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US-20260125507-A1 - LIQUID BASE PRODUCT, LIQUID FORMULATED PRODUCT, LIQUID FINAL PRODUCT, BIODEGRADABLE SOLID PRODUCT AND BIODEGRADABLE PRODUCT FABRICATION PROCESS

US20260125507A1US 20260125507 A1US20260125507 A1US 20260125507A1US-20260125507-A1

Abstract

This invention refers to a liquid base product that comprises vegetable oil, and/or blond glycerin, and/or animal fat and nitrilotriethanol; a liquid formulated product that comprises the base product and organic surfactants, the catalysts, reagents, and/or water; a liquid final product that comprises the formulated product and at least an isocyanate. This invention also refers to a biodegradable solid product formed from a liquid final product. This invention also refers to a biodegradable product fabrication process.

Inventors

  • CAROLINA COVALSKI PORSCH
  • LAURÊNCIO CUEVAS PERLANZA

Assignees

  • ISOCARE SOLUÇÕES AMBIENTAIS S/A
  • HDGL LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251106
Priority Date
20220118

Claims (15)

  1. 1 . A process for manufacturing a liquid product for obtaining a biodegradable product, characterized by comprising: generating a base liquid product, wherein generating the base liquid product comprises: heating a first base mixture component to a temperature between 50° C. and 70° C.; adding a second base mixture component to the first base mixture component; heating the combination of the first base mixture component with the second base mixture component to a temperature between 90° C. and 100° C., or to a temperature that exceeds the melting point of the second base mixture component if the second base mixture component has a melting point above 100° C.; stirring the first base mixture component with the second base mixture component for a time range between 60 minutes and 120 minutes, wherein the first base mixture component is selected from at least one of: vegetable oil, blonde glycerin and/or animal fat, and the second base mixture component is selected from at least one of: nitrilotriethanol, pentaerythritol and/or trimethylolpropane; and generating a formulated liquid product, wherein generating the formulated liquid product comprises: stirring the base liquid product with at least one of: organic surfactants, catalysts and/or reagents, and gradually adding a blowing agent throughout the stirring period of the base liquid product with the organic surfactants, catalysts and/or reagents.
  2. 2 . The process according to claim 1 , characterized in that the blowing agent is selected from at least one of: water, isopentane, cyclopentane and/or hydrogenated chlorofluorocarbon.
  3. 3 . The process according to claim 1 , characterized in that the step of generating the formulated liquid product is carried out for a stirring time that is within a time range between 60 minutes and 120 minutes.
  4. 4 . The process according to claim 1 , characterized in that it further comprises a step of generating a liquid end product, in which the step of generating a liquid end product comprises stirring the liquid product formulated with an isocyanate, in which the isocyanate is MDI comprising an NCO, nitrogen-carbon-oxygen, ranging from 10% to 35%.
  5. 5 . The process according to claim 1 , characterized in that it further comprises shaping the liquid end product through an exothermic reaction and/or polymerization to obtain a solid end product.
  6. 6 . A formulated liquid product, characterized in that it is manufactured by the process defined in claim 1 and which comprises: the base liquid product, wherein the base liquid product comprises the first base mixture component selected from at least one of: vegetable oil, blond glycerin and/or animal fat, and the second base mixture component selected from at least one of: nitrilotriethanol, pentaerythritol and/or trimethylolpropane, wherein the base liquid product comprises between 63% and 90% of the first base mixture component and between 10% and 37% of the second base mixture component; and a blowing agent and at least one of organic surfactants, catalysts and/or reagents.
  7. 7 . A formulated liquid product according to claim 6 , characterized in that the blowing agent is selected from at least one of water, isopentane, cyclopentane and/or hydrogenated chlorofluorocarbon.
  8. 8 . A formulated liquid product according to claim 7 , characterized in that the organic surfactant is selected from at least one of: silicone and/or water-soluble silicone.
  9. 9 . A formulated liquid product according to claim 6 , characterized in that the catalyst is selected from at least one of: tin dibutyl dilaurate, cobalt dibutyl dilaurate, cobalt octoate, diazabicyclooctane and/or dimethylcyclohexylamine.
  10. 10 . A formulated liquid product according to claim 6 , characterized in that the reagent is selected from at least one of: diethylene glycol, monoethylene glycol, propylene glycol and/or nitrilotriethanol.
  11. 11 . A final liquid product, characterized in that it comprises the formulated liquid product defined in claim 6 , mixed with an isocyanate.
  12. 12 . The final liquid product, according to claim 11 , characterized in that the isocyanate is MDI, in which the isocyanate comprises an NCO, nitrogen-carbon-oxygen, ranging from 10% to 35%.
  13. 13 . The final liquid product, according to claim 11 , characterized in that the isocyanate is selected from at least one of: aliphatic isocyanate, modified isocyanate, blocked isocyanate and/or TDI, toluene diisocyanate.
  14. 14 . The final liquid product, according to claim 11 , characterized in that the final liquid product comprises between 33.33% and 55.55% of the formulated liquid product and between 44.44% and 66.66% of the isocyanate.
  15. 15 . A biodegradable solid product, characterized in that it comprises the final liquid product defined in claim 11 , polymerized in a solid state.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/729,802, filed Jul. 17, 2024, which is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 national stage of International Application No. PCT/BR2023/050015, filed Jan. 17, 2023, which claims priority to Brazilian Patent Application No. 1020220009740, filed Jan. 18, 2022, and Brazilian patent Application No. 1020230006396, filed Jan. 12, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. This invention refers to a semi-rigid and rigid biodegradable product and its possible combinations, for packaging, thermal insulation, civil construction and various other applications, and a process of obtaining such product. More particularly, this invention refers to a biodegradable product, and a fabrication process for such product, which constitutes a sustainable alternative to products manufactured with EPS (expanded polystyrene) and PU (fossil polyurethane), with the product addressed by this invention being fully recyclable, nontoxic and biodegradable. This invention refers to a liquid product called the BASE MIXTURE, being a liquid formed from a mixture of one of the vegetable oils, and/or blond glycerin, and/or animal fat ingredients with nitrilotriethanol. This invention refers to a liquid product called the FORMULATED MIXTURE, a liquid that forms from the mixture of one of the vegetable oils, and/or blond glycerin, and/or animal fat and nitrilotriethanol ingredients, mixed also with organic surfactants, the catalysts, reagents, and/or water. This invention refers to a liquid product called the FINAL MIXTURE, a liquid that forms from the mixture of one of the vegetable oils, and/or blond glycerin, and/or animal fat ingredients and nitrilotriethanol, mixed also with organic surfactants, the catalysts, reagent s, water, and/or isocyanates. DESCRIPTION OF STATE OF THE ART Currently, for use in packaging, thermal insulation and civil construction, the main products used are EPS (commonly known as expanded polystyrene or isopor) and PU (polyurethane foam). EPS is widely used in the manufacture of packaging for household appliances, due to its properties of low apparent density and low cost; it is also widely used in civil construction and as thermal insulation. PU is commonly used in vehicle seats, mattresses, pillows and thermal insulation. These products are not biodegradable and are thus harmful to the environment when discarded. The increasing use of these products has no feasible practical solution for the safe and non-polluting disposal thereof, based on the knowledge available at the state of the art. In this Specification, the term “biodegradable product” must be understood as being a product, part, article, accessory, utensil, device, packaging, or artifact, among others, whose characteristics allow it to degrade in nature. For a product to be considered biodegradable, a commonly applied rule is that there must be a physical change in the product moving towards decomposition within six months of product disposal. As shown below, the product addressed by this invention began to degrade during the first 15 (fifteen) days of exposure to the sun; from ninety days onwards, it is already in clear biodegradation. Not biodegradable, EPS and PU are hard to recycle. In developed countries, recycling these products reaches only 40% of discarded materials. In Brazil and other less developed countries, the recycling of these products reaches less than 10% of discarded materials. Furthermore, EPS is rated as a carcinogenic product that is found in large quantities in oceans around the world. Fragments of EPS discarded from household appliance packaging are found in small, medium or large quantities in waterbodies where they improperly end up, or are swept into them by rain runoff, whence they are then carried into rivers and finally oceans. These aquatic environments are adversely affected by steady inflows of EPS. As these fragments collide with each other and other plastics floating in the oceans, EPS is broken down into millions of fragments, building up into massive volumes over the years and forming islands that are visible from the International Space Station. These microplastics generated by EPS may absorb and concentrate toxic chemical compounds such as pesticides and heavy metals (such as mercury and lead), found mainly in rivers, lakes and oceans, making it a potential contaminant, particularly if consumed by aquatic wildlife. This makes its presence in marine environments dangerous, as fish, turtles, whales, dolphins and other marine animals confuse these microplastics with marine organisms and feed on them, poisoning them and endangering entire food chains. In view of the environmental and health problems caused by EPS products, several major international retailers that purchase home appliances from multinational manufacturers are already stating that they will not accept products with EPS pack