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US 11,591,474 B2Granted
Formulations and products to replace single-use plastics and polystyrene with bio-benign materials such as agricultural wastes
AssigneeNutjobs
InventorsPaul Ray Kephart, John Warner, Samuel Ellman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides methods for preparing the nut waste pot composites from a nut waste component, one or more binders, and an oil using a compounder/extruder.
Claims17
A cured nut waste pot composite prepared by the following method comprising the following steps:
- (a) providing a nut waste component selected from the group consisting of nut shells, nut hulls, and a combination of nut shells and nut hulls;
- (b) drying the nut waste component or adjusting the nut waste component to a pH of 5.0 to 8.0 then drying, sterilizing, or torrefying the nut waste component;
- (c) cooling the dried or pH adjusted then dried, sterilized, or torrefied nut waste component to room temperature;
- (d) grinding the nut waste component to a size less than 250 μm;
- (e) compounding the nut waste component from step (d), one or more binders selected from a group consisting of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), polylactic acid (PLA), guayule, natural latex, bentonite, an anionic starch, hyaluronic acid, triethylcitrate, and any combinations thereof;
- and an oil producing a compounded mixture;
- (f) heating the compounded mixture to a temperature from about 110° C. to about 200° C. for less than about 5 minutes;
- (g) extruding, molding, or thermoforming the compounded mixture from step (f) into a pot form;
- and
- (h) cooling the pot form to form the cured nut waste pot composite;
- wherein the mixture in step (e) consists of 65 to 99.9 weight % (wt %) of the nut waste component, 0.1 to 35 wt % of one or more binders, and 0.0 to 20.0 wt % of an oil, wherein the cured nut waste composite exhibits an Ultimate Tensile Strength from about 4.40 MPa to about 5.4 MPa;
- an Elastic Modulus from about 0.8 GPa to about 1.2 GPa, a Strain at Break from about 0.7% to about 1.0%, and a Toughness from about 0.01 J/m3 to about 0.03 J/m3.
9 more elements
A cured nut waste pot composite prepared by the following method comprising the following steps:
- (a) providing a nut waste component selected from the group consisting of nut shells, nut hulls, and a combination of nut shells and nut hulls;
- (b) drying the nut waste component or adjusting the nut waste component to a pH of 5.0 to 8.0 then drying, sterilizing, or torrefying the nut waste component
- (c) grinding the nut waste component to a size less than 250 μm;
- (d) compounding the nut waste component from step (d), one or more binders selected from a group consisting of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), polylactic acid (PLA), guayule, natural latex, bentonite, an anionic starch, hyaluronic acid, triethylcitrate, and any combinations thereof;
- and an oil producing a compounded mixture;
- (e) heating the compounded mixture to a temperature from about 110° C. to about 200° C. for less than about 5 minutes;
- (f) extruding, molding, or thermoforming the compounded mixture from step (f) into a pot form;
- and
- (g) cooling the pot form to form the cured nut waste pot composite;
- wherein the mixture in step (e) consists of 15 to 65 wt % of the nut waste component, 15 to 85 wt % of one or more binders, and 0.0 to 20.0 wt % of an oil, wherein the cured nut waste composite exhibits an Ultimate Tensile Strength from about 4.40 MPa to about 5.4 MPa;
- an Elastic Modulus from about 0.8 GPa to about 1.2 GPa, a Strain at Break from about 0.7% to about 1.0%, and a Toughness from about 0.01 J/m3 to about 0.03 J/m3.
8 more elements
A cured nut waste pot composite prepared by the following method comprising the following steps:
- (a) providing a nut waste component selected from the group consisting of nut shells, nut hulls, and a combination of nut shells and nut hulls;
- (b) drying the nut waste component or adjusting the nut waste component to a pH of 5.0 to 8.0 then drying, sterilizing, or torrefying the nut waste component
- (c) grinding the nut waste component to a size less than 250 μm;
- (d) compounding the nut waste component from step (d), one or more binders selected from a group consisting of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), polylactic acid (PLA), guayule, natural latex, bentonite, an anionic starch, hyaluronic acid, triethylcitrate, and any combinations thereof;
- and an oil producing a compounded mixture;
- (e) heating the compounded mixture to a temperature from about 110° C. to about 200° C. for less than about 5 minutes;
- (f) extruding, molding, or thermoforming the compounded mixture into a pot form;
- and
- (g) cooling the pot form to form the cured nut waste pot composite;
- wherein the mixture in step (e) consists of 5 to 15 wt % of the nut waste component, 65 to 95 wt % of one or more binders, and 0.0 to about 20.0 wt % of an oil, wherein the cured nut waste composite exhibits an Ultimate Tensile Strength from about 4.40 MPa to about 5.4 MPa;
- an Elastic Modulus from about 0.8 GPa to about 1.2 GPa, a Strain at Break from about 0.7% to about 1.0%, and a Toughness from about 0.01 J/m3 to about 0.03 J/m3.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.