Spray booth and system for manufacture of cellulose insulation

1 . A spray booth for producing cellulose insulation, the spray booth comprising:

a vertically-oriented cylindrical housing;

an inlet positioned about a top of the cylindrical housing and configured to receive cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers;

a rotatable shaft positioned axially within the cylindrical housing, the rotatable shaft comprising a plurality of vanes and paddles extending radially therefrom, wherein rotation of the rotatable shaft, vanes, and paddles within the cylindrical housing is configured to create an updraft within the cylindrical housing that distributes and suspends the cellulose fibers within the cylindrical housing; and

a plurality of nozzles arranged about the cylindrical housing and configured to spray a mist of liquid fire-retardant chemicals interior towards the rotatable shaft and onto the suspended cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers to produce wetted cellulose fiber.

2 . The spray booth of claim 1 , wherein the inlet is oriented tangentially to the cylindrical housing and is configured to receive the cellulose fibers under a force of a flow of air.

3 . The spray booth of claim 1 , wherein the paddles are angled upwards.

4 . The spray booth of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nozzles are distributed circumferentially about the cylindrical housing at at least two vertical heights within the cylindrical housing.

5 . The spray booth of claim 1 , further comprising an end bearing mounted interior of the cylindrical housing, wherein the rotatable shaft engages and rotates within the end bearing.

6 . The spray booth of claim 1 , further comprising a funnel at the bottom of the cylindrical housing and a duct extending from a bottom of the funnel, wherein the duct comprises an elbow and the cylindrical shaft extends axially through the cylindrical housing and the funnel exits the duct about the elbow.

7 . A system for producing cellulose insulation, the system comprising:

a shredder configured to receive a supply of input cellulose material, and shred the cellulose material;

a fiberizer configured to receive the cellulose material after being shredded by the shredder, the fiberizer configured to reduce the cellulose material to cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers and cellulose dust;

a de-duster configured to receive the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers and cellulose dust, and separates the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers from the cellulose dust;

a spray booth comprising a vertically-oriented cylindrical housing, an inlet positioned about a top of the cylindrical housing and configured to receive the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers, a rotatable shaft positioned axially within the cylindrical housing, and a plurality of nozzles arranged about the cylindrical housing and configured to spray a mist of liquid fire-retardant chemicals interior towards the rotatable shaft and onto the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers to produce wetted cellulose fiber; and

a dryer configured to receive the wetted cellulose fibers and to dry the wetted cellulose fiber to produce cellulose insulation.

8 . The system for producing cellulose insulation of claim 7 , wherein the input cellulose material is cardboard.

9 . The system for producing cellulose insulation of claim 7 , wherein the shredder is configured to produce shredded cellulose material and further comprising a grinder configured to receive the shredded cellulose material and reduce the shredded cellulose material to pieces of cellulose and cellulose dust and the fiberizer is configured to reduce the pieces of cellulose to cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers and cellulose dust.

10 . The system for producing cellulose insulation of claim 7 , wherein the cellulose dust is collected from the de-duster as a fire-retardant chemical free byproduct.

11 . The system for producing cellulose insulation of claim 7 , wherein the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers are fibers consistent with a fiber construction of the input cellulose material.

12 . The system for producing cellulose insulation of claim 11 , wherein the cellulose fibers have an average length between 0.01-0.2 in (0.25-5 mm).

13 . The system for producing cellulose insulation of claim 11 , wherein the de-duster is configured to remove any cellulose fibers having a length less than 0.01 in (0.25 mm).

14 . The system for producing cellulose insulation of claim 7 , wherein the fiberizer is a hammermill.

15 . A method of producing cellulose insulation, with the system of claim 7 , the system comprising:

receiving the supply of input cellulose material;

shredding the input cellulose material with the shredder;

grinding the cellulose material shredded by the shredder with the fiberizer to reduce the cellulose material to cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers and cellulose dust;

separating the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers from the cellulose dust with the de-duster;

collecting the cellulose dust as a merchantable byproduct;

spraying liquid fire-retardant chemical onto the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers in the spray booth to produce wetted cellulose fiber; and

drying the wetted cellulose fiber in the dryer to produce cellulose insulation.

16 . A system for producing cellulose insulation, the system comprising:

a shredder configured to receive a supply of input cellulose material and shred the cellulose material;

a metering bin having an interior and configured to receive the cellulose material after being shredded by the shredder, the metering bin comprising:

a first trough extending upwards into the interior;

a first auger at a bottom of the first trough;

a second trough extending upwards into the interior; and

a second auger at a bottom of the second trough;

a first fiberizer configured to receive the cellulose material from the first auger and reduce the cellulose material to cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers and cellulose dust;

a second fiberizer configured to receive the cellulose material from the second auger and reduce the cellulose material to cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers and cellulose dust;

a de-duster configured to receive the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers and cellulose dust from the first and second augers, and configured to separate the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers from the cellulose dust;

a dust collector configured to receive the cellulose dust;

a spray booth configured to receive the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers, the spray booth comprising a vertically-oriented cylindrical housing, an inlet positioned at a top of the cylindrical housing, a rotatable shaft comprising a plurality of vanes and paddles extending radially therefrom positioned axially within the cylindrical housing, and a plurality of nozzles arranged about the cylindrical housing and configured to spray a mist of liquid fire-retardant chemicals interior towards the rotatable shaft onto the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers to produce wetted cellulose fiber; and

a dryer configured to receive the wetted cellulose fibers on a conveyor belt, a chamber configured to receive the wetted cellulose fibers from the conveyor belt at a fiber inlet, a hot air source upstream of the fiber inlet, the hot air source directing a flow of hot air into the chamber, wherein the wetted cellulose fibers are received into the flow of hot air in the chamber, and a venturi downstream of the fiber inlet, the venturi configured to increase the velocity of the flow of hot air past the cellulose fibers to dry the cellulose fibers to produce cellulose insulation.

17 . The system for producing cellulose insulation of claim 16 , wherein the shredder is configured to produce shredded cellulose material and further comprising a grinder configured to receive the shredded cellulose material and reduce the shredded cellulose material to pieces of cellulose and cellulose dust and the first and second fiberizers are configured to reduce the pieces of cellulose to cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers and cellulose dust.

18 . A spray booth for producing cellulose insulation, the spray booth comprising:

a vertically-oriented cylindrical housing;

an inlet positioned about a top of the cylindrical housing and oriented tangentially to the cylindrical housing and configured to receive cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers under the force of a flow of air;

a rotatable shaft positioned axially within the cylindrical housing, the rotatable shaft comprising a plurality of vanes and paddles extending radially therefrom; and

a plurality of nozzles arranged about the cylindrical housing and configured to spray a mist of liquid fire-retardant chemicals interior towards the rotatable shaft and onto the cellulose fibers and matrices of cellulose fibers to produce wetted cellulose fiber.