordingly, the polystyrene resin is used alone, or as copolymers and alloys in combination with other resins to serve as a material of buffering members (foamed styrol), packing materials, or cabinets and parts of electric appliances and automobiles, and has been used as widely as polyolefin resins represented by polyethylene.
The polystyrene resin is used not only as a structural element as described above, but can be used, for example, as an agglutinating agent after it has been converted to a polymer electrolyte.
Recently, a world-wide attention has been directed to protection of natural environment, and preservation of clean water resources is thought as a key to the problem. Under these circumstances, legal regulations controlling liquid waste discharged from plants and general households as are specified in the sewage control law become more strict.
To control waste water, recourse has been made to purification by a variety of polymer aggregating agents. The polymer aggregating agent widely used includes non-ionic/anion types for industrial water wastes, and cationic types for general sewage and human excretions. Although these aggregating agents are chosen as appropriate according to a given application, they are required of, in common, having properties to clean liquid waste, concentrate it and remove water content from it. Of these properties, the cleaning activity of a suspension is most important, and demand for that activity has been increasingly strengthened from the viewpoint to protect environment from pollution because the filtrate produced after sewage has been treated with an aggregating agents discharged into rivers, lakes and the sea in local areas.
Under these circumstances, trials have been made in which two kinds of polymer aggregating agents are combined or a polymer aggregating agent is combined with a metal compound, to give a product capable of reducing the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and turbidity of a filtrate.
However, conventional technologies have not produced yet any aggregating agents that can satisfactorily clean a suspension, and improvement of conventional technologies involved in water treatment has been desired.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention intends to provide a polymer electrolyte which dissolves sufficiently readily into water.
In addition, this invention intends to provide a polymer aggregating agent which is highly potent in purifying a suspension, and to provide further a liquid waste disposal which is highly effective for the purification of a suspension.
Furthermore, this invention intends to provide a polymer aggregating agent which is highly potent in purifying a suspension and can reduce the water content of produced cakes.
The polymer electrolyte of this invention contains a sulfonated polystyrene resin as a principal ingredient, in addition to an inorganic pigment, and is water soluble.
The presence of the inorganic pigment, during sulfonation of the polystyrene resin, inhibits cross-linking reactions, thereby suppressing gelation of the product. Through this maneuver, unnecessary polymers are not generated in water, and water-soluble polymer electrolytes can be stably obtained.
The polymer aggregating agent of this invention contains a polymer compound as a principal ingredient, and, in addition, carbon black. The liquid waste disposal this invention provides consists of adding the polymer aggregating agent to liquid waste, aggregating suspended matters, and removing the aggregated matters by filtration.
Use of a polymer aggregating agent supplemented with carbon black or use of a polymer aggregating agent together with carbon black will enhance the purification activity of that agent towards a suspension.
The polymer aggregating agent of this invention contains a sulfonated styrene polymer as a principal ingredient and has a molecular weight of 150,000-600,000.
Use of a styrene polymer having a comparatively large molecular weight will enhance the purification activity of the product towards a suspension, and reduce the water content of resulting cakes.
The polymer electrolyte of this invention contains, in addition to an inorganic pigment, a sulfonated polystyrene resin as a principal ingredient, and is water soluble.
The inorganic pigment may include either carbon black or titanium oxide, or both, and the content may be 1×10
−5
−15 wt %, or more preferably 5×10
−4
−5 wt %.
Carbon black and titanium oxide can be chosen from any general products that are used as a colorant of resins, a reinforcing agent or an agent conferring electroconductivity. For example, carbon black can be chosen from any products that have been produced by a channel method, furnace method or thermal method.
A carbon black product which has been produced by any one of those methods may be used, or carbon black products which have been produced by different methods may be used in combination. It preferably has an average particle size of 5-500 nm, or more preferably 10-50 nm. Titanium oxide may have a rutile, anatase, or ultra-fine structure. Titanium oxide with any one structure may be used or titanium oxide crystals with different structures may be used in combination. It preferably has an average particle size of 0.01-50 nm, or more preferably 0.05-10 nm.
The polystyrene resin may consist of a single polystyrene compound, or a copolymer of a styrene with other monomers. When the polystyrene resin consists of a copolymer, the styrene unit preferably occupies 30 mol % or more. The polystyrene resin may be alloys or blends which result after the styrene unit has been combined with other polymers. In this case, the polystyrene resin preferably occupies 20 wt % or more of the total product.
The styrene copolymer may include styrene-butadiene, styrene-acrylonitrile, styrene-butadiene-acrylonitrile, styrene-(metha)acrylate (aliphatic hydrocarbons with 1-4 carbons), styrene-acrylonitrile-(metha)-acrylate esters (aliphatic hydrocarbons with 1-4 carbons), styrene-butadiene-(metha) acrylate ester (aliphatic hydrocarbons with 1-4 carbons), styrene-anhydrous maleate, and styrene-an hydrous itaconic acid. Of them preferred are styrene-butadiene, styrene-acrylonitrile, styrene-butadiene-acrylonitrile, styrene-acrylonitrile-(metha)acrylate esters (aliphatic hydrocarbons with 1-4 carbons), and styrene-butadiene -(metha)-acrylate esters (aliphatic hydrocarbons with 1-4 carbons), and styrene-a nhydrous maleate. Of them, styrene-butadiene, styrene-acrylonitrile, styrene- butadiene-acrylonitrile, and styrene-anhydrous maleate are particularly preferred. These styrene copolymers may be used alone or in combination with polystyrene or other styrene copolymers. The polystyrene resin preferably has a molecular weight of 5,000-10,000,000, more preferably 50,000-100,000, or further more preferably 100,000-500,000.
When the polystyrene resin is made into an alloy, or used as a blend, other polymers to be combined with the alloy or blend may include polyphenylene ether, polycarbonate, polyphenylene sulfide, polyamide (nylon), polyethylenetelephthalate, and polybutylenetelephthalate. Of them particularly preferred are polyphenylene ether and polycarbonate. Any one of them may be used alone, or two or more of them may be used in combination.
The above-described polymer electrolytes can be used as an aggregating agent for the treatment of liquid waste, dispersant for cement production, thinning agent for paper production, electroconductive agent for copying machines, and anti-static electricity agent. They are particularly well suited for the treatment of liquid waste, dispersal of cement particles, thinning of paper
Inagaki Yasuhito
Kuromiya Miyuki
Noguchi Tsutomu
Watanabe Haruo
Lovering Richard D.
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
Sony Corporation
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