Abstract

Composite boards are used in a number of industries, they normally consist of fibres or particles pressed together, with or without, a binder to form a continuous matrix in a sheet form. The properties of the board vary depending on the constituents and the processes used and range from rigid to flexible materials of differing strength and durability. Many of the boards used are ligno-cellulose based; these being a common choice on the basis of price, appearance and properties. However there is scope to further improve the quality of these boards for current applications and also to extend their range of use that is currently limited in some applications (such as moulded items for automotive applications), by the properties of the cellulose fibres used.

It is suggested that if a secondary raw material can be incorporated which extends the property range of the boards there is scope for greater usage of these products. There is currently an added incentive to finding such a raw material in that the price of the raw material for the cellulose board, wood pulp, has increased dramatically and this trend looks set to continue. Leather has greater strength, flexibility and durability than most cellulose products and it is known that board products can be produced from pulverised leather waste. However to maintain the advantages of the leather in a mixed fibre board the leather incorporated would need to be in a long fibre form otherwise the leather would simply act as a filler for the cellulose.

Currently no process is available which can convert leather into a suitable long fibre form. The proposed project therefore aims to develop a process which can utilise both leather and cellulose fibres as raw materials, design and build prototype equipment for leather fibre preparation and develop a mixed fibre board of higher quality and greater utility than existing boards.

Contacts

Coordinator

• James JACKSON / Metfab UNITED KINGDOM

Participant

• Adriano LEITE MARINHO / Marisport Calçado Lda PORTUGAL