Development of a recyclable, non-combustible inorganically bonded insulating material for heating systems

The current practice in the building industry uses alumina insulation boxes filled with mineral wool to prevent heat loss in heating devices with valves and pressure gauges. Contrary to the use of mineral wool, which is not environmentally friendly and non-recyclable, this work brings forward an innovation in the production of non-combustible and recyclable foams that can be utilized in place of boxes filled with mineral wool. In the pre-experiments, foams were formulated with varying proportions (between 10% and 40%) of recycled material with respect to suitable particle sizes. Following this, a systematic statistical analytical plan using the design of experiment (DOE), mixture test plans were prepared and optimized to formulate recipes with desired insulation foam properties, including apparent density, thermal conductivity, and heat of combustion. With the DOE approach, the predicted and measured properties were in close agreement and are critical in developing insulation foams with tailored properties.