Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
`` 101~ 41
The present invention relates to an oil absorbent product
for absorbing oil while repelling water for use in cleaning oil
from water surfaces~
Various products and techniques exist for absorbing
oil from the surface of water. This problem is particularly
acute to avoid contamination resulting from oil spills. Such
techniques include using sheets of fiber spread upon the water
and also chipped stock contained in nets. It would be desirable
if such oil absorbent products met such specifications of at
least 92% dryness, 9-12 cubic feet per pound density, about
4 3/4 grams of oil capacity per gram of absorbent material and
also "duck's back" water repellency. An important consideration
with such products is also the costs involved. Thus it is
essential in providing a product which can have a wide appeal
that the costs be in an acceptable price range preferably by
using commonly available materials.
The present invention also provides an oil absorbent
product which effectiveiy absorbs oil from water surfaces while
repelling the water over a practical period of time.
The present invention also provides such a product which
generally meets the above indicated specifications.
The present invention also provides a product which can
be easily manufactured by using commonly available materials
in existing equipment.
According to the present invention there is provided
an oil absorbent product for absorbing oil while repelling water
for use in cleaning oil from water surfaces, said product being
made from a mixture of aspen groundwood and secondary fiber
furnish with at least one water repellent agent as an additive
to said mixture, said aspen groundwood being of crude unrefined
coarse fiber form, and said secondary fiber furnish being relat-
ively highly refined and free of resoluable toxic contaminants,
said secondary fiber furnish being a binder to hold said product
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9~41
together, said product having relatively large voids between
the fibers for creating sufficient porosity to attract and hold
the low surface tension oil with the individual fibers being
C hydrophobic, said aspen groundwood comprising ~ 80% by weight
of said mixture, said secondary fiber furnish comprising 20~-26.7%
by weight of said mix~ure, said product being molded into sheet-
like form from a slurry dried as a sheet, said secondary fiber
furnish comprising at least 80% by weight groundwood and no
greater than 20% by weight corrugate, said aspen groundwood com-
prising 3 times as much by weight of said mixture as saidsecondary fiber furnish, and said water repellent agent being
at least one member selected from the group of rosin in an amount
up to 2% by weight, wax in an amount up to 4% by weight and alum
in an amount up to 4~ by weight as calculated on the weight of
said mixture.
In accordance with this invention the oil absorbent
product is made from mixture of aspen groundwood, secondary
fiber furnish free of resoluable toxic contaminants and water
repellent agents. The aspen groundwood is in crude unrefined
fiber form and the secondary fiber furnish comprises a major
portion of conventional groundwood and a minor portion of
corrugated fiber. The spaces between particles of pulp or fibers
create sufficient porosity to attract and hold low surface tension
liquids such as oil, while the individual fibers themselves are
rendered hydrophobic by conventional sizing treatment with water
repellent agents such as rosin, alum and wax. The aspen ground-
wood comprises ahoutJ~-80% by weight of the mixture with the
secondary fiber furnish comprising 20-26.7~ by weight. The product
is made in sheet-like form with relatively large voids between
the fibers.
The oil absorbent product of this invention is formed
from a mixture of commonly available aspen groundwood fiber and
conventional secondary fiber furnish (that is a conventional
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1089~41
groundwood - corrugated fiber mixture) which is conventionally
used for manufacturing low disposable cost products. The
groundwood used in the secondary fiber furnish may advantageously
be conventional old newspapers or newsprint which provides a
ready source of inexpensive material. The secondary fiber com-
ponent is quite highly refined as compared to the coarser aspen
component, and serves as a binder to hold the sheet-like product
together by conventional papermaking hydrogen bonding between
the fibers when formed from a slurry and then dried. Normal
wax, alum and rosin may be incorporated in the mixture for
water repellency. The aspen groundwood fiber is of an extremely
coarse grade and is a crude unrefined coarse fiber of a light-
weight wood species which is relatively inexpensive. ~t has
been found that this coarse unrefined fiber responded to the
normal high production papermaking wet formation process
but produced a product which was abnormally low in density
and contained relatively large voids between the fibers
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..,., ~
1~'3~i L
which advantageously provides for the inclusion of
absorbed oil. As previously indicated the spaces between
particles of pulp or fibers create sufficient porosity
to attract and hold low surface tension liquids such as
oil, while ~he individual fibers themselves are rendered
hydrophobic by conventional sizing treatment with water
repellent agents such as rosin, alum and wax,
The following is a detailed example relating to
the preparation of an oil absorbent produced in accordance
with this invention. Such preparation included the
utilization of conventional papermaking pulp preparation
equipment and a conventional wet formation pulp molding
machine. A mixture of 25% by weight standard news
furnish and 75~ by weight aspen groundwood was prepared.
The standard news furnish in turn comprised 15% by weight
conventional corrugate and aS% by weight conventional
newsprint. To this m~xture was added an additional 1%
rosin based on the weight of the aspen-news furnish
mixture, 2~ alum, 2~ wax and 4 lbs./ton basic yellow
#3 dyestuff. The thusly prepared furnish was used to
make up 3,000 pound batches in water. The machine speed
was maintained at the lowest possible setting, 4 kick-offs
per 66 seconds, or 3.6 kick-offs per minute. The dryer
speed, in order to accommodate the articles, required
26 1/2 minutes for top and bottom wires to complete a pass.
Tape speeds, between time of kick-off and meeting the
dryer wire, were well coordinated and did not produce
scuffs on the leading edge of the board as it was moved
onto the wire.
Pond consistency at approximately 1.1~ produced
an article of desired quality while employing a forming
time of 4.2 seconds. Forming time occurred and ended ~ust
prior to th~ moving of the forming die from the forming
position into the vertical drain~ge position.
The forming pond temperature was approximately
80F at this time.
The wet article weighed approximately 1475 grams,
or 3 1/4 lbs., at approximately 21% dry.
~ fter proceeding through the above drying cycle,
the finished article weighed in the range of 340 grams,
or 3/4 lb. On-weight articles were within the range of
92 + 4%. Further, those on-weight articles had densities
in the range of 11 1/4 - 11 3/4 lbs. per cubic foot.
The addition of the dye resulted in colorlng the
end product so that~it could be readily seen on the
surface of the water for recovery purposes and as a
warning against inadvertent venture into a contaminated
area. Obviously other color dye could be used.
As stated above, the densities of finished articles
were in the range of 11 1/4 - 11 3/4 lbs. per cubic foot.
Generally, article calipers were in the range of 1/4 +
1/16 inch. Water repellency was rated as "duck's back",
or good beading and run-off when water was poured on a
tilted article. Oil absorption, measured by immersing in
Diesel oil for 15 minutes, was rated as 5 grams per gram
of sorbent.
Although the above example lists specific percentages
for each of the materials used, such materials can be used
within the scope of this invention within the range of
percentages of the ~ollowing TABL~.
TABLE
Range Preferred Material
~ ~ 7 Yo
~ ~ 20~ 25% Secondary Fiber Furnish
. ~ ~lg,~7~ ~0~
ro~ 75% Aspen Groundwood
0-2~ 1% ~osin
0-4% 2% Alum
- 10~
Range Preferred Material
0-4% 2% Wax
1~-6#/ton 4#/T Basi'c Yellow ,,3 Dyestuff
In calculating percentages for the above Table, the
amounts by weight of secondary fiber furnish and aspen
groundwood comprise the basic mixture adding up to 100~.
The remaining materials are expressed in percentages based
on that mixture. Thus, for example, 1% rosin would be an
addition of 1~ by weight to that basic mixture. Further
the secondary fiber furnish preferably comprises 15~ by
weight corrugate and 85% groundwood but there may be at
least 80% to 100% groundwood and correspondingly no more
than 20~ corrugate.
The oil absorbent product of this invention
thereby generally meets the specifications required for
such product to be effective while permitting the product
to be manufactured at low cost by using relatively inex-
pensive and readily available materials.
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