Mineral fiber manufacture

Sorbitan oleate and the monolaurate are pale yeUow Hquids. Palmitates and stearates are light tan soHds. Sorbitan esters are not soluble in water but dissolve in a wide range of mineral and vegetable oils. They are lipophilic emulsifiers, solubiHzers, softeners, and fiber lubricants that find appHcation in synthetic fiber manufacture, textile processing, and cosmetic products. Sorbitan esters have been approved for human ingestion and are widely used as emulsifiers and solubiHzers in foods, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. 

Synthetic mineral fibers (fiberglass) Fiber manufacturing and installation Bronchus... 

Mineral Fiber. Composed principally of libers manufactured from rock, slab, or glass, with or without binders. 

The inorganic classification includes the metal pan type, consisting of a perforated metal pan with a sound-absorptive mineral wool pad the perforated cement-asbestos type, consiting of a perforated cement-asbestos sheet with a sound-absorptive mineral wool pad acoustical plasters and tile prepared from mixtures of inorganic or mineralized fibers with or without asbestos and other fillers. In general, acoustical products in this classification possess good fire and flame resistance, but are relatively expensive and difficult to manufacture and apply. 

A survey of the literature [28, 58-65, 71, 72, 74-80] indicates that the most frequent exposure to silicon involves exposure to silica and silicates mainly in their crystalline forms. Health risks associated with the exposure to other sihcon containing compounds were reported in the mortality study of 16.661 manmade mineral fiber workers employed during 1945 to 1963 at one of 17 U.S. manufacturing plants [75]. Fiber exposure in the plants producing fibrous glass or mineral wool, or both, was associated with increased... 

Chrysotile is the asbestos-type most suitable for asbestos textiles. Only about 0.8% of the raw mtiterial is spinnable. In the manufacture of asbestos textile products, so-called carrier fibers (cotton or synthetic fibers) have to be added to achieve the required strength. These reduce the maximum operating temperature of the textiles from the ca. 480°C of yarn consisting of 99 to 1()09( asbe.stos, the temperature reduction being a function of the carrier fiber-content. Asbestos-free mineral fiber textiles arc generally used in the high temperature sector. 

Mineral fibers are manufactured from silicate melts of appropriate composition. These melts are converted into fibers with considerably more efficient use of time and space than in the manufacture of textile glass fibers, since the melts are spun at much lower melt viscosities. After solidification the fibers consist of amorphous glasses (according to X-ray diffraction measurements) with... 

Includes mineral fiber emissions from facilities manufacturing or processing glass, rock, or slag fibers (or other mineral derived fibers) of average diameter 1... 

A mineral fiber that can pollute air or water and cause cancer or asbestosis when inhaled. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has banned or severely restricted its use in manufacturing and construction. 

Mineral fibers A generic term for all non-metallic, inorganic fibers, which may be natural, such as asbestos, or manufactured from such sources as rock, ore, alloys, slag, or glass. 

As a further advantage, composites make effective use of some materials that are otherwise unable to stand alone, such as mineral fibers or wood flour. When incorporated into polymers— in particular those such as unsaturated polyesters or phenolics—particles can reduce manufacturing shrinkage and yield a more usable product. In service, zero thermal expansion coefficients can be achieved by a suitable choice of starting materials. 

During the last half of the 1970s I was visiting a friend, Sidney Campbell, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was a distributor for the Johns Manville Company. Sidney s asbestos plant had just been condemned and closed by order of the Environmental Protection Agency. My plant has never caused any health problems. All health officials admit there are no health problems with my workers. My family and I worked with asbestos all our lives. My father and I are roofers. I have handled asbestos all my life. Now I must fire many of my workers because they might get sick. Chrysotile was the fiber used in the roofing and it will be seen that it must be compared with other mineral fibers to determine how much hazard is associated with chrysotile. All asbestos was not created equally and there were cement pipe manufacturers in New Orleans who may have caused problems. 

The primary useful property of phosphates that perhaps nothing else approaches, is the safety record of phosphates in manufacturing plants and households around the world. It was with this fact in mind that two candidates for new mineral fibers were chosen. There were at least eight other candidates that could have been selected. As noted, there are two general molecular forms of serpentine minerals that are referred to as asbestos. These are the chrysotile and the amphibole types. These two forms of asbestos are about as similar, chemically and physically, as sodium chloride and sucrose both are white crystalline solids. 

If the objective is to prepare the safest mineral fiber that it is theoretically possible to manufacture, no trace of a toxic substance can be tolerated There was never any doubt in the author s mind that only food grade raw material could be used in this process, although the question of using purified wet phosphoric acid, derived from fertilizers, was raised from time to time. In my judgement, the best commercially available purified wet phosphoric acid is inferior to furnace acid and, although it probably could be used, it would be done with some loss of a safety margin that has been paramount throughout the history of this project. Safety is the hallmark of phosphate fibers. When safety is not an issue, some other fibers have superior properties. 

Safety was the paramount objective when phosphate fibers were invented. Safety for workers and consumers is the only technical reason anyone should consider launching a program to produce a substitute for the serpentine minerals usually referred to as asbestos. There is no reason to expect that synthetic fibers can outperform natural mineral fibers nor is it expected that they can be manufactured more economically. Modem societies require mineral fibers if we are to continue to advance in areas such as human safety, nutrition, health, comfort, transportation, and longevity. 

Phenolic resin-laminated mats and sheet made from glass fiber and other mineral fiber materials are among the most important noise damping and thermal insulation materials. The liquid resins used to manufacture these insulation materials provide both excellent mechanical strength and good thermal and moisture resistance. 

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