Foam Glass Blocks Manufacturing

Presentation at Horizon 2020 NRW Event 15-16 March 2018

LfG Consulting UG • Vennhauser Allee 202 • D-40627 • Düsseldorf • Germany • www.lehrsforglass.de

What are foam glass blocks? Foam glass

Lightweight, rigid insulating material composed of millions of completely sealed glass cells, each an insulating space.

Often referred to also as “cellular glass”

Blocks

The superior properties of blocks made of foam glass have made them ideal insulation material for construction industry.

Main properties include:

Completely noncombustible •Has zero smoke development and flame spread classification

Ecology-friendly •Production process utilizes waste recycled glass as a raw material.

Low thermal conductivity •Can be used as insulation material in the range of -260°C to +485°С

Low noise conductivity •Sound absorption figure reaches 56dB

Dimensionally stable •Has coefficient of thermal expansion similar to concrete and steel

Waterproof •Since it is made of pure glass

Acid resistant •Since made of glass

Pest-resistant •Due to its inorganic nature

More than 100 years life-time

LfG Consulting UG • Vennhauser Allee 202 • D-40627 • Düsseldorf • Germany • www.lehrsforglass.de

Collecting recycled glass

Crushing recycled glass

Preparation of batch

Molds are filled with the batch

Foaming process

Transfer to annealing oven

Annealing

Molds cleaning

Pe

rip

he

ral

con

veyo

r

Cutting

Production line

Packaging

P r e p a r a t i o n C o r e p r o d u c t i o n ( L f G - d e s i g n e d ) F i n i s h i n g

Our uniquely designed fully automated production line is able to manufacture foam glass blocks priced at 40-45% lower

R&D related to chemical features of the glass necessary to batch preparation

Missing part

R&D to be performed Development of “European” technology to batch preparation necessary for manufacturing of foam glass blocks (based on existing research):

Manufacturing of foam glass from regular waste glass avoiding melting proprietary glass

Foaming under normal atmospheric conditions

Reducing energy needed to foam glass manufacturing (foaming temperature reducing, optimization of temperature curve, etc. )

Lowering batch preparation costs by optimization of chemical ingredients

Creation of homogenous closed pore structure

Development of type of batch for manufacturing foam glass blocks with high absorption of electro-magnetic radiation

Development of type of batch for manufacturing foam glass blocks with high noise absorption (open pore structure)

Compliance with EU and International standards (ASTM C552, DIN EN13167 + A1)

Action items Pilot production facility for foam glass blocks in molds / batch lab

Development of proprietary equipment for thermochemical processing and refinement of glass powder

Development of technology of foaming agent nano-coating application to glass powder

LfG production line customization for different type of batch

What we need to do?

Ph

ysic

al f

eat

ure

s •Density, kg/m3

•Compressive resistance, kPa

•Flexural strength, kPa

•Water absorption, %

•Water vapor permeability, mg/(m·h·Pa)

•Apparent thermal conductivity

•Hot-surface performance

•Surface burning characteristics

Ch

em

ical

fe

atu

res •Acid resistance

•Leachable chloride content, ppm

Lab tests

Electron microscope section examination

Ultrasound imaging

Radiation resistance

EM shielding

LfG Consulting UG • Vennhauser Allee 202 • D-40627 • Düsseldorf • Germany • www.lehrsforglass.de

Whom we are looking for?

Lab tests R&D organizations

Role:

• Knowledge contribution to foaming process research

Industrial labs

Role:

• Lab tests performance

Industrial mills producers

Role:

• Development and adoption of equipment to batch preparation technology

• Pilot equipment

Reactor systems producers

Role:

• Development and adoption of equipment to batch preparation technology

• Pilot equipment

Mixing Systems producers

Role:

• Development and adoption of equipment to batch preparation technology

• Pilot equipment

Recycling players

Role:

• Analysis and matching of waste glass types

LfG Consulting UG • Vennhauser Allee 202 • D-40627 • Düsseldorf • Germany • www.lehrsforglass.de

Technological expertise reference – fully commercial manufacturing facility

LfG team has designed, constructed and assembled two full-scale commercial foam glass production lines in the Russian city of Vladimir.

The lines were deployed during the period of 2014 and 2015 and are currently fully operational with overall annual manufacturing capacity of up to 110,000 cubic meters