Estudo da aplicabilidade de material residual de compósitos

Abstract

Nowadays, one of the biggest issues that the glass fiber reinforced Polymer industry faces is the residual waste related to the sector itself, being a thermoset material, once polymerized, it is really troublesome to find a high value destination for this type of material. That being the case, it is common for the primary disposal method to be landfills. This paper proposes to analyze and set an alternative to the waste obtained at the factory that supported this analysis. On that matter, the intention is to study the reprocessing and industrial application of the most present type of waste in the factory, labeled as the remains from the injection process used by the factory, or RTM burr. The waste material for analysis was sent to a third party company specialized in grinding and milling in order to be processed to a nominal size of 0,33 mm and selected with a sieve of mesh 75. This material was used as a substitute for talcum, a mineral powder obtained from mining sites, used in the composition for polyester putty, simply called “mingau” inside the factory. “Mingau” is a useful input that adds mechanical resistance to composite products through application as internal coating as well as facilitating the production process, by being applied to corners, making them round and easier to handle. Initially, 6 samples were formulated by sequentially substituting talcum by powdered RTM burr, in which the 50 and 60 percent substitution rate were the most satisfactory ones in terms of viscosity. Both were chosen to be submitted to tests at the factory production line, where the 50 % powder substituted was the one with better results in terms of application using brush, the standard tool for this tak. The latest formula was then slightly corrected to fit the factory standards by reducing roving usage in the composition. To ensure that the residual peroxide would not influence the usage of the compound, the initial samples were observed during a 7 day period to ensure the formula would not react in a smaller period than the factory could use the material. After practical tests, a financial analysis was done to verify the possibility of the milling equipment acquisition and a estimate of 4 to 5 years was obtained in order to regain the initial investment. NPV, IRT, Simple Payback and Discounted Payback were the methods used for this analysis.