SBIR Phase I: Thermal Insulation from Paper Mill Wastes

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是，有可能单独使用造纸厂短纤维残渣(SFR)或附加于日益可用的旧纸板纸箱(OCC)的纸浆来生产优质、经济高效的隔热材料。这将是消除每天在垃圾填埋场处置的数千吨造纸厂废物的重要一步。纤维素隔热材料因其优越的性能、安全性和环境效益而受到建筑商和翻新公司的需求。该项目可以扩大关于使用森林产品的知识，并旨在提高绝缘应用中的能效和可持续性。这个第一阶段研究项目的技术目标是研究和证明将SFR与日益丰富的OCC纸浆相结合的可行性，SFR是目前被处理在垃圾填埋场的纸板厂的副产品，可以生产出优质的纤维隔热材料，可以经济高效地用于建筑物的隔热和增强环境的可持续性。制造过程将阻燃化学品直接嵌入绝缘体的纤维素纤维中，从而消除了含有化学物质的空气中粉尘造成的松散粉尘浪费和呼吸问题。该研究项目将利用SFR和OCC的各种混合物进行受控实验，以量化各种工艺因素与所需产品特性之间的关系，以应用于传统木结构以及日益必要的金属建筑中的喷涂应用。该项目的成功成果将促进一种产品的商业化，这种产品的性能优于竞争对手的绝缘产品，并且可以以极低的成本可持续地生产-通过将工业废物转化为优质的隔热材料来改变整个绝缘行业。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is the potential to produce superior, cost effective thermal insulation using paper mill short fiber residuals (SFR) alone or in addition to pulp from increasingly available old cardboard cartons (OCC). This will be an important step in eliminating thousands of tons of paper mill wastes being disposed of in landfills each day. Cellulose insulation is in demand by builders and retrofitters because of its superior performance, safety, and environmental benefits. This project could expand knowledge on the use of forest products and directed towards energy efficiency and sustainability enhancements in insulation applications. The technical objectives of this Phase I research project are to research and prove the feasibility of combining SFR, a waste by-product from linerboard mills now being disposed of in landfills, with pulp from increasingly abundant OCC to produce a superior cellulose insulation that can be cost-effectively employed to insulate buildings and enhance environmental sustainaiblity. The manufacturing process embeds fire-retardant chemicals directly into the insulation's cellulose fibers thus eliminating loose powder-waste and respiratory problems from chemical-containing airborne dust. The research project will run controlled sets of experiments utilizing various blends of SFR and OCC in order to quantify relationships between various process factors and desired product characteristics for applications in traditional wooden structures as well as for spray-applications in increasingly necessary metal buildings. A successful outcome from this project will facilitate commercialization of a product that out-performs competing insulation products and that can be sustainably produced at dramatically lower costs - transforming the entire insulation industry by turning industrial wastes into superior thermal insulation.