Address:
Glafo, Box 5157,
SE-350 05 Växjö
SWEDEN

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Vejdes plats 3

Tel: +46 10 516 63 50
E-mail: info@glafo.se

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"about Glafo" page.

GLASS STRUCTURE IN MINERAL WOOL(P3376)

The aim is to learn how the composition influences the glass structure and how it influences the properties and the finished product.

Mineral wool is often used in large mats when insulating buildings.

Background
When insulating buildings both mineral wool and glass wool are often being used, even if they have different chemical compositions and properties. Mineral wool is mostly based on natural minerals, e.g. diabase together with calcium oxide or dolomite (SiO₂–Al₂O₃–CaO(MgO)–FeO/Fe₂O₃) while glass wool is a sodium-borosilicate glass consisting of SiO₂–Na₂O–CaO–(B₂O₃). The most considerable differences are that mineral wool can stand higher temperatures and is more chemical resistant than glass wool.

It is important to insulate buildings to save energy - something that is on great demands. By insulating buildings carefully it is possible to make many savings. In Europe today the heating of buildings stands for 40% of the total energy consumption, i.e. more than what is used at transports or for industrial production.

If we could increase the knowledge about how the composition affects the structure of the glass and how that on its part affects the properties and the finished product, the properties could be improved.

How does the structure of the glass change by different additives in the glass?
The compositions of mineral and glass wool are not quite homogeneous and they contain many different components. Therefore, we start to study a simpler system where the contribution of the different additives is investigated systematically by exchanging one component for another. Several different techniques are needed to do this study. It will lead to increased knowledge of the factors that influence the glass structure.

Fibre properties and improvement
Within the project we will learn about the fibre properties to be able to improve the fibre, for example by making it stronger.

The insulating capacity of mineral wool depends mostly on the big volume of stagnant air that is formed. Air leads heat very badly and with that insulating is formed. When the fibre is strong less glass is needed and more air can be enclosed in the material.

Even from a transport point of view it is important to have a strong fibre. It is expensive and not very environmental friendly to transport air. It is desirable to be able to compress the insulating material and to decrease the influence of the transport on both environment and price.

CURRENT PROJECTS