EXPERIMENTAL MANUFACTURE OF HEAT INSULATING PLATES BY EXPANDING THE GLASS WASTE IN THE MICROWAVE FIELD

Abstract

The paper presents experimental results of manufacturing in microwave field of heat insulating plates by expanding a powder mixture of glass waste, coal ash, silicon carbide and water pressed into a mold with walls made of silicon carbide. The best variants corresponded to silicon carbide ratios of 2.9 and 3.0 wt.% and coal ash of 10 wt.%. The samples characteristics were almost similar to those industrially made by conventional methods: low apparent density (0.33-0.34 g/cm³), high compressive strength (1.7-1.9 MPa) and water absorption almost zero. The specific energy consumption had low values (1.01-1.04 kWh/kg), being comparable to that achieved by conventional techniques in the industrial production, although the conditions of small-scale experiments were obviously disadvantageous.