pollution reduction on fiberglass boatbuilding and laminations

[surmeli]

i m doing a dissertation on -pollution and waste reduction strategies in fiberglass boatbuilding-. i need urgent help! i need some regulations, strategies, kinds of pollutions, how to reduce etc... thank you all in advance.

[AVMan]

Check out the ACMA (American Composite Manufacturers Association) website for information regarding styrene regulations (polyester, vinylester reactive diluent), I assume this would be your main interest. Here is the site: http://www.acmanet.org/ga/index.cfm. It should have all the info you need for fiberglass/composite manufacturing regulations and preventative strategies.

[Karsten]

The obvious one curently very popular is infusion. It's a "closed mould process" which means that the workers are not exposed to any dangerous fumes. A great step forward I recon. If you want to reduce waste I would look at prepreg methods or SPRINT. All the resin ends up in the part and the workers are not exposed to any dangerous chemicals. In fact in the aerospace industry they are wearing white cotton gloves while laying up the parts. The ultimate must be filament winding or pultrusion in regards to waste. There shouldn't be any signifficant offcuts. If you are going the high - tech way I guess fibre placement should be looked at as well. Here a robot puts unidirectional prepregs into a mould. No resin waste no fibre waste and workers are only exposed to a button. I don't think boatbuilders are using this method yet but the aerospace industry does. Robots are also used to spray gelcoat or chopped fibreglas into a mould.

[jonsailor]

[quote=Karsten]The obvious one curently very popular is infusion.

Have to agree here, we are half way through a new race yacht using infusion and it can practically be done in a dining room with a meal on the table.

[lprimina]

If you are not set up for infusion there are some things to do. research the type of chemical used and then the different brands. Some of the products are more environmentally friendly (dont off gas as much as others). You can set up your stations with negative airflow and use carbon filters to trap most of the gasses.This is a very expencive way of trapping gas but it can be done. anouther way is to make sure the chemicals you order come in reuseable and returnable containers. The company picks them up. (not all do this). There are other things that can be done and are done but none are cheap to do.
Good luck
Ben