ARTIFICIAL TURF INSTALLATION

Abstract

Artificial turf installation, comprising: a pile fabric having a backing and a multiplicity of generally upstanding pile elements; and an infill overlying said backing and being interspersed between said upstanding pile elements, said infill comprising a loose, particulate material consisting of particles coated with a coating material, wherein said coating material comprises a biodegradable polymer.

Claims

1. An artificial turf installation, comprising: a pile fabric having a backing and a multiplicity of generally upstanding pile elements; and an infill overlying said backing and being interspersed between said upstanding pile elements, said infill comprising a loose, particulate material consisting of particles coated with a coating material, wherein said coating material comprises a biodegradable polymer.

2. The artificial turf installation according to claim 1, wherein said biodegradable polymer is chosen from the group of PLA copolymers, PLA, PLLA, PDLA, PHBH, PHBV, PBAT, PHA, PHB, PBS, cellulose, PCL and thermoplastic starch, and mixtures of said biodegradable polymers.

3. The artificial turf installation according to claim 1, wherein said biodegradable polymer has a Melt Flow Index in a range of 2-50, measured according to ISO 1133.

4. The artificial turf installation according to claim 2, wherein said biodegradable polymer comprises PLA.

5. The artificial turf installation according to claim 1, wherein said loose particulate material consists of sand.

6. The artificial turf installation according to claim 5, wherein the diameter of said loose particulate material is in a range of 0.05-3 mm in diameter, with a bulk density of the coated loose particulate material of 500-2500 kg/m.sup.3.

7. The artificial turf installation according to claim 1, wherein the coating material constitutes 1-10% by weight of the loose particulate material.

8. The artificial turf installation according to claim 1, wherein a coupling agent is provided between the loose particulate material and the coating material, so as to improve the binding between the loose particulate material and the coating material.

9. The artificial turf installation according to claim 8, wherein said coupling agent comprises a silane having a methacrylate group.

10. The artificial turf installation according to claim 1, wherein said pile elements are made from polymers chosen from the group of PE, PP, SMA, PA, PLA, PDLA, PLLA, star shaped PLA polymer, and/or copolymers of PLA, PBS, PHBH, cellulose or combinations thereof.

11. An The artificial turf installation according to claim 1, wherein a pole height of said multiplicity of generally upstanding pile elements is in a range of 20-60 mm.

12. The artificial turf installation according to claim 1, wherein said pile elements further comprise one or more additives, chosen from the group of antistatic additives, colorants, UV stabilizers, anti-microbial substances, fire retardants, cross linkers, coupling agents, melt flow enhancers and anti-slip agents.

13. The artificial turf installation according to claim 1, wherein said infill further comprises sand not coated with a coating material.

14. A loose, particulate material consisting of particles coated with a coating material, wherein said coating material comprises a biodegradable polymer.

15. The loose, particulate material according to claim 14, wherein said loose, particulate material consists of sand and said biodegradable polymer is chosen from the group of PLA copolymers, PLA, PLLA, PDLA, PHBH, PHBV, PBAT, PHA, PHB, PBS, cellulose, PCL and thermoplastic starch, and mixtures of said biodegradable polymers.

16. AThe loose, particulate material according to claim 14, wherein said loose particulate material comprises one or more elements chosen from the group of sand, sand coated with said biodegradable polymer and sand coated with non-biodegradable polymers like PE, PP, copolymers of PS/PE, ABS, TPU, TPE, PS, EPDM, SBR, PA, PU, PC, PET, PTFE, SBS, SEBS, PEF, chloroprene rubber, nitrile rubber, isoprene rubber, neoprene rubber, polyacrylic rubber, silicones, latex or cellulose acetate.

17. The loose, particulate material according to claim 14, wherein a coupling agent is provided between the loose particulate material and the coating material, so as to improve the binding between the loose particulate material and the coating material.

18. The loose, particulate material to claim 17, wherein said coupling agent comprises a silane having a methacrylate group.

Description

[0039] Reference will now be made in detail to compositions, embodiments, and methods of the present invention known to the inventors. However, it should be understood that disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the present invention which may be embodied in various and alternative forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, rather merely as representative bases for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

[0040] An example of a method of producing a loose, particulate material consisting of particles coated with a coating material comprises a step of placing a portion of a loose, particulate material in a mixer comprising mixing means, adding a portion of a coating material to the content of the mixer under continued operation of the mixing means, and directing an airflow through the content of the mixer so as to lower the temperature thereof. The coated particles are no longer mutually bonded and a loose, particulate product is obtained. The present inventors found that for using biodegradable polymer in such a coating application care should be taken for an unwanted hydrolisation of these polymers. In that context it is necessary to prevent that these polymers hydrolyze quickly. To this end a protective atmosphere with a very low moisture content may be used as a protective covering to process the biodegradable polymer. Typical ambient air conditions used in such a coating process include dry air with a dew point of −35° C.

EXAMPLE 1

[0041] As a loose, particulate material an amount of 50 kg sand was treated with 0.2%(m/m) silane A174 adhesion promoter. The sand had a diameter of 1 mm and was subsequently coated with 1 kg of a PLA Luminy (manufactured by Total Corbion) with an MFI of 18 (measured according to ISO1133:(230° C./2.16 kg)), a PLA injection moulding polymer. The coated sand thus obtained was applied to standard 3rd generation artificial turf lawn grass with a pole height of 35 mm, where PE fibres are positioned into a woven backing of PP and that is coated with a latex. First a layer of 10-15 mm normal sand—without a coating—was applied and on top of that, an additional layer of 20-25 mm PLA coated sand, where the performance is shown in Table 1.

EXAMPLE 2

[0042] As a loose, particulate material an amount of 50 kg sand was used. Sand having a diameter of 1 mm was coated with 2 kg of a PLA Luminy LX390 (manufactured by Total Corbion) with an MFI of 18 (measured according to IS01133:(230° C./2.16 kg)), a PLA injection moulding polymer. The coated sand thus obtained was applied to standard 3rd generation artificial turf lawn grass with a pole height of 35 mm, where PE fibres are positioned into a woven backing of PP and that is coated with a latex. First a layer of 10-15 mm normal sand—without a coating—was applied and on top of that, an additional layer of 20-25 mm PLA coated sand, where the performance is described in Table 1 with the remark that for some sand particles a loose coating was observed.

EXAMPLE 3

[0043] As a loose, particulate material an amount of 50 kg sand was used. Sand having a diameter of 1 mm was coated with 2 kg of a PLA Luminy LX390 (manufactured by Total Corbion) with an MFI of 18 (measured according to ISO1133:(230° C./2.16 kg)), a PLA injection moulding polymer. The coated sand thus obtained was applied to standard 3rd generation artificial turf lawn grass with a pole height of 35 mm, where PE fibres are positioned into a woven backing of PP and that is coated with a latex. A layer of 30-35 mm thickness consisting of the PLA coated sand was applied to the artificial turf lawn grass. The performance is shown in Table 1 with the remark that that for some sand particles a loose coating was observed.

EXAMPLE 4

[0044] As a loose, particulate material an amount of 50 kg sand was used. Sand having a diameter of 1 mm was coated with 2 kg of a PLA Luminy LX390 (manufactured by Total Corbion) with an MFI of 18 (measured according to IS01133:(230° C./2.16 kg)), a PLA injection moulding polymer. The coated sand thus obtained was applied to standard 3rd generation artificial turf lawn grass with a pole height of 35 mm, where PE fibres are positioned into a woven backing of PP and that is coated with a latex. First a layer of 10-15 mm of a PE coated sand (Sabic LDPE 1922N0 MFI 22 gr/10 min ISO 1133 (190 ° C./2.16 kg)) was applied and on top of that, an additional layer of 20-25 mm PLA coated sand, where the performance is described in Table 1 with the remark that for some sand particles a loose coating was observed.

EXAMPLE 5

The Application of a Coupling Agent on a Loose, Particulate Material Sand

[0045] Silane Preparation

[0046] In a glass beaker 500 ml isopropyl alcohol (IPA) ≥99.7% (supplier Merck) was mixed with 500 ml demineralized water and 5 ml Silane type 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (supplier Merck). The mixture thus obtained was stirred continuously for 5 min every 10 min for a period of 2 hours.

[0047] Mixing of Silane Solution with Sand

[0048] In a rotary cement type mixer 300 ml of the silane solution was added to 2 kg of round sand having a 1.0-1.1 mm diameter and this was rotated for 30 minutes, and then the content was emptied in a steel container which has a steel mesh (120 MESH) with sufficient openings to remove the excess liquid. The sand was put back in a heated oven and was heated to 115° C. for 30 minutes.

[0049] Subsequently the sand was removed from the oven and mixed with 10 gram of PBAT (polybutylene adipate terephthalate) granules type Ecoflex F blend C1200 (BASF) and put back in the oven while continuously mixing and heating to 250° C. An industrial bottle with compressed purging nitrogen (supplier Linde N.sub.2 5.0 instrument nitrogen quality) was connected during the period of heating and emptying such that the ambient air in the heated mixer assembly was purged when an improvised lid was closed over the aperture of the mixer. The objective being to reduce the amount of oxygen that could affect the quality of the PBAT polymer. The N.sub.2 flow was about 2 liter/N.sub.2 minute. The PBAT was seen to be flowing around the sand and thus wetting the sand by melting around the heated sand. After 15 minutes of mixing the sand was observed to be coated with PBAT and the thus coated sand was removed from the oven and quenched in a water bath at ambient temperature of 20° C. After a period of 15 minutes in the water bath the sand was put in the sieve to remove excess water and the sand was left to dry at ambient temperature. A brown discoloration of the sand was observed which is assumed to be a minor discoloration of the PBAT polymer. After 24 hours the sand was dry enough and was observed to behave in a rubbery way when compressed by hand unlike normal sand. This PBAT coated sand was used in artificial grass system

[0050] The artificial turf installation constructed with the infill material according to Example 1 did undergo several qualification tests as shown in Table 1.

[0051] The results shown in Table 1 indicate that the artificial turf installation meets specific standards for sport fields, emission of hazardous components, weather and fire resistant.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Performance and measured properties of a 35 mm high layer of PLA coated sand in a standard 3rd generation artificial turf lawn grass with a pole height of 35 mm. Qualification test RESULT EXTERN INSTITUTE COMMENT Full FIFA test—incl Lisport XL Approved ERCAT, Belgium FIFA QUALITY PRO/FIFA Centre for Textile Quality Program Science and Engineering 18 PAH test (Polycyclic Aromatic 18 PAH Institut Dr. Lörcher, Hazardous Chemicals— Hydrocarbons) NONE Germany cancer. Concentration present limits for rubber granules from used tyres used as infill MicroPlastic Not MEDIATOR, infill is not by definition MicroPlastic Chemical and solid polymer containing environment particles (infill has only consultant agency in 2% polymer—not 100% Denmark solid) Migration test DIN 18035-7:2014 Approved Institut Dr. Lorcher, Release of hazardous Germany volatile gases and particles in the air, ground- and surface water Weather-resistant/ Approved ERCAT, Belgium UV-A ageing of 5000 UV-A test 5000 hours colour + Centre for Textile hours test is approved EN 14836 (2005) shape Science and In colour + shape Engineering Toy Safety EN/DS71-3 Approved Institut Dr. Lorcher, Safety requirements for Germany toys sold in EU Fire resistance— Classification ERCAT, Belgium Approved EN ISO 9239-1 (2010) B Centre for Textile EN ISO 11925-2 Smoke s1 Science and EN 13501-1 Engineering

[0052] Sand having a particle distribution as shown in Table 2 was used in all examples. The parameter of “a diameter of 1 mm” is to be understood as >80% of all particles falls within a range of 1-0.9 mm, measured by a Retch CAMSIZER P4.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 particle distribution of sand Retch technology Cam sizer P4 % >1 mm 2 1-0,9 mm 82 0,9-0,5 9 0,5-0,1 6 <0,1 1

[0053] Several polymers (see Table 3) were applied as a coating material on sand. These coating materials include both non-biodegradable polymers and biodegradable polymers. The process conditions are shown in Table 3.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 application of several types of coating material on sand relative atmosphere adehsion result under which promoter visual 10 = coating is 0.2% excellent, applied onto Silane 1 = bad, 5 grade in short supplier MFI MFI unit Methode sand A174 just ok Sabic LOPE 1922N0 PE Sabic 22 g/10 min ISO 1133 (190° C./215 kg) normal air no 9 Sabic PP 412MK49 PP Sabic 43 g/10 min ISO1133:(230° C./ 2.16 kg) normal air no 6 Luminy ® LX930 PLA Total Corbion 18 g/10 min ISO 1133-A (210° C./ 2.16 kg) water free air yes 9 bioplast 105 PLA/PBAT ompound Biotec 4 g/10 min ISO1133 (190° C./2.16 kg) water free air no 5 X151A PHBH Kaneka 3 g/10 min ISO1133(165° C., 5 kg)) water free air no 7