Method for foaming adhesive and related system
The present invention relates to methods and systems for producing a foamed adhesive. A method for foaming an adhesive includes feeding an adhesive from a supply storage tank to a pump, conveying the adhesive outputted by the pump through an adhesive flow meter, injecting an air into the adhesive once the adhesive travels through the adhesive flow meter, feeding a mixture of the adhesive and air to a static mixer, mixing the mixture homogeneously with the static mixer such that the adhesive is foamed, and transporting the foamed adhesive to a product storage tank.
1. A method for foaming an adhesive, the method comprising:
pumping, using a pump, the adhesive from a supply storage tank through a first conduit;
dampening, using a pulsation dampener downstream of the pump, pulsations and pressure fluctuations of the adhesive flowing in the first conduit;
measuring, using an adhesive flow meter downstream of the pulsation dampener, a flow rate and/or mass of the adhesive flowing in the first conduit;
regulating, using a flow control valve downstream of the adhesive flow meter, and based on the measured flow rate and/or mass of the adhesive flowing in the first conduit, the flow of adhesive to a junction that connects the first conduit to a gas supply line;
supplying gas to the gas supply line that terminates at the junction;
controlling, using a gas flow controller along the gas supply line, and based on the measured flow rate and/or mass of the adhesive flowing in the first conduit, gas flow volume injected into the adhesive at the junction to form a mixture of the adhesive and the gas;
supplying the mixture of the adhesive and the gas to a non-helical, static mixer downstream from the junction, the non-helical, static mixer being distinct from the first conduit;
mixing the mixture, in the non-helical, static mixer, to form a foamed adhesive having bubbles sized between 1 micron and 500 microns; and
supplying, via a second conduit downstream and distinct from the non-helical, static mixer, the foamed adhesive to a product reserve tank.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the non-helical, static mixer is at least one of a corrugated plate type static mixer, a x-grid type static mixer, or an oblique angle type static mixer.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pump is a positive displacement pump.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pump is operated via compressed air or electricity.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the gas is injected into the adhesive at a pressure between 5 psi and 10,000 psi.
6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the gas is injected into the adhesive at a pressure between 50 psi and 1,000 psi.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the gas is injected into the adhesive via an air injection port.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the bubbles are sized between 15 microns and 150 microns.
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the gas is air.
10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising measuring, using a first pressure transducer between the pulsation dampener and the adhesive flow meter, a pressure of the adhesive flowing in the first conduit.
11. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising measuring, using a second pressure transducer between the non-helical, static mixer and the product reserve tank, a pressure of the foamed adhesive flowing through the second conduit.
12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the gas flow rate injected into the adhesive is between 0% and 150% of the flow rate of the adhesive.
13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is pumped thought the first conduit at a flow rate between 50 liters/hour and 2500 liters/hour.
14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is pumped thought the first conduit at a pressure between 0 psi and 10,000 psi.
15. A foaming adhesive system for mixing an adhesive and gas to produce foamed adhesive, the foaming adhesive system comprising:
a supply storage tank containing adhesive;
a pump connected to the supply storage tank via a first conduit and configured to pump the adhesive from the supply storage tank to the first conduit;
a pulsation dampener downstream of the pump, the pulsation dampener configured to dampen pulsations and pressure fluctuations of the adhesive flowing in the first conduit;
an adhesive flow meter downstream of the pulsation dampener, the adhesive flow meter configured to measure a flow rate and/or mass of the adhesive flowing in the first conduit;
a flow control valve downstream of the adhesive flow meter, the flow control valve configured to regulate the flow of adhesive to a junction that connects the first conduit to a gas supply line based on the measured flow rate and/or mass of the adhesive flowing in the first conduit;
a gas supply storage containing the gas;
the gas supply line fluidly connected to the gas supply storage and terminating at the junction,
a gas flow controller along the gas supply line, the gas flow controller configured to control gas flow volume injected into the adhesive at the junction to form a mixture of the adhesive and the gas based on the measured flow rate and/or mass of the adhesive flowing in the first conduit;
a non-helical, static mixer downstream from the junction, the non-helical, static mixer configured to receive the mixture of the adhesive and the gas and homogeneously mix the mixture of the adhesive and the gas to produce a foamed adhesive having bubbles sized between 1 micron and 500 microns; and
a product reserve tank configured to receive the foamed adhesive from the non-helical, static mixture.
16. The foaming adhesive system according to claim 15 , wherein the static mixer is at least one of a corrugated plate type static mixer, a x-grid type static mixer, or an oblique angle type static mixer.
17. The foaming adhesive system according to claim 15 , wherein the pump is a positive displacement pump.
18. The foaming adhesive system according to claim 15 , further comprising a first pressure transducer between the pulsation dampener and the adhesive flow meter, the first pressure transducer being configured to measure a pressure of the adhesive flowing in the first conduit.
19. The foaming adhesive system according to claim 18 , further comprising a second pressure transducer between the non-helical, static mixer and the product reserve tank, the second pressure transducer being configured to measure a pressure of the foamed adhesive.
20. The foaming adhesive system according to claim 15 , wherein the gas is air.
21. The foaming adhesive system according to claim 15 , wherein the gas flow controller is configured to control the gas flow rate injected into the adhesive to be between 0% and 150% of the flow rate of the adhesive.