Document NG5n8VV7wBQjgqbrJo1bOvYdb

FILE NAME: Foseco (FOS) DATE: 1967 Feb 22 DOC#: FOSOIO DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Unpublished Internal Report RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT REPORT HO. 23.5 The tlaa o f Syntiie-tic In o rg a n ic . ? ib re a To R e p la a A sb aa to a i a PSOMX Byj K.3. McGrath. 22at3. ehraary. GONHDENTill VT&-. ......... . ' * ? ? V ' " *"*** *** * ' . i . Vi-".* C* e* ^ r > - - 3 iu \VNfo8lk TECHNICAL DIV1SI v ' HECHEUS ' '* ::."'**.,.a;\r\*fA*v i. -I. HKSKAKCil AtiP UEV^LQBIMIT REPORT HQ. 2'W The Use of Synthetic Inorganic Fibres To iteplaca Asbestos in PKOFAX Byi X.M.McGrath 22nd February, 1967 SYNOPSIS This report giveis a full analyois of the technical properties cost and availability of inorganic synthetic fibres for the replacement of ahbai.tos in side-insulator;;. hany of these materials are too costly to use at the present tine. The results show hovever, that certain synthetic fibres of the slag wool type are economically viable and bestow other technical improve ments upon the product as wall as the all important removal of the risk of aabeatosio* UTKOCUCTIOH The two industrial dicoapoa, silicosis and asbostoois, have been recu/iaiKuU by. both Fouccc and Sandvikcn as the major disadvantages of Fro lax vim.o .its inception. For a nu.uoer of yearn co.-siuoraole runeufeh situ development effort r.as b_eri devoted to their elimination. Olivine Profax wan the result of Sundviken efforts to eliminate silicosis :uiu many hundreds of tons of thu product have beon sold. This product war; rapidly followed by Chamotte filled Pro fax - a development of Foseco, dictated by the individual needs of some operating companies, this material also has a very iov 3iIicosis risk. During these early days, although asbestesis was Known to result from continued use of asbestos, it was thought that the risk was very low because of the low asbestos content in Profax. At the instigation of Foccco International Ltd., meetings and discussions took place with the loanin;; respiratory disease authorities in England. It slowly became apparent that the "Blue Asbestos" (Crocidolite), which we were then using, was hazardous not only because of the normal asbostosis risk, but also because it contained a carcinogenic substance. Health statistic:; were beginning to show that lung tissue carcinoma could occur after only one exposure to CROCXDOLIXE. Foseco International Ltd. i.mediately warned the- whole group of this danger and,because of very rapid and detailed work, by Foseco (F.S.) Ltd. were able to recommend an alternative grade of asbestos that avoided this carcinoma risk. We wore now in a position to sell a product of very low silicosis rial: and, we thought, insignificant asbeutosis risk. Ao respiratory disease research has progressed, it has become uora apparent that aebcotosia ia a vary serious complaint that can result from vary low exposure levels. Establishing the true data has been very difficult. In cany cases asbestos suppliers still refuse to accept the data as valid, and claim little or no risk from the use of their material. Fococu, aa a largo responsible supplier of industrial products, must however, recognise the significance of the medical statistics and t.Jto all steps to ensure that ita product is not only useful and e c o n o m i c , `b u t aXfiO v s f s t o U^>d Work has been carried out therefore by Sandviken, Foseco (F.3.) LID., Foseco S.A, Franca and Foseco International Ltd. to replace asbestos. During the eax'ly period of thi3 work, glass fibro was thought to be the -Continued. FOS-AS,-00000! 8^*3 most likely replacement and waa tented by all the above companies. This ,.j&ve a product of resonable appearance, but the manufacture was difficult an<i tlie performance in tins dtoelworks not ideal. Foseco (F.S.) Ltd. were forced to manufaeture tliio product in quantity for one customer but 'wore always tiiscatisfiod abuut the aasocl&tad scrap rates. Later worse involved various slag and mineral wools. While these gave, in the main, reasonable results in the customers works, consider able doubts ware cast on tne adequacy of the green strength. The advent of wheatflour bonded Pro fax gave considerable hopes of eliminating asbestos without replacing it. The Australian Company want ahead with this recipe and have never used asbestos since. The Group a.-; whole however was unmoved by the cost advantages of wheatflour and therefore unlikely to be able to take advantage of the asbestos removal potentialities of this bonding systems. As a result of research on 100# fibre sleeves and filled fibre sleeves by the Foundry Division of Foseco International Ltd.., attention returned to slag wools but at much higher addition levels than previously used. In particular, Fooeco (FS,) Ltd, made and tasted slobs containing up to 15% of slag wool. Eventually they settled upon J,e content as being reasonable and having sufficient green strength. Because the testing waa frequently of an AD HOC nature and many details needed to be filled in, Foseco International Ltd. started a special research project to establish clearly the properties of Frofax tiles with various contents of synthetic inorganic fibres. (PROJECT 500/2). This present report contains sufficient data to enable all companies in the Group to replace asbestos in their product without sacrifice of properties. A later report will investigate the advantages or dis advantages of increasing the content of fibre. All companies should I no to that exceeding the percentages beyond 10#, particularly if the fibre I is not quite equivalent to those specified, could lead to penetration | and other problems and is tfterafosa not recommended until, our research | Is camplato, OBJECTIVES 1. To mnka a systematic study of synthetic inorganic fibres with a viaw to establishing basic physical and chanteal properties. -Continued- FOS-fiS-000000190ia TT - 3- 2. To invectijato tl\n effectu resulting fron: Substitution of syntuetic fibrs i'or usbostos in Profax. 3 To utilisa tltc ubava data far the preparution of recoiumencations to all ojivraling Companies on how to avoid using aube:.tou in Profax. EXFh'KIMSt.'TAL PKOCtibUKB Type;: o f Fibvo Examinod The fibres chosen i'or examination, fell into two categories: 1. Mineral wool:; (generally expensive and high malting point). 2. Slag wools (generally cheap and low melting point). Appendix 1 ,jives precise chemical and physical data on the various fibres tasted. It also shows the economic and supply position in England. Standard Poneco (P.S.) Ltd. cost for Profax 10 and Profax 50 are shown for comparison purposes. Mixin;-: t Tiuroughout these experiments it has been found advisable to add the inorganic fibre immediately after the paper i3 pulped and before ' any other additions are mae. Thi3 gives maximum opportunity for a proper fibre suspension to form. If the fibre addition is made in ' a similar manner to the practice normally observed with asbestos there is a tendency for "balling up" to occur. Recipe Two recipea were chosen to be as representative of normal production *c possible. One recipe utilised a standard resin bonding system, the other a wheatflour system. Initially a fibre content of 105* was used for tecta. This leva! was chosen after careful examination of Foseco (F.S.) Ltd. initial results. (Seo Figure 1 Appendix 3)* subsequently level a of 2^ and 7* of X1987 in the resin bonded system were also examined. Ao indicated earlier, higher fibre levels will be the subject of u further report. -Continued- FDS-fiS-0000001g01 1" T