HIGH MECHANICAL STRENGTH CELLULAR GLASS-CERAMIC MANUFACTURED IN MICROWAVE FIELD USING BLAST FURNACE SLAG AND GLASS WASTE

Abstract

A cellular glass-ceramic with very high compressive strength (14.1 MPa) from a mixture 40/60 of blast furnace slag and container glass waste, calcium carbonate (6.5%), borax (7.8%), titanium oxide (5%), sodium phosphate (3%) and water addition (8%) was experimentally manufacture by sintering at 900 ºC using the microwave radiation. The main advantage of the nonconventional heating technique was the very low specific energy consumption (0.90 kWh/kg). The physical, mechanical and morphological characteristics of the best cellular glass-ceramic sample were: apparent density of 0.82 g/cm³, porosity of 75.9%, thermal conductivity of 0.135 W/m·K, water absorption of 3.4%, pore size between 0.3-0.6 mm. Due to the mentioned characteristics the cellular glass-ceramic is suitable for construction applications.