Recycling of waste for the production of mineral wool

The recycling of solid industrial waste plays an important role in saving raw materials and reducing the amount of waste disposed of in the environment. This work aims to study the production of mineral wool from marble, granite and silicon iron manganese slag residues. The residues in question have chemical characteristics that allow the addition of these residues in mineral wool formulations.

The characterizations of the chemical compositions were carried out using the X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry technique. With the values ​​of the chemical compositions found, a verification of the necessary adjustments in the compositions of the residues was carried out aiming at an approximation of the compositions of the minerals contained in the literature. Five compositions were made with the residues, which were later melted in an electric arc furnace, on a laboratory scale.

The products obtained with the melting of the mixtures were poured at temperatures of 1400ºC, 1450ºC and 1500ºC, first over a container with water, aiming at an abrupt cooling and with this an approximation of the mineral wool production method. In the second leak, the Herty viscosity test was carried out. Samples of the materials produced were characterized by techniques of X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Differential Thermal Analysis, and the results obtained were compared to the values ​​found in the literature.

The results found in this work show that the recycling of residues for the production of mineral wool is very promising, since the reuse of manganese silicon iron slag and residues from the cutting of marble and granite can allow the transformation of these residues into by-products through incorporation of these residues in the production of mineral wool, which has a wide market as thermal, acoustic insulator and flame propagation inhibitor.