Information

Guardian® Brochure and MSDS

GUARDIAN® is an innovative product designed to reduce water requirements for application. This proprietary blend of natural polysaccharides provides stand-alone soil stabilization or is used as tackifier with an infinite combination of native fiber sources.

Testing at San Diego State demonstrated the strong soil control of Rantec's Guardian® with XL™ stabilizer.  Tests show nearly 100% sediment control.

GUARDIAN® allows the applicator to vary the tackifier and fiber application rate independently to accommodate a wider range of slope and erosion options. Viscosity build is much lower than all other guar gum based tackifiers, allowing for more solids in the tank and reduced water requirements for application.  Please see Guardian® application rates for additional information. GUARDIAN® is effective as a stand-alone soil binder for NPDES temporary soil stabilization.

Since the GUARDIAN® applicator can choose from a wide array of other sources, it is important to reemphasize the key features that make SSS's (Soil Stabilization Systems) successful compared to common soil stabilizer systems:

* Continuous coverage: The product medium must be applied to completely cover the area. This prevents direct rain impact on the soil and the resulting rills and channeling. It also gives a resilient shock absorbent layer between the water droplet and the underlying soil.

* High Water holding Capacity: The energy of the rain droplet must first be absorbed by the deflection of the fiber layer and then absorbed to prevent high runoff velocities.

* Environmental Compatibility: GUARDIAN® will not form a crust that inhibits plant growth. Over the time necessary to establish permanent re-vegetation, GUARDIAN® will biodegrade into harmless components that will provide nutrients for future plant growth.

GUARDIAN® can be used creatively with a wide array of other options that are conducive to the environment and project. For example GUARDIAN® could be used with the following:

Wood Mulch or Agricultural Waste products:

• Cereal grain stalks and straw residue
• Sugar cane toppings
• Agricultural processing waste
• Recycled cardboard and paper waste
• Blends of paper and virgin wood fiber
• Compost

GUARDIAN®: Viscosity and Adhesive Strength in One package. One aspect of tackifier performance often overlooked is the role of viscosity of the slurry:

1. Slurry flow is laminar and droplet size is increased. This creates an easily directed flow and minimizes wind drift so that the GUARDIAN® goes where it is aimed and stays put once in contact with the ground.
2. GUARDIAN® viscosity is critical to a uniform application. Runny slurries will drift and slide down the slope once applied, just like paint that is too thin. GUARDIAN® produces slurry viscosity very quickly and can be applied as soon as the hydroseeder is topped off. No waiting for testing.
3. GUARDIAN® is a non- linear polymer that exhibits shear thinning. When GUARDIAN® solutions are sheared at higher rates during pumping through fittings and nozzles, they actually exhibit less pressure drop than basic water solutions. They also lubricate the slurry and increase the pumping capacity of the circuit because of that feature.
4. Once the shear rate is decreased and the solution comes to rest, the GUARDIAN® slurry will thicken rapidly and thus decrease runoff of tackifier solution into the soil.
5. GUARDIAN® uses as little as 50% of the water required for other tackifiers.

GUARDIAN®: An enduring adhesive, guar based tackifier, has been used for the past 30 years as an acceptable biodegradable alternative to latex emulsions and plastic polymer suspensions that had obvious environmental drawbacks.

Starch, plantago and polyacrylamide systems will all re-dissolve once they are re-wetted and will lose their bond. GUARDIAN® with XL™ can be repeatedly soaked and still resist rewetting.

Ease of mixing: GUARDIAN® has been specially treated to allow ease of mixing with minimal agitation. GUARDIAN® can also be added directly to water truck applications with a Rantec Eductor. The product can be vacuumed directly from the bag into the tank.

Non-Freezing: GUARDIAN® comes in a water-proof heavy wall HDPE 50 lb bag that can be left outside. No worries about freeze damage or product settling. Guardian cleans up easily with water and is 100% non-toxic.

INCREASING SLOPE MEANS INCREASING GUARDIAN PER UNIT FIBER:

GUARDIAN is very sensitive to concentration. Note in Table 1 that just increasing the concentration of GUARDIAN from 40lbs per 1000 gal of water to 60lbs per 1000 gal doubles the viscosity and at the same time produces a 50% increase in adhesive strength. We have incorporated that feature in our application guidelines for steeper and more severe applications.
For pumpable slurry, we recommend 400 to 800 cps for centrifugal pumps.

VISCOSITY & ADHESIVE STRENGTH vs. CONCENTRATION

CONCENTRATION

VISCOSITY, centipoise (a)

5 minutes	20	50	180	350
15 minutes	40	100	320	600
30 minutes	70	130	450	750

SPECIFIC ADHESIVE STRENGTH (SAS) tested with virgin wood fiber when used with virgin wood fiber, water ratio is 2 gallons per 1 lb of fiber (example: 2000lbs of fiber requires 4000 gallons of water)

(a) Viscosity measured on Slurry using Brookfield RVT model viscometer at 20 rpm after two minutes of mixing 500 ml solution at 1500 rpm at 25 deg. C

(b) SAS value measured by producing 4 inch diameter by 1/4 inch test pads from standard virgin wood fiber source. Slurry mixed at 30 grams of total fiber plus tack added to 500 ml of distilled water and mixed for 15 min. Pads are cast and oven dried at 200° F and then weighed. SAS value is amount of force in grams required to produce tensile failure in the pad sample divided by dry pad weight in grams.