ARTIFICIAL FIREPLACE LOG USING SOY WAX

BUCHE DE FOYER ARTIFICIELLE A BASE DE SOJA VISQUEUX

English Abstract

An artificial fire log may comprise a wood by-product and charcoal base bound together with a cellulose binder, and further, a waxy fuel source. In the improvement of the present invention, there is provided hydrogenated vegetable oil wax as the fuel source in the fire log. Preferably, the hydrogenated vegetable oil wax is hydrogenated soy oil wax.

French Abstract

Une bûche de foyer artificielle peut comprendre un sous-produit de bois et une base de charbon liés ensemble par un liant de cellulose et, en outre, une source de combustible cireux. Dans l'amélioration de la présente invention, on propose une cire d'huile végétale hydrogénée en tant que source de combustible dans la bûche de foyer. De préférence, la cire d'huile végétale hydrogénée est une cire d'huile de soja hydrogénée.

Claims

WE CLAIM:
1. An artificial fire log comprising a wood by-product and charcoal base
bound together with
a cellulose binder, and a waxy fuel source, said waxy fuel source comprising
hydrogenated
organic soy oil wax.
2. The fire log of claim 1, wherein said artificial fire log contains from
about 30 to about 45%
of said hydrogenated organic soy oil wax.
3. The fire log of claim 2, wherein said artificial fire log contains 35 to
40% hydrogenated
organic soy oil wax.
4. The fire log of claim 3, wherein said artificial fire log contains 38%
hydrogenated organic
soy oil wax.
-4-

Description

CA 02511384 2005-07-05
ARTIFICIAL FIREPLACE LOG USING SOY WAX
The present invention relates to the field of artificial fireplace logs.
An artificial fireplace log is a product manufactured from wood processing by-
products such as
sawdust and chips, combined with binders, flammable wax and charcoal solids.
A key to manufacturing an effective and marketable artificial fireplace log is
to combine a large
enough quantity of raw wood products to achieve the "look and feel" of a wood
fire with an effective
quantity of a binder, which will keep the somewhat comminuted wood products
from falling apart
quickly in burning conditions. In this regard, it will be understood that if a
log of a sawdust base
were to disintegrate upon burning or heating, it would burn very quickly,
because of the large
exposed surface area of the sawdust. Therefore, binders, such as cellulose
powder mixed with cotton
linters, are used, as disclosed in US4302210 to maintain the wood by-products
in a cohesive mass.
Charcoal is also added to the mass, to provide a long-lasting and
aesthetically pleasing fuel source.
Now, in contrast to natural wood, which has a fibrous consistency, and
therefore a moderate surface
area, or a sawdust with a powdery consistency and therefore a high surface
area, an artificially bound
wood by-product log has a fairly low total surface area. Therefore, to enhance
ignition and
combustion, a large amount of a volatilizable and flammable substance such as
wax is used.
The use of wax mimics the manner in which natural wood logs will burn. That
is, more than 50%
of the weight of a natural log is made up of volatile substances. In a fire,
these substances are
volatilized and burn, causing a flame. At the opposite extreme, a charcoal
contains very little in the
way of volatiles, so it will not produce a gaseous flame when burning. In the
case of an artificial fire
log, the binding together of the wood by-products reduces the volatilization
of gases from the wood
by-products upon heating, and therefore, to provide a natural appearing flame,
a flammable
volatilizing substance like wax is utilized.
-1-

CA 02511384 2011-07-18
=
A drawback associated with the use of most industrially available waxes is
that they may contain
substances which are harmful to the air, or are irritating, or have an
unpleasant aroma. This later
effect is often cited against the use of artificial fire logs, and is
particularly noticeable when the fire
log is first lit, i.e. when there may be substantial volatilization of wax
components at a distance
removed from the actual flame, so that some of the components enter the
atmosphere of the room
in which the fireplace is located.
The present invention addresses the problem of noxious aromas and unwanted
gasses emitted by
artificial fire logs by the novel means of using, as a wax source,
hydrogenated vegetable oil wax. In
particular, the applicant has found that the use of hydrogenated soy oil wax
in an artificial fire log
will result in a fire log that emits virtually no noxious or harmful gasses in
the critical first moments
of burning. Preferably, the soy oil used is organic, to reduce the possibility
of unwanted substances
entering the air.
In a broad aspect, then, the present invention relates to an artificial fire
log comprising a wood by-
product and charcoal base bound together with a cellulose binder, and a waxy
fuel source, said waxy
fuel source comprising hydrogenated organic soy oil wax,
The present invention will be illustrated by way of an example:
EXAMPLE 1
A fireplace log is prepared by blending together:
a) 41% by weight of hardwood (maple & oak) sawdust
b) 38% by weight of hydrogenated soy oil wax
c) 16% by weight maple charcoal
d) 5% by weight of a binder comprising 40% cellulose powder and 60% cotton
linters.
-2-

CA 02511384 2005-07-05
The resulting mixture was extruded under pressure to form a log having typical
fireplace log
dimensions of about 17-18" x 4-5". The log was lit in a fireplace, and
exhibited satisfactory burning
qualities, and no unpleasant odours or aromas on ignition.
It will be understood, moreover, that the relative quantities of wood, wax and
charcoal can be
changed without negative effect, to create an artificial log with more flame
or less flame, as market
demand may justify, without departing from the spirit of the invention.
-3-