Utilization of mineral wool waste and waste glass for synthesis of foam glass at low temperature

• Published in: Construction & building materials 2019-08, Vol.215, p.623-632
• Main Authors: Ji, Ru, Zheng, Yaxian, Zou, Zehui, Chen, Ziwei, Wei, Shen, Jin, Xiaoyong, Zhang, Mei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Foam glass; Mineral wool waste; Solid waste; Thermal insulation material; Waste glass
• ISSN: 0950-0618; 1879-0526
• DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.04.226

•A new method of producing foam glass at low temperature was proposed.•Mineral wool waste and waste glass were recycled as major raw materials.•The effects of raw material and sintering temperature were investigated.•Proposed foam glass has good energy-saving effect as thermal insulation materials. To reduce the energy consumed by building part, a new method of producing foam glass at low temperature was proposed in this study. Mineral wool waste and waste glass recycled from building construction and demolition (C&D) process were used as major raw materials. In the meanwhile, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), borax (Na2B4O7·10H2O) and sodium phosphate (Na3PO4·12H2O) were added as extra additives, which played the part of foamer, fluxing agent and foam stabilizer, respectively. The effects of different content of each additives and different sintering temperature on the properties of foam glass were investigated. Bulk density, cross-section view and microstructure of the specimens were showed. The experiment results showed that the optimal content of raw materials and additives was 40 wt% mineral wool waste, 60 wt% waste glass, 20 wt% borax, 1–2 wt% calcium carbonate and 2 wt% sodium phosphate, and its optimal sintering temperature was 800 °C. The specimen sintered at this optimal condition had the most uniform foam structure and low bulk density of 0.7 g/cm3. Finally, EnergyPlusTM was used to evaluate the benefit of applying this new foam glass on the reduction on space conditioning loads, especially in relatively colder zones.