TEMPORARY HOUSING STRUCTURES FROM REPURPOSED CARDBOARD

Abstract

This proposed facility aims to repurpose old corrugated cardboard (OCC) waste into portable, low-cost housing structures for temporary disaster relief. The technical goal of this endeavor is to design a process which a.) breaks down and removes impurities from OCC stock, b.) dewaters pulp slurry into paperboard, c.) impregnates paperboard with fireproofing agents, d.) corrugates and laminates paperboard with waterproofing latex, and e.) folds finished material into portable structure. The results of current engineering analysis are that an OCC feed of approximately 8.8 million kg is required annually to meet the proposed production demands. Additionally, 167 thousand cubic meters of water, 200 thousand kg of melamine formaldehyde, and 19 thousand kg of latex are required to feed the process annually. Major process assumptions include the assertion that OCC is of a clean enough stock that the hydrapulper can be run in steady state and does not require regular shut down and manual cleaning. Sources of error in the results stem most heavily from the shortcomings of models that quantify fiber retention in waste water. Waste water processing loops would ideally mitigate both fiber loss and excessive water use in operation.