Structural material and method

Claim 2

A COMPOSITION COMPRISING AN INTIMATE MIXTURE OF 60 TO 90 PARTS BY WEIGHT OF A PARTICULATE REINFORCEMENT FILLER AND 10 TO 40 PARTS BY WEIGHT OF A RESINOUS ADHESIVE POLYMER BINDER BONDING SAID FILLER PARTICLES TOGETHER, SAID FILLER COMPRISING A PYROLYSIS OF INCINCERATION REDISUE OF INDUSTRIAL OR MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE PRODUCTS, SAID PYROLYSIS OR INCINERATION RESIDUE COMPRISING AT LEAST 48 PERCENT OF SILICA AND ALUMINA AND INCLUDING A SUFFICIENT CONTENT OF A PLURALITY OF DIFFERENT METAL AND METAL OXIDE PARTICLES TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE STRENGTH OF SAID COMPOSITION IN COMPARISON TO THE SAME COMPOSITION ABSENT SAID METAL AND METAL OXIDE PARTICLES, THE MAJORITY OF SAID FILLER PARTICLES HAVING A GRADATION VARYING FROM -4 TO 300 MESH SIZE, SAID FILLER BEING CHARACTERIZED BY NON-HOMOGENEOUS MESH SIZE AND INDIVIDUAL FILLER PARTICLES WITH IRREGULAR ROUGH SHAPES.

Claim 3

A composition as in claim 1 in which said binder is a thermosetting polymer.

Claim 4

A composition as in claim 1 in which said binder is selected from the group consisting of polyesters, epoxy resins, and phenolic resins.

Claim 5

A composition as in claim 1 in which said binder is a thermoplastic polymer.

Claim 6

A composition as in claim 4 in which said thermoplastic binder is selected from the group consisting of nylon, polycarbonates, acrylics, acetals, vinyls, cellulosics, styrenes, chlorinated polyethers, fluorocarbons, polypropylene and polyethylene.

Claim 7

A composition as in claim 1 in which the filler comprises silica, alumina, calcium oxide, iron oxide and carbon.

Claim 8

A composition as in claim 1 in which the filler includes ferrous and non-ferrous metals in the free state.

Claim 9

A composition as in claim 1 in the form of a self-supporting uncoated structural material.

Claim 10

A composition as in claim 1 in the form of a pipe having an inner diameter of at least 2 feet.

Claim 11

A composition as in claim 1 further comprising a pigment.

Claim 12

A composition as in claim 1 including 70 to 85 parts by weight of filler and 15 to 30 parts by weight of binder.

Claim 13

A composition as in claim 1 in which said filler is the prodUct of pyrolysis and includes carbon.

Claim 14

In a process for forming a structural composition, the steps of a. intimately mixing a major portion of particulate reinforcement filler with a minor portion of flowable castable resin binder, said filler comprising the pyrolysis or incineration residue of industrial or municipal solid waste product, said pyrolysis or incineration residue comprising at least 48 percent of silica and alumina and including a sufficient content of a plurality of different metal and metal oxide particles to significantly increase the strength of said composition in comparison to the same composition absent said metal and metal oxide particles, said filler being characterized by non-homogeneous mesh size and individual filler particles with irregular rough shapes; b. forming the mixture of step (a) into a desired configuration while in a flowable state; and c. solidifying said binder to form a solid molded structural composition in which said binder is adhesively bonded to said filler particles.

Claim 15

In a process for forming a structural composition, the steps of a. intimately mixing a major portion of particulate reinforcement filler with a minor portion of flowable castable resin binder, said filler comprising the pyrolysis or incineration residue of industrial or municipal solid waste product, said pyrolysis or incineration residue comprising at least 48 percent of silica and alumina and including a sufficient content of a plurality of different metal and metal oxide particles to significantly increase the strength of said composition in comparison to the same composition absent said metal and metal oxide particles, said filler being characterized by non-homogeneous mesh size and individual filler particles with irregular rough shapes; b. forming the mixture of step (a) into a desired configuration while in a flowable state; and c. solidifying said binder to form a solid molded structural composition in which said binder is adhesively bonded to said filler particles.

Claim 16

A process as in claim 13 in which said binder is a thermosetting polymer.

Claim 17

A process as in claim 14 in which said flowable castable binder of step (a) is a polymerizable resin precursor and said binder is solidified in step (c) by polymerizing the resin precursor.

Claim 18

A process as in claim 13 in which said binder is a thermoplastic polymer.

Claim 19

A process as in claim 13 in which said filler comprises silica, alumina, iron oxide, calcium oxide and carbon.

Claim 20

A process as in claim 13 including the step of dispersing pigment into the mixture of step (a) to provide color for the final composition.

Claim 21

A process as in claim 13 in which the resin binder precursor is selected from the group consisting of a mixture of a polyfunctional alcohol and a polyfunctional acid, a mixture of epichlorohydrin and bisphenol, a mixture of fomaldehyde and phenol.

Claim 22

A process as in claim 13 in which the resin binder precursor is a mixture of glycol, a dibasic acid, styrene and a catalyst.

Claim 23

In a process for forming a structural composition the steps of a. pyrolyzing or incinerating industrial or municipal solid waste products to form a particulate residue comprising at least 48 percent of silica and alumina and containing a sufficient content of a plurality of different metal and metal oxide particles to significantly increase the strength of said composition in comparison to the same composition absent said metal and metal oxide particles, the majority of said filler material having a gradation varying from -4 to 300 mesh size and individual filler particles with irregular rough shapes; b. intimately mixing said particulate residue as reinforcement filler with a flowable castable resin binder; c. forming the mixture of step (b) into a desired configuration while in a flowable state, and d. solidifying said binder to form a solid molded structural composition in which binder is adhesively bonded to said filler material.

Claim 24

In a process for forming a structural composition the steps of a. pyrolyzing or incinerating industrial or municipal solid waste products to form a particulate residue comprising at least 48 percent of silica and alumina and containing a sufficient content of a plurality of different metal and metal oxide particles to significantly increase the strength of said composition in comparison to the same composition absent said metal and metal oxide particles, the majority of said filler material having a gradation varying from -4 to 300 mesh size and individual filler particles with irregular rough shapes; b. intimately mixing said particulate residue as reinforcement filler with a flowable castable resin binder; c. forming the mixture of step (b) into a desired configuration while in a flowable state, and d. solidifying said binder to form a solid molded structural composition in which binder is adhesively bonded to said filler material.

Claim 25

A process as in claim 21 in which said flowable castable binder of step (a) is a polymerizable resin precursor and said binder in step (c) is solidified by a polymerizing of the resin precursor.

Claim 26

A process as in claim 22 in which said solid waste products are pyrolyzed and said particulate residue includes carbon.