Recycling of glass wool waste by geopolymerization

Sammanfattning

The master thesis project is in collaboration with Saint-Gobain Ecophon. This project is in relation to the WOOL2LOOP project (part of the EU Horizon 2020) with the aim of minimizing mineral wool waste by incorporating it into novel and existing products. This master thesis examines the possibilities of using glass wool waste as the main precursor to produce cementitious materials. Different mix compositions including different glass wool contents and the addition of two types of slag from steel industries were investigated. Process parameters including curing temperature and curing time have been studied to reduce future manufacturing costs. Precursor and additional slag were mixed with water glass and cured in an oven and/or at the room temperature. The cementitious materials’ performance was evaluated by measuring the compressive strength after 7 and 28 days. The phase compositions were analyzed using XRD (X-ray diffraction) and TGA (Thermogravimetric analysis) respectively to better understand the mechanical strength.The results show that glass wool, in combination with other additives, is a promising precursor for manufacturing cementitious materials. N-A-S-H and C-(N)-A-S-H have been observed in certain compositions which explains the lower strength. The materials formed through the use of lower processing temperatures have displayed good strength development with time, and a curing time of 24 h has shown high strength. Although, a curing time of 4 h has resulted in comparable strength. Further, high strength has also been achieved by curing at the room temperature.