Sizing composition for mineral fibers and resulting products

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sizing composition for mineral fibers, especially glass fibers or rock fibers, containing a liquid phenolic resin having a free formaldehyde content, expressed with respect to the total weight of liquid, of 0.1% or less and an extender. Preferably, the liquid phenolic resin is mainly composed of phenol-formaldehyde and phenol-formaldehyde-amine condensates and has a water dilutability, at 20° C., at least equal to 1000%. Another subject of the present invention is the insulating products based on mineral fibers treated by said sizing composition.

1 . A sizing composition comprising a liquid phenolic resin having a free formaldehyde content, expressed with respect to the total weight of liquid, of 0.1% or less, and an extender. 
     
     
         2 . The composition as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the liquid phenolic resin consists essentially of phenol-formaldehyde and phenol-formaldehyde-amine condensates. 
     
     
         3 . The composition as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said composition has a free phenol content, expressed with respect to the total weight of liquid, of 0.5% or less. 
     
     
         4 . The composition as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the amine is an alkanolamine or a cyclic amine. 
     
     
         5 . The composition as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the amine is monoethanolamine or diethanolamine. 
     
     
         6 . The composition as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the resin has a free formaldehyde content of 0.1% or less, a free phenol content of less than 0.4% and a water dilutability, at 20° C., of 1000% or higher. 
     
     
         7 . The composition as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the extender is selected from the group consisting of a carbohydrate, a lignin derivative, (ALS) or sodium an animal protein and a plant protein. 
     
     
         8 . The composition as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the carbohydrate is selected from the group consisting of a monosaccharide, an oligosaccharide, and a polysaccharide. 
     
     
         9 . The composition as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the composition also comprises 0 to 40 parts of urea per 100 parts by dry weight of the mixture constituted by the resin and the urea. 
     
     
         10 . The composition as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the content of extender varies from 0.1 to 40 parts by weight per 100 parts by dry weight of liquid resin. 
     
     
         11 . The composition as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said composition also comprises the following additives, per 100 parts by dry weight of liquid resin and optionally of urea:
 0 to 10 parts of a catalyst,   0 to 2 parts of silane,   0 to 20 parts of oil, and   0 to 20 parts of aqueous ammonia (20 wt % solution).   
     
     
         12 . A resin composition comprising a liquid phenolic resin having a free formaldehyde content, expressed with respect to the total weight of liquid, of 0.1% or less and an extender. 
     
     
         13 . An insulation product, comprising mineral fibers sized with the sizing composition as claimed in  claim 1 . 
     
     
         14 . A product as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the fibers are glass fibers or rock fibers. 
     
     
         15 - 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . The composition as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the carbohydrate is at least one monosaccharide selected from the group consisting of erythrose, threose, ribose, arabinose, xylose, lyxose, glucose, allose, altrose, mannose, gulose, idose, galactose, talose, psicose, fructose, sorbose and tagatose. 
     
     
         18 . The composition as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the carbohydrate is at least one oligosaccharide selected from the group consisting of lactose, maltose, sucrose, cellobiose, trehalose, raffinose, gentianose, melibiose and stachyose. 
     
     
         19 . The composition as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the carbohydrate is at least one polysaccharide selected from the group consisting of modified starch, unmodified starch, cellulose, gum, alginate, and pectin. 
     
     
         20 . A method of fabricating an insulation product comprising sizing mineral fibers with the sizing composition as claimed in  claim 1 . 
     
     
         21 . A method of fabricating an insulation product comprising sizing mineral fibers with a sizing composition comprising the resin of  claim 12 . 
     
     
         22 . The insulation product of  claim 13 , wherein the insulation product is a thermal and/or acoustic insulation product.