A process for adjusting production of a gypsum board

Abstract

Provided is a process for adjusting production of a gypsum board, comprising the following steps: Step 100, formulating a mixture of foaming agents; Step 200, conducting foaming with the mixture of foaming agents to give a soap solution and forming a gypsum board core with the soap solution; Step 300, detecting air hole sizes in the gypsum board core; and Step 400, adjusting a proportion of a foam stabilizer in the mixture of foaming agents according to the air hole sizes. The process according to the present disclosure can adjust size distribution of air holes in the gypsum board core to make it more uniform and can also adjust size of the air holes.

Description

[0001] A process for adjusting production of a gypsum board

[0002] Technical field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to production of a gypsum board, and particularly to a process for adjusting production of a gypsum board.

[0004] To reduce the weight of a gypsum board, the gypsum core inside the gypsum board usually comprises a distribution of air holes. Air holes replace a certain proportion of solid material in the panel, making it lighter and easier for handling. Although air holes may limit certain performances of a gypsum board, such as mechanical strength of the board, addition of air holes in the gypsum core can be controlled, resulting in advantages in weight reduction over any adverse consequence that air holes may have on performance of the gypsum board. For example, controlling sizes of air holes and overall density of the gypsum board may affect performance of the board.

[0005] A primary technical issue in producing lightweight gypsum boards is to solve the problem of consistency in air holes of the board core. Uniform and stable distribution of air holes in the gypsum board core has always been a technical obstacle that limits the lightweighting of gypsum boards.

[0006] An object to the present disclosure is to provide a process for adjusting sizes and consistency of air holes in a gypsum board core.

[0007] In this regard, provided is a process for adjusting production of a gypsum board, comprising the following steps:

[0008] Step 100, formulating a mixture of foaming agents;

[0009] Step 200, conducting foaming with the mixture of foaming agents to give a soap solution and forming a gypsum board core with the soap solution;

[0010] Step 300, detecting air hole sizes in the gypsum board core; and

[0011] Step 400, adjusting a proportion of a foam stabilizer in the mixture of foaming agents according to the air hole sizes.

[0012] In an embodiment, the proportion of the foam stabilizer is 3%-50% of the total weight of the mixture of foaming agents.

[0013] In a further embodiment, in Step 100, the mixture of foaming agents comprises an unstable foaming agent and the foam stabilizer. In an embodiment, the unstable foaming agent is sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium 12-18 alkyl sulfate or a combination thereof. In an embodiment, the foam stabilizer is sodium alpha-olefin sulfonate.

[0014] In an embodiment, Step 300 further comprises

[0015] Step 310, obtaining a sampling image of the gypsum board core; and

[0016] Step 320, measuring median size of the distribution of air holes in the sampling image.

[0017] In an embodiment, Step 400 further comprises

[0018] Step 410, reducing the proportion of the foam stabilizer when the median size is smaller than an expected value; and

[0019] Step 420, increasing the proportion of the foam stabilizer when the median size is larger than an expected value.

[0020] In an alternative embodiment, Step 300 further comprises

[0021] Step 330, measuring size deviation value of air holes in the sampling image.

[0022] In an embodiment, Step 400 further comprises

[0023] Step 430, increasing the proportion of the foam stabilizer, when size deviation value is larger than an expected value.

[0024] In an additional embodiment, in Step 400, the air flow and the foaming machine rotate speed are maintained constant.

[0025] The process according to the present disclosure can adjust size distribution of air holes in the gypsum board core to make it more uniform and can also adjust size of the air holes.

[0026] Examples

[0027] Examples of the present disclosure are illustrated as follows.

[0028] Provided is a process for adjusting production of a gypsum board, comprising the following steps:

[0029] Step 100, formulating a mixture of foaming agents;

[0030] Step 200, conducting foaming with the mixture of foaming agents to give a soap solution and forming a gypsum board core with the soap solution;

[0031] Step 300, detecting air hole sizes in the gypsum board core; and

[0032] Step 400, adjusting a proportion of a foam stabilizer in the mixture of foaming agents according to the air hole sizes.

[0033] In an embodiment, the mixture of foaming agents comprises an unstable foaming agent and the foam stabilizer. The unstable foaming agent may be any suitable known product and may be commercially available. Specifically, the unstable foaming agent is sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium 12-18 alkyl sulfate or a combination thereof. The foam stabilizer is sodium alpha-olefin sulfonate, which is commercially available.

[0034] The present inventors have found that with other process parameters unchanged, the proportion of the foam stabilizer is negatively correlated with the diameters of air holes in the final resulting gypsum board core. That is, the higher the proportion of the foam stabilizer, the smaller the air hole diameters of the final resulting gypsum board core. Therefore, the air hole diameters of the gypsum board core can be adjusted by adjusting the proportion of the foam stabilizer.

[0035] In Step 200, a conventional foaming device may be used for foaming. For example, a commonly used foaming machine. During the foaming process, it is necessary to mix the foaming machine mixture with water and to introduce air. Industrial standard methods may be used for foaming. The soap solution formed after foaming is introduced into the mixer and mixed with other raw materials to form the gypsum slurry. The gypsum slurry is used to form the gypsum board core. As used herein, the term “gypsum board core” may refer to a gypsum slurry for forming a gypsum board core, and to a gypsum board core after molding.

[0036] Step 300 further comprises Step 310, obtaining a sampling image of the gypsum board core. Any suitable camera device may be used to obtain the sampling image. The sampling image may be an image for the gypsum slurry or a cross-sectional image of the gypsum board core after molding, as long as it can be used to determine the air hole sizes.

[0037] Diameters and areas of air holes in the image are identified using a software, which may be commercially available. The air hole diameters D10, D50, and D90 are determined. D10 refers to the air hole diameter corresponding to the distribution where the air hole diameters reach 10%, and its physical meaning is that air holes with diameters smaller than D10 are 10%. Similarly, D50 refers to the air hole diameter corresponding to the distribution where the air hole diameters reach 50%, and its physical meaning is that air holes with diameters smaller than D50 are 50% and air holes with diameters larger than D50 are also 50%. D90 refers to the air hole diameter corresponding to the distribution where the air hole diameters reach 90% and its physical meaning is that air holes with diameters smaller than D90 are 90%. That is, D50 is the median value of the air hole diameter distribution.

[0038] The deviation value, also known as span(SPAN), is obtained using the following formula 1.

[0039] SPAN=(D90-D10) / D50 Formula 1

[0040] The smaller the deviation value as obtained, that is, the closer the span is to 0, the more uniform and consistent the size of the air holes. Therefore, the median value of the size distribution, i.e., D50, and the size deviation value, i.e., SPAN, can be obtained through measurement.

[0041] For specific lightweight gypsum board products, expected values of air hole sizes of the board core may usually be set to achieve the target board weight. Moreover, there are usually expected values for consistency of the board core air holes.

[0042] Accordingly, in Step 400, the proportion of the foam stabilizer is reduced when the median size is smaller than an expected value; while the proportion of the foam stabilizer is increased when the median size is larger than an expected value. Furthermore, the proportion of the foam stabilizer is increased when size deviation value is larger than an expected value. In an embodiment, the range of the foam stabilizer as adjusted is 3%-50% of the total weight of the mixture of foaming agents.

[0043] The air hole sizes in the gypsum board core can be adjusted to desired values or adjacent thereto with the process as described above. In the above description, the details of the technical solutions of the present disclosure have been illustrated. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure is not limited to the specific details listed in the above embodiments but can vary within the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A process for adjusting production of a gypsum board, comprising the following steps: Step 100, formulating a mixture of foaming agents;Step 200, conducting foaming with the mixture of foaming agents to give a soap solution and forming a gypsum board core with the soap solution;Step 300, detecting air hole sizes in the gypsum board core; andStep 400, adjusting a proportion of a foam stabilizer in the mixture of foaming agents according to the air hole sizes.

2. The process for adjusting production of a gypsum board according to claim 1, characterized in that, in Step 100, the mixture of foaming agents comprises an unstable foaming agent and the foam stabilizer.

3. The process for adjusting production of a gypsum board according to claim 1, characterized in that, the unstable foaming agent is sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium 12-18 alkyl sulfate or a combination thereof.

4. The process for adjusting production of a gypsum board according to claim 2, characterized in that, the foam stabilizer is sodium alpha-olefin sulfonate.

5. The process for adjusting production of a gypsum board according to claim 1, characterized in that, Step 300 further comprisesStep 310, obtaining a sampling image of the gypsum board core; andStep 320, measuring median size of the distribution of air holes in the sampling image.

6. The process for adjusting production of a gypsum board according to claim 5, characterized in that, Step 400 further comprisesStep 410, reducing the proportion of the foam stabilizer when the median size is smaller than an expected value; andStep 420, increasing the proportion of the foam stabilizer when the median size is larger than an expected value.

7. The process for adjusting production of a gypsum board according to claim 5, characterized in that, Step 300 further comprisesStep 330, measuring size deviation value of air holes in the sampling image.

8. The process for adjusting production of a gypsum board according to claim 7, characterized in that, Step 400 further comprisesStep 430, increasing the proportion of the foam stabilizer, when size deviation value is larger than an expected value.

9. The process for adjusting production of a gypsum board according to claim 1, characterized in that, the proportion of the foam stabilizer is 3%-50% of the total weight of the mixture of foaming agents.

10. The process for adjusting production of a gypsum board according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, in Step 400, the air flow and the foaming machine rotate speed are maintained constant.

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