A method for producing a mineral cat litter and a mineral cat litter
By preparing porous mineral cat litter granules, the problems of clogging in clay cat litter and decay in organic cat litter have been solved. The granules achieve rapid clumping in water and do not stick to the walls, making them suitable for automatic pet toilet equipment and improving hygiene and safety.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- GUANGDONG CUTEPETS TECHNOLOGY CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2024-04-30
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-19
AI Technical Summary
Existing clay cat litter clumps together and doesn't dissolve in water, sticks to the walls, and cannot be flushed down the drain. Organic cat litter is also prone to spoilage and rot, posing health risks.
Using non-clay silicate minerals as raw materials, porous solid microparticles are prepared through wet ball milling and high-temperature drying processes. Combined with bentonite or kaolin and specific solution additives, mineral cat litter particles with flexible surfaces and porous interiors are formed, ensuring rapid dispersion in water and non-sticking to the wall.
It solves the clogging problem of clay cat litter, provides applicability to pet toilet equipment that is easy to automatically collect and clean, while avoiding the risk of spoilage of organic cat litter, thus improving the hygiene and safety of the product.
Smart Images
Figure CN118452087B_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to pet products, and more particularly to a method for producing cat litter and mineral cat litter. Background Technology
[0002] Cat litter can be categorized into organic and inorganic types based on whether it contains organic matter. Organic cat litter includes wood litter and tofu litter, while inorganic cat litter typically refers to mineral litter, such as bentonite and other clay litter. While bentonite litter has excellent absorbency and clumping properties, it also tends to clump together poorly in water and stick to the walls, causing blockages in automatic collection, crushing, and disposal systems, as well as in drains. Although some organic cat litter products claim to be easily biodegradable and flushable down the drain, they are usually made primarily of plant residues. These types of litter are prone to moisture absorption, spoilage, and decay when not in use, producing toxins and odors harmful to humans and pets, and fostering bacterial growth, making them less than ideal. Therefore, existing cat litter products need improvement to meet modern needs. Summary of the Invention
[0003] To address the problems of existing clay cat litter clumping, such as not dissolving in water, sticking to walls, and being unsuitable for flushing down residential drains, this invention provides a method for producing mineral cat litter and the mineral cat litter itself.
[0004] The following technical solution is adopted:
[0005] A method for producing mineral cat litter, specifically using non-clay silicate minerals found in nature as raw materials, involves the following production steps:
[0006] Step S1: Crush the raw material to 50-100 mesh to obtain coarse material;
[0007] Step S2: Wet ball mill the material from the previous step to 300-400 mesh to obtain a slurry;
[0008] Step S3: The slurry obtained in step S2 is sprayed out in a mist form by a high-pressure pump, and hot air at 280℃~360℃ is used to collide with the mist slurry, causing the water in the slurry droplets to boil and evaporate rapidly. During this process, multiple droplets aggregate and stick together, forming porous solid particles with an average diameter of 0.15mm~0.25mm after the water evaporates instantly.
[0009] Step S4: The porous solid particles from step S3 are thoroughly mixed with bentonite or kaolin at a weight ratio of 75%–95% solid particles and 5%–25% bentonite or kaolin to obtain a mixture.
[0010] Step S5: The mixture from step S4 is subjected to rolling granulation. During the granulation process, the solution is sprayed into the mixture according to the following weight ratios: 70-90 parts of the mixture and 10-30 parts of the solution. The resulting preliminary product has a particle size of 1-5 mm. The solution is prepared by adding 3-15 grams of solvent per liter of water. The solvent is prepared by mixing sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium silicate, and sodium polyacrylate in a weight ratio of 1:1:2, or 1:1, or 1:2.
[0011] Step S6: The initial product is fed into a drum dryer for drying and heating at a temperature of 300℃~360℃ to obtain the finished product.
[0012] The principle of the production method of the present invention will be explained below:
[0013] The main material used in this invention is non-clay inorganic mineral sand, supplemented with clay-based bentonite or kaolin. However, the content of clay-based raw materials in the finished cat litter of this invention is significantly less than that of current bentonite cat litter. After steps S1 and S2, the particle size of the mineral sand is very small and can be considered as sand powder. After step S3, these porous solid particles composed of sand powder with very small particle size have water absorption properties similar to pure bentonite. In subsequent steps S4 and S5, bentonite or kaolin powder will coat the porous solid particles in a thin layer. In step S5, a large number of porous solid particles will aggregate and grow into initial finished particles with a particle size of 1-5 mm. At this time, the surface and interior of the initial finished particles contain one or more of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium silicate, and sodium polyacrylate. These components have good water absorption and agglomeration properties, and in the dry state, they can provide good mechanical strength and surface wear resistance for the finished particles, making the finished particles less likely to break due to compression and friction, thus preventing the generation of a large amount of dust. Unlike conventional natural air drying, the production method of this invention employs high-temperature forced drying in steps S3 and S6. This is to ensure that the finished granules have a porous structure both internally and externally, and also to sterilize the natural mineral sand and clay used as the main materials twice, making the finished cat litter less prone to bacterial and viral growth during storage and use, thus preventing illness in pets and humans. The use of a drum dryer in step S6 is also a consideration. The rotation of the drum shapes the cat litter granules, removing surface dust to make them appear "smooth" and ensuring a sufficiently fast drying speed to prevent the internal structure of the granules from becoming unstable due to prolonged dampness.
[0014] The finished cat litter produced by the cat litter production method of the present invention has a clumping morphology that is significantly different from that of commonly used bentonite cat litter. Commonly used bentonite cat litter, after clumping, has many intact particles attached to the surface of the clumping, and these particles remain hard. During manual collection or collection by an automatic pet toilet, these intact particles attached to the surface of the clumping will break off and fall back into the litter box or near the litter tray, causing odor accumulation and hygiene deterioration in the litter box area. In contrast, the finished cat litter of the present invention, when wetted, benefits from the fine particle size, porous structure of the mineral sand, and the solution additives, allowing water to quickly penetrate both the inside and outside of the particles, making them soft and flexible. When a single finished cat litter pellet is partially wetted, the wetted area first becomes soft and flexible, and this soft area deforms, tending to move towards the area with more moisture, which further increases the surface area of the pellet exposed to water. The final clumping state is that the surface of the clumping is covered with many water-absorbing and deformed cat litter granules, but these cat litter granules do not easily break off from the surface of the clumping, and there is no water seeping out from the surface of the clumping.
[0015] The finished cat litter produced by the cat litter production method of the present invention exhibits a significantly different clumping and water-soaking morphology compared to commonly used bentonite cat litter. While commonly used bentonite cat litter partially dissolves in water, it remains clumped and does not loosen. When stirred, the clumping exhibits noticeable stickiness and tends to adhere to the container walls. In contrast, the finished cat litter of the present invention, once clumped and immersed in sufficient water, immediately breaks up, collapses, and fails to maintain its clumping state. It does not adhere to the container walls but remains there due to the viscosity of the water itself. This water-decomposition characteristic allows the cat litter produced by the present invention to be used in pet toilet equipment that can automatically collect, crush, and discharge litter.
[0016] As a preferred method, a step of dry ball milling of the coarse material can be added between step S1 and step S2, and the mesh size after dry ball milling is in the range of 180 to 350 mesh.
[0017] As a preferred method, in step S2, it is preferable to add 2.5–5 kg of sodium silicate or STPP (sodium tripolyphosphate) per ton of material. This can improve the efficiency of wet ball milling and enhance the water-locking performance of the target product.
[0018] As one preferred method, a step of screening particle size can be performed before step S6.
[0019] As one preferred method, the rolling granulation in step S5 is preferably carried out using a disc granulator or a rotary drum granulator.
[0020] The present invention also provides a mineral cat litter produced by the above-described mineral cat litter production method.
[0021] The beneficial effects of this invention are: the raw materials used are widely available, the finished product has excellent clumping performance and low density, which can reduce the accumulation of pet excrement odor in the litter box, and can quickly disperse without accumulating in a sufficiently moist environment. The finished product can be used in pet toilet equipment that can automatically collect, crush and discharge. Attached Figure Description
[0022] Figure 1 This is a weighing diagram of an existing type of bentonite cat litter;
[0023] Figure 2 This is a weighing chart of the cat litter product obtained in Example 1;
[0024] Figure 3 This is a diagram showing the appearance of existing bentonite cat litter;
[0025] Figure 4 This is a diagram showing the appearance of the cat litter product obtained in Example 1;
[0026] Figure 5 This is one of the existing diagrams showing the clumping state of bentonite cat litter;
[0027] Figure 6 This is the second diagram showing the clumping state of existing bentonite cat litter;
[0028] Figure 7 This is one of the clumping state diagrams of the cat litter product obtained in Example 1;
[0029] Figure 8 This is the second image showing the clumping state of the cat litter product obtained in Example 1;
[0030] Figure 9 This is a diagram showing the submersion state of existing bentonite cat litter;
[0031] Figure 10 This is a diagram showing the sinking state of the cat litter product obtained in Example 1;
[0032] Figure 11 This is a diagram showing the state of existing bentonite cat litter after it has been drained.
[0033] Figure 12 This is a diagram showing the state of the cat litter product obtained in Example 1 after it has been drained. Detailed Implementation
[0034] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the embodiments.
[0035] Example 1
[0036] The mineral cat litter production method of this embodiment uses non-clay silicate minerals found in nature as raw materials. These raw materials can be sourced from mineral-rich regions such as Jiangxi, Henan, and Guangxi, including minerals such as plagioclase, potassium-sodium feldspar, and barium-potassium feldspar. Using these ores as raw materials, the following production steps are performed:
[0037] Step S1: Use a jaw crusher to crush the raw material to about 80 mesh to obtain coarse material.
[0038] Step S2: Transfer the material from the previous step to a wet ball mill for ball milling. The target mesh size for wet ball milling is 325 mesh. During the ball milling process, add 4 kg of sodium silicate per ton of material. After the target mesh size is reached, a slurry is obtained.
[0039] Step S3: In a closed space, the slurry obtained in step S2 is sprayed out in a mist form by a high-pressure pump, and hot air at 350°C is used to collide with the mist slurry, causing the water in the slurry droplets to boil and evaporate rapidly. During this process, multiple droplets aggregate and stick together, forming porous solid particles with an average diameter of 0.15mm to 0.25mm after the water evaporates instantly.
[0040] Step S4: The porous solid particles from step S3 are thoroughly mixed with bentonite at a weight ratio of 75%–95% solid particles and 5%–25% bentonite to obtain a mixture.
[0041] Step S5: The mixture from step S4 is granulated using a disc granulator. During granulation, the solution is sprayed into the mixture according to a weight ratio of 85 parts mixture and 15 parts solution, resulting in a preliminary product with a particle size of 1-5 mm. In this embodiment, the solution is prepared by adding 10 grams of solvent to every 1 liter of water, and the solvent is mixed in a weight ratio of carboxymethyl cellulose: sodium silicate: sodium polyacrylate = 1:1:2.
[0042] Step S6: After screening the initial product by particle size, the qualified initial product is sent to a drum dryer for heating at 350℃. After the moisture is completely evaporated, the finished product is obtained. This finished product is the mineral cat litter product of this invention. It can then be naturally cooled and packaged.
[0043] Table 1 shows a comparison between the finished cat litter product obtained according to the production method of this embodiment and currently sold conventional bentonite cat litter products:
[0044]
[0045]
[0046] As can be seen, thanks to the processing technology and related additives of this embodiment, the cat litter product obtained by the production method of this embodiment has the characteristics of good clumping performance, less particle breakage after clumping, and easy hydrolysis separation. It is especially suitable for use with pet toilet equipment that can automatically collect, crush and discharge.
[0047] Example 2
[0048] The difference between this embodiment and Embodiment 1 is that in step S5, the solvent is prepared by mixing sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and sodium silicate in a weight ratio of 1:1. The resulting cat litter product exhibits essentially the same performance as that of Embodiment 1.
[0049] The embodiments listed in this specification are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention. Any equivalent technical modifications made under the working principle and concept of the present invention shall be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.
Claims
1. A method for producing mineral cat litter, characterized by: Using non-clay silicate minerals found in nature as raw materials, the following production steps are carried out: Step S1: Crush the raw material to 50-100 mesh to obtain coarse material; Step S2: Wet ball mill the material from the previous step to 300-400 mesh to obtain a slurry; Step S3: The slurry obtained in step S2 is sprayed out in a mist form by a high-pressure pump, and hot air at 280℃~360℃ is used to collide with the mist slurry, causing the water in the slurry droplets to boil and evaporate rapidly. During this process, multiple droplets aggregate and stick together, forming porous solid particles with an average diameter of 0.15mm~0.25mm after the water evaporates instantly. Step S4: The porous solid particles from step S3 are thoroughly mixed with bentonite or kaolin at a weight ratio of 75%–95% solid particles and 5%–25% bentonite or kaolin to obtain a mixture. Step S5: The mixture from step S4 is subjected to rolling granulation. During the granulation process, the solution is sprayed into the mixture according to the following weight ratios: 70-90 parts of the mixture and 10-30 parts of the solution. The resulting preliminary product has a particle size of 1-5 mm. The solution is prepared by adding 3-15 grams of solvent per liter of water. The solvent is prepared by mixing sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium silicate, and sodium polyacrylate in a weight ratio of 1:1:2, or 1:1, or 1:
2. Step S6: The initial product is fed into a drum dryer for drying and heating at a temperature of 300℃~360℃ to obtain the finished product.
2. The method for producing mineral cat litter as described in claim 1, characterized in that: in Between step S1 and step S2, a step of dry ball milling of the coarse material is added, and the mesh size after dry ball milling is in the range of 180 to 350 mesh.
3. The method for producing mineral cat litter as described in claim 1, characterized in that: In step S2, 2.5 to 5 kg of sodium silicate or STPP is added per ton of material.
4. The method for producing mineral cat litter as described in claim 1, characterized in that: There is a step of screening particle size before step S6.
5. The method for producing mineral cat litter as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The rolling granulation described in step S5 is performed using a disc granulator or a rotary drum granulator.
6. Mineral cat litter, characterized in that: It is produced using the method for producing mineral cat litter as described in claim 1.