FIBER DIAMETER DISTRIBUTIONS IN TYPICAL MMVF WOOL INSULATION PRODUCTS

In order to make available a consistent set of information about the fiber diameter distribution in man-made vitreous fiber (MMVF) products, we measured the length-weighted fiber diameter distribution in 22 samples of glass wool, rock and slag wool, refractory ceramic fiber, and special purpose fibe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American Industrial Hygiene Association journal 1993-05, Vol.54 (5), p.232-238
Main Authors: Christensen, Vermund R., Eastes, Walter, Hamilton, Robert D., Struss, Arthur W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Building materials. Ceramics. Glasses
Ceramic fibers
Chemical industry and chemicals
Exact sciences and technology
Fibers
Glass fibers
Glasses
Hazardous materials
Insulation
Laboratories
Occupational hazards
Scanning electron microscopy
Standard deviation
Statistical analysis
Studies
Synthetic
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Summary:In order to make available a consistent set of information about the fiber diameter distribution in man-made vitreous fiber (MMVF) products, we measured the length-weighted fiber diameter distribution in 22 samples of glass wool, rock and slag wool, refractory ceramic fiber, and special purpose fiber Insulation, from 11 different manufacturers. All of the samples were measured by the same procedures using light microscopy (LM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and gas adsorption (the BET method). We found that the length-weighted fiber diameters were neither approximately normally nor log normally distributed with arithmetic standard deviations typically 50-100% of the arithmetic mean. The geometric mean diameter was usually significantly smaller than the arithmetic mean diameter and the length-weighted median diameter lay between these two means. There was good agreement between the various means and standard deviations measured by LM and by SEM. In addition, the BET-measured fiber specific surface area agreed well with that calculated from the microscopically measured diameters. The length-weighted arithmetic mean diameters of the sampled glass wool products ranged from 1-8 µm, whereas for the rock and slag wool samples, it ranged from 2-5 µm.
ISSN:0002-8894
2163-369X
DOI:10.1080/15298669391354612