INSULATION PRODUCT COMPRISING MINERAL FIBERS AND A BINDER

Abstract

An insulation product includes mineral fibers and a binder obtained by curing a binding compound, includes as components a) compounds including at least one epoxy function, including at least one epoxy precursor chosen from aliphatic compounds including at least two epoxy functions, b) a hardener chosen from compounds including at least two reactive functions chosen from hydroxyl and carboxylic acid functions, it being possible for the carboxylic acid function(s) to be in salt or anhydride form.

Claims

1. An insulation product comprising mineral fibers and a binder obtained by curing a binding compound comprising as components: a) compounds comprising at least one epoxy function, including at least one epoxy precursor chosen from aliphatic compounds comprising at least two epoxy functions, the aliphatic compounds comprising at least two epoxy functions representing at least 50% of the total weight of the compounds comprising at least one epoxy function of the binding compound, b) a hardener chosen from compounds comprising at least two reactive functions chosen from hydroxyl and carboxylic acid functions, it being possible for the carboxylic acid function(s) to be in salt or anhydride form.

2. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mineral fibers are chosen from glass fibers or rock fibers.

3. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mineral fibers and the binder represent at least 95% by weight of the weight of the insulation product.

4. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mineral fibers and the binder are in the form of mineral wool.

5. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the total weight of binder represents 0.5 to 15% of the total weight of the mineral fibers.

6. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the aliphatic compound comprising at least two epoxy functions is chosen from: a polyglycidyl ether of an aliphatic polyol, an aliphatic polyepoxy compound obtained by oxidation of a compound comprising at least two double bonds.

7. The insulation product as claimed in claim 6, wherein the polyglycidyl ether of an aliphatic polyol is chosen from: a polyglycidyl ether of glycerol, a polyglycidyl ether of polyglycerol, a polyglycidyl ether of inositol, a polyglycidyl ether of erythritol, a polyglycidyl ether of arabitol, a polyglycidyl ether of xylitol, a polyglycidyl ether of talitol, a polyglycidyl ether of sorbitol, a polyglycidyl ether of mannitol, a polyglycidyl ether of iditol, a polyglycidyl ether of maltitol, a polyglycidyl ether of isomaltitol, a polyglycidyl ether of lactitol, a polyglycidyl ether of cellobitol, a polyglycidyl ether of palatinitol, a polyglycidyl ether of maltotriitol, a polyglycidyl ether of isosorbide, a polyglycidyl ether of sorbitan, a polyglycidyl ether of butanediol, a polyglycidyl ether of propanediol, a polyglycidyl ether of sucrose, a polyglycidyl ether of glucose, a polyglycidyl ether of fructose, a polyglycidyl ether of maltose, a polyglycidyl ether of lactose, a polyglycidyl ether of isomalt, a polyglycidyl ether of trimethylol propane, a polyglycidyl ether of pentaerythritol, and a polyglycidyl ether of neopentyl glycol, a polyglycidyl ether of a polyol obtained by functionalization of a vegetable oil, and a polyglycidyl ether of starch hydrolysate hydrogenation products or hemicellulose hydrolysate hydrogenation products.

8. The insulation product as claimed in claim 6, wherein the aliphatic polyepoxy compound obtained by oxidation of a double bond is obtained by oxidation of a compound chosen from a furan, a terpene or an unsaturated vegetable oil.

9. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hardener comprises at least one polycarboxylic acid, or a salt or anhydride of the at least one polycarboxylic acid.

10. The insulation product as claimed in claim 9, wherein the polycarboxylic acid is chosen from citric acid, succinic acid, tartaric acid, maleic acid, itaconic acid, 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid, and homopolymers and copolymers of maleic acid, acrylic acid and itaconic acid.

11. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hardener comprises at least one polyol chosen from sucrose, glucose, fructose, lactose, isomalt, isosorbide or talitol, sorbitan, inositol, glycerol, erythritol, arabitol, xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, iditol, maltitol, isomaltitol, lactitol, cellobitol, palatinitol, maltotritol, starch hydrolysate hydrogenation products or hemicellulose hydrolysate hydrogenation products, trimethylol propane and pentaerythritol.

12. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hardener comprises at least one polyol chosen from lignin and its derivatives, lignans, ammonium lignosulfate or the alkali or alkaline-earth metal salts of lignosulfonic acid, tannic acids, tannins and condensed tannins.

13. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the binding compound also comprises a catalyst and/or additives.

14. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sum of the proportions by weight of the epoxy precursor (a) and of hardener (b) represents at least 50% by weight of the solids of the binding compound.

15. The insulation product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the binding compound comprises 0.5 to 50 parts by weight of epoxy precursor (a) for one part by weight of hardener (b).

16. An aqueous binding compound for insulation products based on mineral fibers, comprising as components other than water: a) compounds comprising at least one epoxy function, including at least one epoxy precursor chosen from aliphatic compounds comprising at least two epoxy functions, the aliphatic compounds comprising at least two epoxy functions representing at least 50% of the total weight of the compounds comprising at least one epoxy function of the binding compound, b) a hardener chosen from compounds comprising at least two reactive functions chosen from hydroxyl and carboxylic acid functions, it being possible for the carboxylic acid function(s) to be in salt or anhydride form.

17. The aqueous binding compound as claimed in claim 16, wherein the epoxy precursor is water-soluble or water-miscible.

18. The aqueous binding compound as claimed in claim 16, wherein the components (a) and (b) have a crosslinking temperature determined by dynamic mechanical analysis with a heating rate of 4° C./min of greater than or equal to 90° C.

19. A process for manufacturing an insulation product comprising mineral fibers and a binder, the process comprising: applying an aqueous binding compound as claimed in claim 16 to the mineral fibers, forming a binder by thermal curing of the nonvolatile components of the binding compound.

20. A process for manufacturing an insulation product as claimed in claim 1, the insulation product being in the form of mineral wool, the process also comprising: forming mineral fibers from a composition of molten mineral matter, then applying an aqueous binding compound to the mineral fibers, then collecting the fibers in the form of a web, then subjecting the web to a heat treatment at a temperature of greater than 150° C. so as to form a binder by thermal curing of the nonvolatile components of the binding compound.

Description

EXAMPLES

[0194] The compounds used to prepare the binding compounds are listed in the table below.

TABLE-US-00001 Compounds Nature Name Precursor Polyglycidyl ether of glycerol PGG Polyglycidyl ether of isosorbide PGI Hardener Polyacid: citric acid CA Polyol: sucrose SU Polyol: sorbitol SO Polyol: maltitol MA Polyol: erythritol ER Polyol: trimethylol propane TR Polyamine: tetraethylenetetramine TETA Polyamine: cycloaliphatic polyamine DEH 2132 Amino acid: lysine LYS Catalyst Amine: 2-methylimidazole Cat

[0195] Binding Compounds

[0196] The binding compounds are prepared by introducing water, the precursor, the hardener and optionally the catalyst into a container, with vigorous stirring until a homogeneous solution is obtained.

[0197] The binding compounds tested and the properties thereof are summarized in the table below. The proportions indicated are expressed in parts by weight.

[0198] Determination of the Storage Stability or “Pot Life”

[0199] The binding compounds having a solids content of 30% are stored in 250 ml glass jars at a temperature of 25° C.

[0200] The storage stability is determined by evaluating the period of time after which a gel forms.

[0201] Determination of the Crosslinking Temperatures

[0202] A 55 mm×6 mm rectangle cut from a filter of non-bound glass microfibers (Whatman, reference 1822-150) is impregnated with approximately 300 mg of each of these binding compounds.

[0203] These impregnated rectangles are introduced into a dynamic mechanical analysis device, and the temperature of the sample holder is gradually increased (4° C./minute) starting from 25° C. up to 250° C., while continually measuring the storage modulus (E′) in three-point bending (frequency of 1 Hz, strain of 0.1%).

Abbreviations Used

[0204] SC: solids content of the composition.

[0205] EP/H: weight ratio of the epoxy precursor to the hardener.

[0206] Cat.: % by weight of catalyst relative to the weight of precursor (a) and of hardener (b).

[0207] Formation of a gel: “pot life”, period of time starting from which a gel forms.

[0208] CT: crosslinking temperature in ° C.

[0209] Tg: glass transition temperature in ° C. measured by DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) with a gradient of 2° C./min.

[0210] Vis: viscosity in Pa.Math.s measured using a Brookfield viscometer at 20° C. on binding compounds having a solids content of 70%.

TABLE-US-00002 For- mation SC Cat. of a (%) EP/H % CT Tg Vis. pH gel Comp. PGI/ 30 6.5/1 0 50 76 — — Less ex. 1 TETA than 1 h Comp. PGI/ 30 1.6/1 0 84 42.7 — 12 Less ex. 2 DEH than 1 h Comp. PGI/ 30 5.4/1 0 35 44 — 7 Less ex. 3 LYS than 1 h Comp. PGG/ 30 5.8/1 0 50 54 — — Less ex. 4 TETA than 1 h Comp. PGG/ 30 1.4/1 0 20 53 — 11 Less ex. 5 DEH than 1 h Ex. 1 PGI/CA 30 1.4/1 0 105 90 0.12 <3 >1 week Ex. 2 PGI/MA/ 30   4/1 1 135 65 0.04 9 >1 day   Cat Ex. 3 PGI/SO/ 30  10/1 1 125 53 0.03 9 >1 day   Cat Ex. 4 PGI/SA/ 30 3.6/1 1 130 58 0.04 9 >1 day   Cat Ex. 5 PGI/ER/ 30  30/1 1 125 60 — 9 >1 day   Cat Ex. 6 PGI/TR/ 30  10/1 1 125 37 — 9 >1 day   Cat Ex. 7 PGI/TR/ 30  30/1 1 125 30 — 9 >1 day   Cat Ex. 8 PGG/CA 30 0.9/1 0 175 96 0.12 <3 >1 week Ex. 9 PGG/MA 30 1.5/1 5 95 36 0.08 9 >1 day   Ex. 10 PGG/SO 30 4.7/1 5 100 23 0.03 9 >1 day  

[0211] The comparative examples show that the epoxidized aliphatic precursors react with the polyamine hardeners at temperatures below 90° C. Their use is therefore incompatible with the intended applications.

[0212] The binding compounds according to the invention advantageously have a crosslinking temperature of greater than 90°, or even greater than 100° C. and less than 200° C. Such temperatures are: [0213] sufficiently high to avoid any risk of pre-crosslinking or gelling before injection and [0214] sufficiently low for the energy cost of the step of curing the binding compound to be moderate, or even low.

[0215] This results in temperatures of less than 200° C., or even less than 150° C. and rapid crosslinking rates.

[0216] The binding compounds have a low viscosity regardless of the nature of the hardener.

[0217] The binding compounds comprising a hardener of polyol type all have a basic to neutral pH (Ex. 3 to 6).

[0218] Insulation Products

[0219] The binding compounds were then evaluated as binder on woven glass fiber textiles. The textile is impregnated with binding compound and crosslinking in a ventilated oven for two minutes at 215° C. These tests prove that the binding compositions produced are satisfactory for binding glass fiber-based composites.

[0220] The breaking strengths of the woven textiles thus coated before and after ageing were determined. This test consists in measuring the force at break of a binder-impregnated glass net. The results are reported in the table below. It emerges that the mechanical properties are sufficient. The insulation products based on mineral fibers bound by a binder resulting from the crosslinking of the binding compounds according to the invention are satisfactory.

TABLE-US-00003 Fmax before Fmax after ageing ageing (N) (N) Ex. 8: PGG/CA 47 40 Ex. 1: PGI/CA 50 35 Ex. 4: PGI/SU 45 33 Ex. 3: PGI/SO 44 54