Use of a lubricant in a mounting mat, method for making such a mat and mounting mat

Abstract

The invention refers to the use of lubricants in a mounting mat, wherein the mounting mat is made for mounting a pollution control element into a housing, to reduce the cold peak pressure or compression of the mounting mat, the mounting mat comprising: a non-woven mat of inorganic fibers, wherein the lubricants are distributed in the mat, and wherein the lubricants belong to a group consisting of: saturated hydrocarbons (linear and/or branched and/or cyclic, olefinically unsaturated hydrocarbons (linear and/or branched and/or cyclic), fatty alcohols and fatty acids (linear and/or branched and saturated and/or olefinically unsaturated), carboxylic acid esters carbonic acid esters and/or silicone oils and/or organofunctional silanes, silioxanes.

Claims

1. A mounting mat made for mounting a pollution control element into a housing of a pollution control device, the mounting mat comprising: a non-woven mat of inorganic fibers, and a lubricant is distributed in the mounting mat to reduce the cold peak pressure of the mounting mat, and the lubricant belongs to a group consisting of: saturated hydrocarbons (linear and/or branched and/or cyclic, olefinically unsaturated hydrocarbons (linear and/or branched and/or cyclic), fatty alcohols and fatty acids (linear and/or branched and saturated and/or olefinically unsaturated), carboxylic acid esters carbonic acid esters and/or silicone oils and/or organofunctional silanes and/or silioxanes, wherein the lubricant has a viscosity between 10 and 200 mm.sup.2/s at 40 C., as measured according to ASTM D445.

2. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant is based on renewable resources.

3. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the mounting mat include ceramic fibers, annealed melt-formed ceramic fibers, sol-gel formed ceramic fibers, polycrystalline fibers, glass fibers, alumina-silica fibers, non-biopersistent fibers and/or combinations thereof.

4. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the mounting mat is made by a dry laid process or a wet laid process.

5. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the mounting mat comprises binder in an amount of 1-10 wt %.

6. The mounting mat according to claim 5, wherein the lubricant is contained in said mat in an amount of at least 0.5 wt % by weight.

7. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant is contained in said mat in an amount of at least 0.5 wt % by weight.

8. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant is contained in said mat in an amount of 3 wt %.

9. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the mounting mat is disposed between the pollution control element and the housing.

10. A method of making a mounting mat according to claim 1 which mounting mat is made for mounting a pollution control element into a housing of a pollution control device, said method comprising: (i) supplying inorganic fibers through an inlet of a forming box having an open bottom positioned over a forming wire to form a mat of fibers on the forming wire, the forming box having a plurality of fiber separating rollers provided in at least one row in the housing between the inlet and housing bottom for breaking apart clumps of fibers and an endless belt screen; (ii) capturing clumps of fibers on a lower run of the endless belt beneath fiber separating rollers and above the forming wire; (iii) conveying captured clumps of fibers on the endless belt above fiber separating rollers to enable captured clumps to release from the belt and to contact and be broken apart by the rollers; (iv) transporting the mat of fibers out of the forming box by the forming wire; (v) compressing the mat of fibers and restraining the mat of fibers in its compressed state thereby obtaining a mounting mat having a desired thickness suitable for mounting a pollution control element in the housing of a catalytic converter; and (vi) providing at least one lubricant to the fibers before, during or after forming the mat, wherein the lubricant has a viscosity between 10 and 200 mm.sup.2/s at 40 C., as measured according to ASTM D445.

11. Method according to claim 10, wherein the compression step is a needle punching, stitch bonding step and/or thermal bonding.

12. Method according to claim 10, wherein the lubricant gets sprayed onto the fibers before they enter the forming chamber.

13. Method according to claim 10, wherein the lubricants gets sprayed into the forming chamber.

14. Method according to claim 10, wherein the lubricant gets sprayed onto the mat of fibers after it left the forming chamber.

15. A pollution control device comprising the mounting mat according to claim 1.

16. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the mounting mat comprises binder in an amount of 3-6 wt %.

17. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant is contained in said mat in an amount of at least 1.0 wt %.

18. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant has a viscosity between 25 and 150 mm.sup.2/s at 40 C., as measured according to ASTM D445.

19. The mounting mat according to claim 1, wherein the mounting mat comprises binder in an amount of 3-6 wt % and lubricant in an amount of at least 1.0 wt %, and the lubricant has a viscosity between 25 and 150 mm.sup.2/s at 40 C., as measured according to ASTM D445.

20. A pollution control device comprising: a pollution control element; a housing; and a mounting mat made for mounting the pollution control element into the housing, the mounting mat comprising: a non-woven mat of inorganic fibers, and a lubricant distributed in the mat to reduce the cold peak pressure of the mounting mat, wherein the lubricant belongs to a group consisting of: saturated hydrocarbons (linear and/or branched and/or cyclic), olefinically unsaturated hydrocarbons (linear and/or branched and/or cyclic), fatty alcohols and fatty acids (linear and/or branched and saturated and/or olefinically unsaturated), carboxylic acid esters, carbonic acid esters, and/or silicone oils and/or silanes and/or siloxanes, wherein the lubricant has a viscosity between 10 and 200 mm.sup.2/s at 40 C., as measured according to ASTM D445.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the following Figures exemplifying particular embodiments of the invention:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a forming box;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a schematic side view of a forming box;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a detailed view of the forming box shown in FIG. 2;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a schematic flow chart of the method of making a mounting mat according to the invention;

(6) FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of one embodiment of a pollution control device;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a diagram with the results of the experiments displayed in table 2 and

(8) FIG. 7 shows a diagram with the results of the experiments displayed in table 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(9) Herein below various embodiments of the present invention are described and shown in the drawings wherein like elements are provided with the same reference numbers.

(10) In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a forming box for making mounting mats according to the invention is shown. The forming box comprises a housing 1 into which fibers 3 are supplied from an inlet 2. The forming box is positioned above a forming wire 4 onto which the fibers 3 are air laid due to a vacuum box 5 underneath the forming wire 4 to form a fiber board 6 in a dry forming process. In FIG. 1, the forming box is shown with the interior elements visible in the housing. However, it is realised that the housing walls may be made either from transparent or opaque materials.

(11) The fibers 3 are blown into the housing 1 of the forming box via the inlet 2. Inside the forming box a number of spike rollers 7 are provided in one or more rows (e.g., four rows) of spike rollers 71, 72, 73, 74 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. In the housing 1, an endless belt screen 8 is also provided. This endless belt screen 8 is provided with a conveying path including an upper run 85, a vertical section 88 where the belt screen 8 moves in a downwards direction, in a lower run 86 where the belt screen 7 travels substantially parallel with the underlying forming wire 5 and an upwardly oriented run 87, as shown in FIG. 3.

(12) Adjacent the upper run 85 of the belt screen 8, at least one row of spike rollers 71 is provided. In the embodiment shown two upper rows of spike rollers 71, 72 and two lower rows of spike rollers 73, 74 are provided at different levels in the housing 1. The belt screen is arranged with an upper run path 85 between the two upper rows of spike rollers 71, 72 and the lower run path 86 between the lower rows of spike rollers 73, 74. The fibers 3 may be supplied into the housing 1 in lumps. The spike rollers 7 then disintegrate or shredder the lumps of fibers 3 in order to ensure an even distribution of fibers 3 in the product 6 formed on the forming wire 5. The fibers pass the spike rollers 71 in the first row and then the belt screen 8 and the second row of spike rollers 72 as the fibers are sucked downwards in the forming box. In the lower run 86 of the belt screen 8, oversized fibers are retained on the belt screen 8 and returned to the upper section of the forming box for further disintegration. The retained fibers are captured on the top of the lower run 86 of the belt screen 7 which then becomes the lower surface of the upper run 85 and the fibers are suck off the belt screen 8 and the lumps of the fibers are shredded by the spike rollers one more time.

(13) As shown in FIG. 3, the row of spike rollers 72 immediately below the upper run 85 of the belt screen 8 is inclined. This row 72 receives the retained, oversized fibers being returned from the retention below. In order to ensure that the fibers 3 are shredded efficiently in the row 72, the first spike rollers 72, 72, 72, 72 in the row 72 are provided with different distances between the axis of rotation of the individual spike rollers 72, 72, 72, 72 and the upper run 85 of the belt screen 8. The first spike roller 72 in the row is positioned with the largest distance and gradually the subsequent spike rollers 72, 72 and 72 are positioned with closer distances, so that fibers in the lumps of returned, oversized fibers are peeled off gently whereby it is ensured that the lumps are shredded and disintegrated rather than being sucked and dragged off the belt screen and in between two adjacent spike rollers.

(14) The endless belt screen 8 includes closed portions 81 and openings 82 provided in a predetermined pattern. Alternatively, the belt screen 8 could be a wire mesh. By a particular pattern of openings 82 and closures 81 of the belt screen 7, a predetermined surface pattern on the fiber board 6 formed by the dry-forming process may be achieved by arranging the lower run 86 of the belt screen 8 so that it makes contact with the top surface of the fibers which are laid on the forming wire 4.

(15) In the vertically oriented paths of travel 87, 88 one or more spike rollers (not shown) may be provided adjacent the belt screen 8 for loosing fibers on the belt screen. The configuration of the spike rollers may be chosen in accordance with the kinds of fibers which are to be air-laid by the forming box.

(16) The bottom of the forming box may be provided with a sieve (not shown), and the belt screen 8 may accordingly be provided with brush means (not shown) for removing retained fibers. Hereby, the belt may additionally be used for cleaning the bottom sieve. The brush means may be members provided for sweeping the fibers of the upper side of the lower run path of the belt screen. Alternatively or in combination, the belt screen may be provided with means for generating a turbulent airflow stirring up the retained fibers on the sieve. In this manner, a forming box with a bottom sieve may be provided with a cleaning facility for the bottom sieve and the belt may additionally be used for preventing that the sieve is clogging up.

(17) In the above illustrated forming box, the inlet is shown positioned above the belt screen and the spike rollers. However, it is realised that the inlet may be positioned below the upper run of the belt screen, and/or that a multiple of inlets may be provided (e.g., for supplying different types of fibers to the forming box). The spike rollers and indeed the belt screen will then assist in mixing the fibers inside the forming box.

(18) In accordance with the present method for making mounting mats, the mat of fibers formed on the forming wire is transported out of the forming box and is then compressede.g. by stitch bonding or needle punching or thermal bonding of polyolefin fibers or powders or any other known method for compressing fiber matsto a desired thickness suitable for mounting the mounting mat in the housing of a catalytic converter. The mat should be restrained such that the compressed state of the mounting mat is maintained during further handling, processing (e.g. cutting into the desired shape and size) and mounting of the mat in the catalytic converter. In the manufacturing of a catalytic converter or pollution control device, the mounting mat is disposed in a gap between the housing or casing of the pollution control device and the pollution control element, also called monolith. Typically the gap between the housing and the pollution control element will vary between 2 mm and 10 mm, for example between 3 mm and 5 mm. The gap size may be constant or may vary along the circumference of the pollution control element depending on the particular design of the pollution control device.

(19) Fiber or fiber blends are usually conveyed from one equipment to another equipment by an air stream generated by a fan. While using this kind of transportation means a lubricant can be sprayed onto the fiber stream using a commercially available fan, so called oiler. The fiber stream might enter directly into the housing 1 of the forming chamber (FIG. 1).

(20) If a conveyor belt is used for transportation of fibers it is possible to apply a lubricant by sparing it onto the conveyor belt carrying the fibers at any production step. The lubricant can penetrate just by gravity or gradient or capillary force into the bulk of fibers. Preferably the lubrication takes place before the forming chamber. This ensures that the lubricant will be more equally dispersed on the surface of the fibers.

(21) FIG. 4 is a schematical drawing of embodiments of the method according to the invention. It shows the possibilities of providing a lubricant into the process of making a mounting mat. One option is to provide the lubricant by spraying it into an air stream of fibers (arrow A). The other option is to provide the lubricant by spraying it into the forming chamber (arrow B).

(22) To cover the surface of the fiber as equal as possible it is preferred to generate small droplets. Therefore as one option a spray gun with a regulated compressed air inlet also known as 3M Accuspray System can used. This system is designed for increased atomization of high-solid clears and difficult-to-atomize coatings.

(23) FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a pollution control device. Pollution control device 10 comprises a casing 11, typically made out of a metal material, with generally frusto-conical inlet and outlet ends 12 and 13, respectively. Disposed within the casing 11 is a pollution control element or monolith 20. Surrounding the pollution control monolith 20 is a mounting mat 30 produced in accordance with the method described above which serves to tightly but resiliently support the monolithic element 20 within the casing 11. The mounting mat 30 holds the pollution control monolith 20 in place in the casing and seals the gap between the pollution control monolith 20 and the casing 11 to thus prevent or minimize exhaust gases from by-passing pollution control monolith 20. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the exterior of the casing 11 is exposed to the atmosphere. In other words, the device 10 does not include another housing in which the casing 11 is housed. In another embodiment however, the pollution control monolith may be held in a casing and one or more of these may then be housed in a further casing as may be the casing for example I catalytic converters for trucks.

EXAMPLES

(24) The present invention is explained in more detail with the following examples. These examples are merely for illustrative purposes and are not meant to be limiting on the scope of the appended claims.

(25) Test Methods

(26) Cyclical Compression Test

(27) The test apparatus for the Cyclical Compression Test comprises the following elements: a Zwick/Roell Model Z010 tensile tester (available from Zwick GmbH & CoKG, Ulm, Germany) comprising a lower fixed portion with a load cell capable of measuring forces up to 10 kN and an in vertical direction from the lower fixed portion movable upper portion movable at a defined rate (crosshead speed); a test fixture consisting of 2 stainless steel blocks with a base area of 6 cm8 cm each containing heating elements capable of heating the blocks independently of each other to at least 900 C. The lower stainless steel block is firmly attached to the load cell and the upper steel block is firmly attached to the upper movable portion (crosshead) of the tensile tester so that the base areas of the blocks are positioned vertically above each other. Each stainless steel block is equipped with a thermal couple, which is located in the center of the block; a laser extensometer commercially available from Fiedler Optoelektronik of Ltzen, Germany, which measures the open distance between the stainless steel blocks.

(28) Mounting mat samples to be tested had a diameter of approximately 2 inches (50.8 mm) and were positioned directly on the lower stainless steel block. The gap was then closed. Compressing the mounting mat to a defined compressed density, also referred to as closed gap. The pressure exerted by the mounting mat was recorded after one minute relaxation in the closed gap position. After this both stainless steel blocks were heated with a rate of 30 C. per minute until the defined test temperature was reached. During this time the gap between the stainless steel blocks was kept constant i.e. the metal expansion was continuously compensated via the laser extensometer.

(29) After heat-up the cycling started by opening the gap to a second defined mat density, also referred to as open gap. Then gap was closed again to the closed gap position. This cycle was repeated 1000 times. The crosshead speed during cycling was 10 millimeter per minute. The open gap cold peak pressure P0 and the closed gap hot cyclic pressure P1000 of the last cycle were recorded.

(30) Raw Materials Used:

(31) Isofrax 1260 C. Grade S 27 is an alkaline earth silicate wool (SiO2: 70-80 wt %, MgO 18-27 wt %) commercially available by Unifrax Ltd., UK

(32) Unexpanded Vermiculite available from 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn./U.S.A.

(33) Trevira 255 is a bicomponent staple fiber having a core/sheath structure of polyester/polyolefin and is commercially available by Trevira GmbH, Germany

(34) Q8 Puccini 29 process oil, having a kinematic viscosity at 40 C. (measured in accordance with ASTM D445) of 29.0 mm.sup.2/s, commercially available by Kuwait Petroleum GmbH, Ratingen, Germany

(35) Q8 Puccini 125 process oil, having a kinematic viscosity at 40 C. (measured in accordance with ASTM D445) of 128.6 mm.sup.2/s, commercially available by Kuwait Petroleum GmbH, Ratingen, Germany

(36) Q8 Puccini 225 process oil, having a kinematic viscosity at 40 C. (measured in accordance with ASTM D445) of 222 mm.sup.2/s, commercially available by Kuwait Petroleum GmbH, Ratingen, Germany

(37) Dakolub MB 9500 process oil based on an trimethylolpropan-trioleate of fatty acids, having a kinematic viscosity at 40 C. (measured in accordance with ASTM D445) of 48.0 mm.sup.2/s, commercially available by Dako AG, Wiesentheid, Germany

(38) Canola Oil containing omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids commercially available by Henry Lamotte GmbH, Germany

(39) Preparation of Mounting Mats

(40) The mounting mats (examples Ex.1 to Ex.9 and comparative examples C1 and C2) were made on a 600 mm wide non-woven-machine, built according to the principles as disclosed in WO 2009/048859.

(41) The machine has a forming section with 2 sets of 5 top and 5 bottom spike rolls, which turn against each other. A moving belt with metal bars set in-between the pairs of spike rolls ensures that no material lumps can fall onto the forming belt.

(42) In the current example the ceramic fibers were lubricated prior to the web forming process. For this purpose ceramic fibers were distributed on a transportation belt, passed through a preopening section and blown by the air flow originated by a fan through a pipe into the top of the forming chamber. The lubricant was applied onto the fibers during air transport using a spray gun. The sprayed fibers were collected onto the forming belt in the bottom of the forming chamber.

(43) The lubricated fibers and the material selected for assembling the various mounting mats (examples) were fed into the machine via a transportation belt. The fibers were passed through a pre-opening section with one rotating spike roll and brought by the rotating spike roll into the top of the forming chamber.

(44) The fibers were then collected on the forming belt, which was moving at a speed of about 1.5 m/min. After passing the forming section the mounting mats (examples) went through a hot air oven running at an oven temperature of 190 C. in order to activate the bi-component fibers. The mats, which were passed through the oven, were compressed directly after leaving the oven with a double belt press in a way that reduced the originally formed thickness.

(45) The obtained mounting mats (examples) were then subjected to cyclic compression testing. The fiber mat composition was for all examples and comparative examples kept identical and only varied in the amount of lubricant used.

(46) Composition of Fiber Mats (in Parts by Weight):

(47) 64.5% Isofrax fibers; 30% Vermiculite and 5.5% bi-component fibers Trevira 255. The mats were formed using the upper procedure at an oven temperature of 190 C. All mounting mats were compressed by a roller reducing the original thickness of the mats before entering the oven.

(48) Table 1 shows an overview of all the examples and the comparative examples subjected to cyclic compression testing.

(49) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Example Amount used No. Lubricant used (wt %) Ex. 1 Q8 Puccini 29P 0.4 Ex. 2 Q8 Puccini 29P 0.8 Ex. 3 Q8 Puccini 29P 1.8 Ex. 4 Q8 Puccini 125P 0.9 Ex. 5 Q8 Puccini 125P 1.8 Ex. 6 Q8 Puccini 125P 2.3 Ex. 7 Dakolub MB 9500 1.3 Ex. 8 Dakolub MB 9500 2.9 Ex. 9 Canola Oil 1.9 C1 none 0 C2 Q8 Puccini 225P 1.5

(50) The P0 closed gap and P1000 open gap cyclic compression values of examples Ex.1 to Ex.9 and comparative example C1 are shown in table 2. The closed gap refers to a compressed density (also known as mount density) of 0.55 g/cm.sup.3. The open gap refers to a compressed gap of 0.50 g/cm.sup.3.

(51) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Example P0 closed P 1000 open No. gap (kPa) gap (kPa) Ex. 1 270 12 Ex. 2 221 12 Ex. 3 220 12 Ex. 4 233 13 Ex. 5 223 12 Ex. 6 199 10 Ex. 7 224 16 Ex. 8 173 12 Ex. 9 188 13 C1 289 10

(52) It is object of this invention to reduce the P0 closed gap values without changing the P 1000 open gap values. Table 2 shows that comparative example C1 and Ex.1, which has only 0.4% of Puccini 29P process oil added, provide P0 values that are unfavorable as they are above 240 kPa. All other examples show reduced P0 values, hereby showing that an increasing amount of lubricant leads to an increased reduction of P0 closed gap test results. Herebyin all casesthe P 1000 open gap resultsremain basically unaffected. FIG. 6 shows the above dates in a diagram.

(53) Table 3 shows that for the selection of the lubricant the kinematic viscosity is a key selection feature besides the amount of lubricant used.

(54) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Example P0 close P 1000 open No. gap (kPa) gap (kPa) Ex. 3 220 12 Ex. 5 223 12 C2 254 11

(55) Results in table 3 are a comparison row between Puccini 29P and 125P at 1.8% and Puccini 225P at 1.5%. Hereby the kinematic viscosity at 40 C. increases from Puccini 29P at 29 mm.sup.2/s, to Puccini 125P at 129 mm.sup.2/s up until Puccini 225P at 222 mm.sup.2/s. Hereby the laterhaving the highest kinematic viscositydelivers results above 240 kP. FIG. 6 shows the above dates in a diagram.