Early this century, Dr. Kaichang Li, a professor at Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, recognized that the rising cost of formaldehyde-based resins, plus consumer and industry awareness of the toxic nature of formaldehyde, were leading to a demand for more environmentally-friendly and cost effective replacements. A cost-competitive, water-based thermosetting adhesive that performs to UF and PF standards had become highly desirable.
Dr. Li knew that in the early 1900s soy flour had been used in wood products adhesives but soy flour alone could not deliver the water resistance performance requirements of today. Through the use of Hercules Incorporated’s crosslinking technology, he was able to make a soy-based adhesive that could provide the necessary properties and performance required for the wood panel industry. The combination solves the performance properties of old soy flour adhesives while maintaining the economic, environmental, and health benefits of the agricultural-based technology.
Hercules became the commercial partner for developing this disruptive technology and is now its exclusive, worldwide distributor. Hercules was awarded a 2007 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for its role in developing and commercializing the technology, which it markets as SOYAD® adhesive systems.
Hardwood plywood
Columbia Forest Products (CFP) was instrumental in developing the SOYAD® technology for practical use in hardwood plywood operations. Hercules R and D and its product launch team worked with CFP to develop the most cost effective formula and best application methodology.
Don Saylor, Global Business Director for the Building Products group at Hercules, explains, “For hardwood plywood, SOYAD® technology is the most cost-effective alternative to UF and the adhesive is formaldehyde free. It’s not a ‘drop-in and walk away’ replacement. It requires more operations oversight because the operating window is a little tighter than UF. Press times and stand times need to be monitored and adhered to more closely than UF. However, spread rates are comparable to UF and there is no impact on process speed.”
“Our hardwood plywood and engineered wood flooring formulae run at a higher viscosity than UF - almost like a pancake batter. A minor investment in makedown equipment is required to properly ‘wet-out’ the soy flour to a homogenous form and produce the final adhesive. Hercules has an equipment group that will recommend the best equipment to purchase and support the startup of the system. This has become an easy, turnkey operational change for our customers.”
CARB compliance
For particleboard and MDF, both components of the adhesive are shipped to the mill in their finished form and co-mixed as they enter the blender. These mills are typically automated and no additional equipment is required to use SOYAD® technology.
"We can work on a total replacement of UF resin or a partial - less expensive - replacement that meets CARB emission targets,” says Saylor. He explains further. “Cleanup is simple. A water hose is all that is required for cleaning up after use of our SOYAD® technology. You can not do this with UF and other resins.”
Regarding cost, Saylor notes that SOYAD® adhesive systems generally cost the same or less than other popular low-emitting adhesives such as PF, MUF, pMDI, and PVAc.
Extended applications
“We also offer a line of SOYAD® ‘extender’ technologies that can be combined with PF, pMDI, or PVAc resins to reduce overall adhesive cost without compromising performance. PF and pMDI are used primarily in exterior (OSB) markets, which have significant cost drivers. PVAc has various market uses, and Hercules is currently investigating which of these markets to prioritize.”
“The SOYAD® product line is always evolving as we are funding significant research into building the portfolio and expanding our application knowledge,” says Saylor. “Our expertise in soy modification is growing every day, and we are also exploring new market outlets beyond the wood products industry.”
The recent acquisition of Hercules Incorporated by Ashland Inc. and that company’s wood adhesives expertise and core competency could bring SOYAD® into the realm of I-joists, glulam, and LVL products.
“Ashland was aware of and very interested in Hercules’ SOYAD® technology,” says Saylor. Since July 2007, R D for further SOYAD® development has been a joint venture between Hercules and Heartland Resource Technologies.
www.herc.com
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