White Pozzolan Manufactured from Post-Consumer Waste Glass, Products Incorporating the Same and Methods of Manufacturing the Same

• US 20090283018A1
• Filed: 05/15/2008
• Published: 11/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Urban Mining Industries LLC
• Original Assignee: Empire Resource Recovery LLC
• Inventors: Grasso, Louis P. JR., Kracko, Elliot, Andela, Cynthia A., Grasso, Louis P. SR., Grasso, Patrick S. SR.
• Granted Patent: US 7,931,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 106/709
• CPC Class Codes: B02C 17/22 Lining for containers
• CPC Class Codes: B02C 21/00 Disintegrating plant with or without drying of the material for grain B02C9/04
• CPC Class Codes: B02C 23/08 Separating or sorting of material, associated with crushing or disintegrating B02C23/18 takes precedence ; beater mills combined with sifting devices B02C13/13, B02C13/14; for tumbling mills B02C17/1835
• CPC Class Codes: B03B 9/062 the refuse being glass
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 14/22 Glass ; Devitrified glass
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 20/008 Micro- or nanosized fillers, e.g. micronised fillers with particle size smaller than that of the hydraulic binder colloidal silica C04B14/062 ; silica fume C04B18/146
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 20/026 Comminuting, e.g. by grinding or breaking; Defibrillating fibres other than asbestos
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 28/04 Portland cements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 30/52 Mechanical processing of waste for the recovery of materials, e.g. crushing, shredding, separation or disassembly
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 30/60 Glass recycling

Abstract

A clean dry white glass powder useful as a substitute for Portland cement in concrete, in paints, and for other known uses for glass powder produced conventionally can be produced from unsorted post-consumer waste glass, including a substantial fraction of non-glass items, by employing glass pulverizing equipment to reduce waste glass to small fragments, allowing removal of trash, employing a multistep washing process to clean the glass fragments, in the preferred embodiment using aggregate cleaning equipment, drying the fragments, preferably using fluidized bed techniques, and grinding the glass to a desired particle size, preferably using a ball mill, in combination with an air classification step to produce a bright white glass powder of uniform particle size.

Claims

1. A white glass powder manufactured by a process, comprising:

a) supplying a stream of post-consumer waste glass containing items of non-frangible materials;

b) pulverizing the stream in a manner such that consumer waste glass in the stream is reduced to fragments of average maximum size ⅛

inch or less, while non-frangible items are not reduced to said size;

c) performing a size-based separation of the reduced glass fragments from the non-frangible items;

d) washing the reduced glass fragments to separate plastic and paper fragments and organic contaminants therefrom;

e) drying the washed glass fragments to a moisture content of no more than about 20% by weight;

f) grinding the dried glass fragments into a white powder, at least about 60% of the particles of said white powder being of no more than 325 mesh particle size, wherein the grinding is performed in a bait mill that grinds media having a non-metallic surface against the dried glass fragments;

g) removing the white glass powder;

h) returning the remaining particles to said grinding step for grinding with additional dried glass fragments received for grinding from after said drying step; and

i) repeating steps g) and h) for continuous manufacturer of the white glass powder.

2. A white glass powder according to claim 1, further comprising:

repeating steps a)-f) for a continuous manufacture of the glass powder.

3. A white glass powder according to claim 1, wherein:

the mill of said grinding step includes a drum lined with a non-metallic surface.

4. A white glass powder according to claim 3, wherein:

said drum is lined with stone.

5. A white glass powder according to claim 3, wherein:

said grinding media are balls having a ceramic surface.

6. A white glass powder according to claim 5, wherein:

said grinding media are solid ceramic.

7. A white glass powder according to claim 1, wherein:

a classifier coated with a non-metallic material is used for said removing and said returning.

22. A white pozzolan according to claim 1, wherein:

said mill includes a non-metallic surface in contact with said dried glass fragments.

23. A white pozzolan according to claim 7, wherein:

said non-metallic material coating said classifier is a ceramic.

8. A concrete mix, comprising:

a) a first quantity of pozzolanic white glass powder manufactured according to the process of,

i) supplying a stream of post-consumer waste glass containing items of non-frangible materials,

ii) pulverizing the stream in a manner such that consumer waste glass in the stream is reduced to fragments of average maximum size ⅛

inch or less, while non- frangible items are not reduced to said size,

iii) performing a size-based separation of the reduced glass fragments from the non-frangible items,

iv) washing the reduced glass fragments to separate plastic and paper fragments and organic contaminants therefrom,

v) drying the washed glass fragments to a moisture content of no more than about 20% by weight,

vi) grinding the dried glass fragments into a white powder, at least about 60% of the particles of said white powder being of no more than 325 mesh particle size, wherein the grinding is performed in a mill that grinds non-metallic surfaces against the dried glass fragments,

vii) removing the white glass powder, and

viii) returning the remaining particles to said grinding step for grinding with additional dried glass fragments received for grinding after said drying step in a continuous glass powder manufacturing process from a supply of a post-consumer waste glass stream;

b) a second quantity of Portland cement, said second quantity larger than said first quantity; and

c) aggregate material.

9. A concrete mix according to claim 8, wherein:

said glass powder has a brightness in the range of 77 to 85.

10. A concrete mix according to claim 8, wherein:

a ratio of said first quantity to said second quantity is up to 4 to 6.

24. A concrete mix according to claim 8, wherein:

said mill is a ball mill.

11. A process for manufacturing a pozzolanic white glass powder from a stream of post-consumer waste glass containing items of non-frangible materials, comprising:

a) pulverizing the stream in a manner such that consumer waste glass in the stream is reduced to fragments of an average maximum size, while non-frangible items are not reduced to said size;

b) performing a size-based separation of the reduced glass fragments from the non-frangible items;

c) washing the reduced glass fragments;

d) drying the washed glass fragments; and

e) grinding the dried glass fragments into a white glass powder until the particles of the powder are of no more than a maximum average particle size, wherein the grinding is performed in a mill that grinds media having non-metallic surfaces against the dried glass fragments and white glass powder;

f) classifying the particles as to whether they are over the maximum average particle size;

g) returning glass particles over the maximum average particle size for additional grinding; and

h) separating the particles smaller than the maximum average particle size,

such that at least about 60% of the particles of said white powder being of no more than 325 mesh particle size and such that the particles of said white powder exhibit a predictable size distribution.

12. A process according to claim 11, wherein:

said classifying includes classifying in a classifier lined with a non-metallic material.

13. A process according to claim 11, wherein:

said media is ceramic media.

25. A process according to claim 11, wherein:

said mill is a ball mill.

14. An apparatus for manufacturing a pozzolanic white glass powder from a stream of post-consumer waste glass containing items of non-frangible materials, comprising:

a) equipment for pulverizing the stream in a manner such that consumer waste glass in the stream is reduced to fragments of an average maximum size, while non-frangible items are not reduced to said size;

b) equipment for performing a size-based separation of the reduced glass fragments from the non-frangible items;

c) equipment for washing the reduced glass fragments;

d) equipment for drying the washed glass fragments; and

e) a mill for grinding the dried glass fragments into a white powder, the particles of said white powder being of no more than a maximum average particle size, said mill lined such that a non-metallic surface of said mill is in contact with the dried glass fragments and powder.

15. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein:

said mill includes a drum lined with stone.

16. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein:

said stone is quartz.

17. An apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising:

grinding media in said mill, said grinding media having a non-metallic surface.

18. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein:

said grinding media has a ceramic surface.

19. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein:

said grinding media are ceramic cylinders.

20. An apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising:

a classifier that separates the white glass powder from remaining larger glass particulate.

21. An apparatus according to claim 20, wherein:

said classifier is lined with a non-metallic material along a pathway through which the glass powder is moved during the separation.