Technical Questions
What type of fire rating does it have?
What is the specific gravity of Richlite®?
How dense is the material?
How far can the material cantilever or span?
Is Richlite® inert?
Does Richlite® off-gas?
What are the VOC emission levels?
What is the technical composition of Richlite?
What is phenolic resin?
What is Phenol?
Is it possible for phenolic resin to be derived from recycled materials?
What type of fire rating does it have?
Richlite's product fire-test evaluation demonstrated a flame spread index of 30 and smoke developed index of 30.
Fire Rating PDF
What is the specific gravity of Richlite®?
The specific gravity is 1.213, which means that Richlite® is 21% heavier than water by volume.
How dense is the material?
The density of Richlite® is 75.84 pounds per cubic foot or .0439 pounds per cubic inch.
Richlite® Properties PDF
How far can the material cantilever or span?
Kitchen and bath designers love Richlite® because of its long span and cantilever capabilities.
Is Richlite® inert?
Yes. It’s completely safe. In tech-speak Richlite® is inert due to the complete crosslinking of reactants or free radicals. In fact, the most common use of Richlite® product has been for National Sanitation Foundation-approved cutting boards in restaurants.
Does Richlite® off-gas?
All Richlite countertops are fully cured which prevents any off gassing.
What are the VOC emission levels?
Particulate emissions at our manufacturing facility are subject to control devices that operate at 99% efficiency. Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions are virtually eliminated through state-of-the-art equipment that maintains a very high destruction of particulate matter. There is no hazardous waste generated in our process.
Best Available Control Technology (BACT) is the standard to which Richlite manufactures all of its products. VOC concentration levels from our manufacturing process are held within acceptable limits sets forth by Washington State regulated emission standards. In fact, BACT standards for VOC control has an established minimum destruction efficiency of 95%; while Richlite manufacturing emissions are controlled at a higher destruction efficiency of up to 99.3%.
What is the technical composition of Richlite?
Richlite® Natural Fiber Composite is comprised of cellulose fiber and phenolic resin. Cellulose, a polymer material fundamental to all natural plants, is derived through pulping, the initial ingredient stage in the manufacturing process of paper.
Primarily, Richlite incorporates wood-sourced cellulose fiber derived from renewable, managed forests combined with some recycled cellulose fiber to satisfy our fiber needs. Most fiber material that we receive has an unspecified recycle content due to fluctuations within the paper industry that make adherence to exact proportions difficult.
What is phenolic resin?
Phenolic resin is a thermosetting bonding compound produced by
polymerizing C6H5OH and HCHO. During a controlled thermosetting
process, the molecules in the resin crosslink with one another to form
an inert, solid and highly stable material composite.
What is Phenol?
Phenol (C6H5OH) is a popular compound from which many everyday items are derived (e.g., modern antiseptics, household cleaning agents, and aromatic perfumes).
Is it possible for phenolic resin to be derived from recycled materials?
Recently conducted studies promise that phenolic resin will soon be derived from recovered liquid hydrocarbons through industrial recycling of carbon fiber composites. Due to very popular and widespread applications of carbon fiber composite, it is inevitable that high-volumes of its recycled material will soon be present in our marketplace. Completion of the carbon fiber recycle loop will be a significant and desirable step toward greater environmental awareness. And, as a direct result, phenolic resin will become more proactive as an environmental material.
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