Two Articles
Using industrial waste as insulation for buildings
ETH spinoff FenX transforms industrial waste into a porous foam suitable for building insulation. Unlike other sustainable materials used for the purpose, this type of insulation is non-flammable and inexpensive to produce.
An insulation block. It is white, shaped like a sponge, and has the consistency of chalk. “It’s as light as a meringue,” says Etienne Jeoffroy, taking his hands off the block to show that it’s lightweight enough for balloons to lift it.
In a corner of their lab on ETH’s Hönggerberg campus stands a large kitchen blender. “This is how we make the material,” says Jeoffroy, CEO of the start-up. Both the production process itself and the equipment they use are relatively simple. Industrial waste is mixed with water and some additives – the “magic ingredients”, as Jeoffroy calls their recipe, which is the product of years of research. The result is a porous foam that later solidifies to form the meringue-like insulating material.
Sustainable and inexpensive
Anyone who builds a house faces a dilemma when it comes to selecting the right insulation. Should they choose an artificial insulating material, such as polystyrene or mineral wool? These solutions may be cheap and efficient, but they’re not very eco-friendly. Or would it be better to opt for natural alternatives, say wood fibres or flax, which are sustainable but more expensive and often less effective? Something else to consider is that some of today’s common insulation materials are highly flammable.
FenX is working on a solution to this dilemma. The foam panels that the start-up produces are non-flammable and their production is extremely sustainable. For one thing, the production process is energy efficient because, unlike artificial alternatives, there is no need to apply high temperatures to get the foam to solidify. And, given that the insulation panels installed in walls or roofs are reusable, the whole process is underpinned by recycling. Jeoffroy moreover vows that when the material becomes commercially available, it will be at a competitive price. “We can obtain the industrial waste we use as our raw material cheaply or even free of charge,” he explains.
The four materials scientists are still exploring which industrial waste products lend themselves to processing for use as insulation foam. In their first pilot tests they used fly ash, but it should also be possible to process other waste, say by-products from the construction, metal or paper industries. “We’re currently experimenting with around ten different types of industrial waste,” Jeoffroy explains. The idea is that one day, the raw material used for production in a given region will be whichever waste material is readily available locally. This avoids any ecologically and economically pointless transport costs and, in principle, makes production possible anywhere in the world.
Partner required
Against the backdrop of the Paris Agreement on climate change, the construction industry must undertake to become greener, and this new insulation material should bring about some advantages to that effect. Nevertheless, the ETH spin-off still faces a number of challenges, the greatest being the huge increase in production capacity it needs to be viable in the market. After all, even though FenX’s production method is simple, a kitchen mixer in the ETH lab is not sufficient to supply the material in the quantities that the construction industry demands. “We need a factory-scale production line, and for that we need a partner,” Jeoffroy explains.
Their chances of finding one are looking pretty good. According to Jeoffroy, their foam from ETH Zurich has attracted a lot of interest so far, and the team is already involved in a number of pilot projects. The start-up, which is only a few months old, will also have to attract additional financial support if it wants to grow. So far, the young entrepreneurs have financed their business with funds from the ETH Pioneer Fellowship and from Swiss and European grants. A few days ago, FenX also received 150,000 Swiss francs from the Venture Kick funding initiative. “Our goal is to raise funds to the tune of around 1.5 million Swiss francs by April 2020 and to have our foam panels on the market by 2021,” says Jeoffroy, outlining his ambitious timetable.
Source: ETH Zurich
Using industrial waste as insulation for buildings
https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2019/10/industrial-waste.html
Company website: FenX – Insulation reborn from ashes
https://fenx.ch/
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Researchers create new glass ceramic material from industrial contaminants
A new glass ceramic material could become a better alternative to use in construction. Miguel Hernández University (UMH) professor Manuel Jordán has contributed to the creation of a new glass ceramic material from sludge contaminated with toxic chromium. This new material has high resistance to bending compared to others of the same class, and once processed, is nontoxic and environmentally harmless.
Credit: Asociacion RUVID
The new glass ceramic material is 75 percent composed of sludge with high levels of hexavalent chromium Cr (VI), a toxic form of chromium that comes from industrial processes such as the manufacturing of stainless steel or curing leather. This chemical substance is highly soluble and its consumption has been linked to risks of cancer and allergies. The researchers obtained sludge from the industrial area of Tultitlán (Mexico), which is close to urban centres. In order to change its chemical properties, the sludge was mixed with feldspar and distilled coal ashes (coke), and was then cooked in an oven at 1,450 degrees. With this process, the researchers have been able to turn toxic chromium Cr (VI) into a different chemical substance, Cr (III), low quantities of which are essential in our diet. Furthermore, the new compound has been immobilised, which means it does not affect the environment.
In addition to being chemically stable, the new material’s mechanical resistance to bending (258 mega pascals) is quite high compared to other traditional glass ceramic materials. The results make it possible to conclude that the glass ceramic process could become a real and useful alternative for the recycling of toxic and dangerous industrial waste, which could be turned into new materials that provide another, potentially better option, for architecture and the construction of buildings and varied public works including pavement, coatings, tiles and roofs.
Publication: Materials Letters: X (2019)
Vitrification of a sodium chromate waste and mechanical properties of a final glass-ceramic
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590150819300493?via%3Dihub
Source: Phys.Org
Researchers create new glass ceramic material from industrial contaminants
https://phys.org/news/2019-10-glass-ceramic-material-industrial-contaminants.html
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