Binder material

Abstract

A binder material for binding a plurality of particles together to form a conglomerate such as a carbon-containing briquette, a sand casting core and the like is provided. The binder material can include a collagen and/or lignin and a plurality of inorganic particles. In some instances, the binder material can be used to make a composite material. The composite material can include a plurality of particles and the binder material that contains the collagen and/or lignin. The binder material affords for the plurality of particles to be bound together into a desired shape, the desired shape having desirable properties.

1 . A binder material for binding a plurality of particles together in order to make a conglomerate, said binder material comprising:
 a first component containing an organic material selected from a group consisting of a collagen and a lignin; and   a second component containing an inorganic material selected from a group consisting of an element and an inorganic compound.   
     
     
         2 . The binder material of  claim 1 , wherein said second component is a plurality of inorganic materials. 
     
     
         3 . The binder material of  claim 1 , wherein said inorganic material is selected from a group consisting of a silicate, a ferrosilicon and silicon. 
     
     
         4 . The binder material of  claim 3 , wherein said silicate is selected from a group consisting of an alkaline metal silicate, alkaline earth metal silicate, an amorphous silica-rich ash and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The binder material of  claim 4 , wherein said amorphous silica-rich ash is an amorphous silica-rich ash of rice hulls and rice stalks. 
     
     
         6 . The binder material of  claim 3 , wherein said silicon is a zero valence silicon. 
     
     
         7 . The binder material of  claim 1 , further comprising a saccharide. 
     
     
         8 . The binder material of  claim 7 , wherein said saccharide is a monosaccharide selected from a group consisting glucose, fructose, galactose, xylose and ribose. 
     
     
         9 . A composite material comprising said plurality of particles and said binder material of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         10 . The composite material of  claim 9 , wherein said binder material has a heat flow between −0.5 and −2.5 Watts per gram for temperatures between 50 to 450° C. as measured by a differential scanning calorimetry protocol. 
     
     
         11 . A conglomerate comprising said plurality of particles and said binder material of  claim 9 , said plurality of particles bound together into a desired shape by said binder material. 
     
     
         12 . The conglomerate of  claim 11 , wherein said plurality of particles are selected from a group consisting of a plurality of coal particles, a plurality of anthracite particles, a plurality of sand particles, a plurality of lignocellulosic particles, a plurality of lignin particles, a plurality of carbonaceous particles, a plurality of silicon dioxide particles, and a plurality of aluminosilicate particles. 
     
     
         13 . The conglomerate of  claim 11 , wherein 50% by mass of said plurality of component particles have an average mean diameter of less than 0.25 inches. 
     
     
         14 . The conglomerate of  claim 11 , wherein said plurality of particles are sand particles having an AFS grain fineness number between 25 and 150, inclusive. 
     
     
         15 . The conglomerate of  claim 12 , wherein said desired shape is a fuel pellet. 
     
     
         16 . The conglomerate of  claim 15 , wherein said fuel pellet is a pyrolyzed fuel pellet having a plurality of silicon carbide nanowires. 
     
     
         17 . The conglomerate of  claim 12 , wherein said desired shape is a sand casting core. 
     
     
         18 . The conglomerate of  claim 12 , wherein said desired shape has an unconfined compressive strength of greater than 1000 kPa before a pyrolysis treatment when measured by an unconfined strength test protocol. 
     
     
         19 . The conglomerate of  claim 12 , wherein said desired shape has an unconfined compressive strength of greater than 1000 kPa after a pyrolysis treatment at 900° C. when pyrolyzed per a vertical furnace pyrolysis protocol and measured by an unconfined compressive strength protocol. 
     
     
         20 . The conglomerate of  claim 12 , wherein said desired shape has an unconfined compressive strength of greater than 500 kPa after a pyrolysis treatment at 1400° C. when pyrolyzed per a horizontal furnace pyrolysis protocol and measured by an unconfined compressive strength protocol. 
     
     
         21 . The conglomerate of  claim 12 , wherein said desired shape has 75% remaining weight after drop testing per a drop testing protocol. 
     
     
         22 . The conglomerate of  claim 12 , wherein said desired shape has a storage modulus greater than 150 MPa at 450° C. when measured in accordance with a dynamic mechanical analysis protocol. 
     
     
         23 . The conglomerate of  claim 12 , wherein said desired shape distorts at least 14 mm before failure when measured by a hot distortion test protocol. 
     
     
         24 . The conglomerate of  claim 12 , wherein said desired shape distorts less than 4 mm in 20 seconds when measured by a hot distortion test protocol. 
     
     
         25 . The conglomerate of  claim 12 , wherein said desired shape erodes less than 0.02 cm per kg molten iron poured when measured by a molten iron erosion test protocol. 
     
     
         26 . A conglomerate comprising:
 silica sand and a binder material;   said binder material having an organic component, said organic component being less than about 1% by dry mass of said conglomerate;   wherein said conglomerate distorts less than 10 mm in 100 seconds and distorts at least 14 mm before failure when measured by a hot distortion test protocol.   
     
     
         27 . A conglomerate comprising:
 a plurality of coal particles and a binder material;   said binder material having a biomass component, said biomass component being between 1 and 10% by dry mass of said conglomerate;   wherein said conglomerate has an unconfined compressive strength greater than 3000 kPa after pyrolysis at 900° C. when measure by an unconfined compressive strength protocol and pyrolyzed by a vertical furnace pryrolysis protocol.   
     
     
         28 . A conglomerate comprising:
 silica sand and a binder material, said binder material having an organic component, said organic component being about 1% by dry mass of said conglomerate;   wherein said conglomerate distorts less than 10 mm in 50 seconds and distorts at least 14 mm before failure when measured by a hot distortion test protocol; and   wherein within a temperature range between 50° C. and 900° C. said conglomerate releases less than about 0.00008 nA response attributed to benzene when compared to a 50-900° C. benzene baseline value, or said conglomerate releases less than about 0.000015 nA response attributed to xylene when compared to a 50-900° C. xylene baseline value, or said conglomerate releases less than about 0.000008 nA response attributed to phenol when compared to a 50-900° C. phenol baseline value when measured by a TGA-MS protocol.   
     
     
         29 . A conglomerate comprising:
 silica sand and a binder material, said binder material having an organic component, said organic component being about 1% by dry mass of said conglomerate;   wherein said conglomerate distorts less than 10 mm in 50 seconds and distorts at least 14 mm before failure when measured by a hot distortion test protocol; and   wherein said conglomerate has a reduction in benzene of at least 60%, a reduction in xylene of at least 60% and/or a reduction in phenol of at least 50% compared to benzene, xylene and/or phenol emissions from a silica sand and phenolic urethane binder material when measured using a TGA-MS protocol.   
     
     
         30 . A process for making a conglomerate from a composite material, the process comprising:
 providing a plurality of particles;   providing a binder material having a first component and a second component, the first component containing an organic substance selected from a group consisting of a collagen and a lignin, and the second component containing an inorganic substance selected from a group consisting of an element and an inorganic compound.   mixing the plurality of particles with the binder material to make a conglomerate mixture;   forming the conglomerate mixture into a desired shape; and   drying the desired shape.   
     
     
         31 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the binder material includes an aqueous liquid. 
     
     
         32 . The process of  claim 31 , further including pre-heating the binder material before mixing with the plurality of particles. 
     
     
         33 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the binder includes a saccharide. 
     
     
         34 . The process of  claim 30 , further including exposing the desired shape to ultraviolet radiation. 
     
     
         35 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the plurality of particles are silica sand particles and the desired shape is a sand casting core. 
     
     
         36 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the plurality of particles are anthracite fines particles and the desired shape is fuel pellet. 
     
     
         37 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the desired shape has a plurality of silicon nanowires when pyrolyzed above 1200° C. per a horizontal furnace pyrolysis protocol. 
     
     
         38 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the desired shape has an unconfined compressive strength of greater than 1000 kPa before pyrolysis when measured by an unconfined compressive strength test protocol. 
     
     
         39 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the desired shape has an unconfined compressive strength of greater than 1000 kPa after pyrolysis at 900° C. using a vertical tube furnace protocol and when measured by an unconfined compressive strength test protocol. 
     
     
         40 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the desired shape has an unconfined compressive strength of greater than about 500 kPa after pyrolysis at 1400° C. using a horizontal tube furnace protocol and when measured by an unconfined compressive strength test protocol. 
     
     
         41 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the desired shape before pyrolyis has 75% remaining weight after drop testing per a drop testing protocol. 
     
     
         42 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the desired shape has a storage modulus greater than 150 MPa at 450° C. when measured by a dynamic mechanical analysis protocol. 
     
     
         43 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the binder material has a heat flow between −0.5 and −2.5 Watts per gram for temperatures between 50 to 450° C. as measured by a differential scanning calorimetry protocol. 
     
     
         44 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the desired shape distorts at least 14 mm before failure when measured by a hot distortion test protocol. 
     
     
         45 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the desired shape distorts less than 4 mm in 20 seconds when measured by a hot distortion test protocol. 
     
     
         46 . The process of  claim 30 , wherein the desired shape erodes less than 0.02 cm per kg molten iron poured when measured by a molten iron erosion test protocol.