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CA-3017728-C - METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A CELLULOSE PRODUCT, CELLULOSE PRODUCT FORMING APPARATUS AND CELLULOSE PRODUCT

CA3017728CCA 3017728 CCA3017728 CCA 3017728CCA-3017728-C

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a cellulose product, comprising the steps: dry forming a cellulose blank in a dry forming unit; arranging the cellulose blank in a forming mould; heating the cellulose blank to a forming temperature in the range of 100°C to 200°C; and pressing the cellulose blank in the forming mould with a forming pressure of at least 1 MPa.

Inventors

  • Ove Larsson
  • Linus Larsson

Assignees

  • Pulpac AB

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20170316
Priority Date
20160318

Claims (9)

  1. 33 CLAIMS 1. A method for manufacturing a cellulose product, comprising the steps: dry forming a cellulose blank (1a) in a dry forming unit (11); arranging the cellulose blank (1a) in a forming mould (3), wherein the forming mould (3) comprises a positive forming mould part (2a) and a negative forming mould part (2b); heating the cellulose blank (1a) to a forming temperature in the range of 100°C to 200°C; and pressing the cellulose blank (1a) in the forming mould (3) with a forming pressure in the range of 1 MPa to 100 MPa, wherein when dry forming the cellulose blank (1a) in the dry forming unit (11), cellulose fibres (12) are carried and formed to the cellulose blank (1a) by air as carrying medium, wherein the cellulose blank (1a) is formed as a continuous cellulose web (16) in the dry forming unit (11), wherein the continuous cellulose web (16) is intermittently fed to the forming mould (3) by a feeding unit (17), and wherein the cellulose blank (1a) is formed into a cellulose product having a three-dimensional shape.
  2. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the heating of the cellulose blank (1a) at least partly takes place before pressing the cellulose blank (1a).
  3. 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the forming mould (3) is heated before pressing the cellulose blank (1a).
  4. 4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the dry forming unit (11) comprises a separating unit (13), a forming wire (14) and a compacting unit (15), the method further comprising the steps: separating cellulose into detached cellulose fibres (12) in the separating unit (13); arranging the cellulose fibres (12) onto the forming wire (14); and compacting the cellulose fibres (12) in the compacting unit (15) to form the cellulose blank (1a). 34
  5. 5. A method according to claim 4, further comprising the step: applying a sizing agent to the cellulose fibres (12) to increase the hydrophobic properties and/or mechanical strength of the cellulose blank (1a).
  6. 6. A cellulose product forming apparatus (18) for manufacturing a cellulose product from a cellulose blank (1a), the cellulose product forming apparatus (18) comprising: a heating unit (19) for heating the cellulose blank (1a) to a forming temperature in the range of 100°C to 200°C; a forming mould (3) for forming the cellulose product by pressing the cellulose blank (1a) in the forming mould (3) with a forming pressure in the range of 1 MPa to 100 MPa; wherein the cellulose product forming apparatus further comprises a dry forming unit (11) for forming the cellulose blank (1a), where the cellulose fibres (12) are carried and formed to the cellulose blank (1a) by air as carrying medium, wherein the dry forming unit (11) is adapted to form the cellulose blank (1a) as a continuous cellulose web, characterized in that the forming mould (3) comprises a positive forming mould part (2a) and a negative forming mould part (2b), wherein the cellulose product forming apparatus (18) comprises a feeding unit (17) adapted to intermittently feed the continuous cellulose web (16) to the forming mould (3), wherein the cellulose blank (1a) is formed into a cellulose product having a three-dimensional shape.
  7. 7. A cellulose product forming apparatus (18) according to claim 6, characterized in that the dry forming unit (11) comprises: a separating unit (13) for separating cellulose into detached cellulose fibres (12); a forming wire (14) for the cellulose fibres (12); and a compacting unit (15) for compacting the cellulose fibres (12) to form the cellulose blank (1a).
  8. 8. A cellulose product forming apparatus (18) according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the forming mould (3) comprises the heating unit (19).
  9. 9. A cellulose product forming apparatus (18) according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the cellulose product forming apparatus (18) comprises an application unit (20) adapted to apply sizing agents or other substances to the cellulose fibres (12).

Description

1 METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A CELLULOSE PRODUCT, CELLULOSE PRODUCT FORMING APPARATUS AND CELLULOSE PRODUCT 5 TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a cellulose product from cellulose fibres. The disclosure further relates to a cellulose product forming apparatus and a cellulose product. 10 BACKGROUND There are many situations where it is desirable to provide objects made of sustainable materials in flat or essentially non-flat shapes. A flat shape may refer to a generally two-dimensional (2D) shape, such as for example the shape of a sheet material or blank, and essentially non-flat shapes may refer 15 to any suitable three-dimensional (3D) object shape. One such situation relates to the packaging of liquids, dry materials and different types of goods, where the packaging may be made in a three-dimensional shape or formed into a three-dimensional shape from a two-dimensional sheet material. When for example packaging sensitive goods, such as mechanical high 20 precision items, electronic equipment and other household and hardware items, there is a need for protective packaging in order to avoid damage of the sensitive goods, due to for example mechanical shock, vibrations or compression during transport, storage, or other handling. Such packages typically require a protective insert that has a shape adapted to the goods 25 contained, and thus securely holds the goods in the package. Such inserts are commonly made of expanded polystyrene (EPS), which is a lightweight petroleum derived material and is not regarded as a sustainable material. WO 2017/160218 PCT /SE2017 /050255 2 A low price material commonly used for packaging inserts is moulded pulp. Moulded pulp has the advantage of being considered as a sustainable packaging material, since it is produced from biomaterials and can be recycled after use. As a consequence moulded pulp has been quickly 5 increasing in popularity for both primary and secondary packaging applications (packaging next to the article and assembly of such packages). Moulded pulp articles are generally formed by immersing a suction mould into a pulp suspension, while suction is applied, whereby a body of pulp is formed with the shape of the desired article by fibre deposition. The suction 10 mould is then withdrawn from the suspension and the suction is generally continued to compact the deposited fibres while exhausting residual liquid. A common disadvantage with all wet-forming techniques is the need for drying of the moulded product, which is a time and energy consuming step. Another drawback is that strong inter-fibre bonds, often explained as 15 hydrogen bonds, are formed between the fibres in the material, which restrict the flexibility of the material. Moreover, many modern lean production lines require in-line and on-demand package or component manufacturing, where a wet-forming process is not preferred. 20 Lately, new fibre-based materials have been developed with the purpose of enabling dry forming of three-dimensional objects. One approach is disclosed in WO 2014/142714 A 1, where a dry-laid composite web being an intermediate product for thermoforming of three-dimensionally shaped objects, comprising 40-95 weight percent CTMP fibres, 5-50 weight percent 25 thermoplastic material, and 0-10 weight percent additives, wherein the drylaid composite web has been impregnated with a dispersion, an emulsion, or a solution containing the thermoplastic material, polymer, and dried, obtaining a density of 50-250 kg/m3, or, if compressed by calendaring 400- 1000 kg/m3. According to the disclosure of WO 2014/142714 A 1, bonding of 30 the polymer is activated by the higher temperature applied in the 3 thermoforming process and contributes to the final strength of the thermoformed object. Although the polymer according to the disclosure of WO 2014/142714 A 1 may be contributing to the final strength and enabling forming of dry-laid web, such 5 thermoplastic ingredient will erase the sustainable features of the cellulose since the composite will not be recyclable. This disadvantage is applicable even if a renewable and compostable bioplastic, e.g. polylactide (PLA) is used as proposed in WO 2014/142714 A1, since logistics for material recycling is not available. 1 O Recent findings and political decisions, e.g. Paris agreement on global warming 2015, stipulates that the carbon footprint of consumed goods and packages, in so called life cycle analysis (LCA), is highly influenced by the ability to recycle and reuse materials. Even renewable materials like cellulose and PLA must be recycled in order to measure up with multi recycled non- 15 renewable materials like polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Material recycling is slowly and gradually becoming more and more established in most parts of the world. Europe has the global lead with approximately 30% recycling while United States only has reached 10% and still many development countries has not yet started