Technologies to help the environment
Waste disposal is the number one issue in the topic of environmental safety of mankind. With the increase in population and the rapid growth of industry, the amount of garbage is also growing. Waste takes up entire landfills. For example, glass containers - jars, bottles of all kinds, shapes and colors. What to do with them? Just keep digging? No, - the scientists of BSTU named after V.G. Shukhov, - they will find a worthy application, which will be in demand in all regions of Russia. Ph.D., prof. cafe TSK BSTU named after V.G. Shukhov Victor Ivanovich Onischuk, presenting his project "Development of technology of multifunctional porous glass materials" to colleagues.
The project is dedicated to porous inorganic materials based on glass or glass-ceramics. Such materials, the scientist is sure, are unique, since they combine a wide range of properties that are inaccessible to organic materials. In addition, the areas of their use are quite diverse: heat-insulating materials are in demand in civil, industrial and road construction, at oil and gas sector facilities, thermal and cryogenic equipment, etc. The very technology of porous materials based on glass (foam glass) was developed back in the 30s of the 20th century in Russia, but now it is effectively used only abroad, and the developed innovative domestic technologies are not yet competitive. There are domestic producers in Russia.
For example, the STES-Vladimir company (Vladimir), which produces foam glass of the Neoporm brand (block and granulated foam glass, ultralight concrete based on foam glass). Declared price: ~ 30,000 rubles/m3. But today the company is in bankruptcy. Despite the competitiveness of the declared cost of domestic foam glass, it has not yet received wide application in Russia and there is no stable production of foam glass that can replace foreign manufacturers. To fill this niche, scientists of the Department of TSC of BSTU named after V.G. Shukhov. The objective of the new project is to develop a technology for multifunctional amorphous and amorphous-crystalline porous materials. What does multifunctional mean? This means that materials obtained by one technology can be used in various directions. Moreover, industrial partners are ready to support the development of Shukhov's scientists. One of them, Polistem LLC, continuously monitors the market, trends and directions of applied research in the field of technology of porous glass materials. The second industrial partner is Techsapphire LLC, which has large-scale thermal equipment, which makes it possible to conduct the necessary tests on the basis of Techsapphire, and in the future to organize pilot production. And the relevance of this project is that scientists propose to arrange the release of mixed cullet. It's scary to imagine, but every year in Russia up to 4 million tons of broken glass is formed, which cannot be recycled. There are companies that produce glass from scrap, but at the same time they are forced to use a special additive - liquid glass, in order to obtain a porous material. However, this increases the cost of the output product tenfold. The technology of Shukhov's scientists will make it possible to do without this expensive component: liquid glass itself is formed during the specific grinding of cullet - liquid-phase mechanical activation. The developed technology will make cheap raw materials, and in any region of Russia and on inexpensive equipment. It is also unique that the technology of BSTU named after V.G. Shukhov makes it possible to process together any glass - of any color, texture, composition and obtain raw materials of the required parameters from it. The project will be supplemented by an organizational and technical study, which will spell out how the region will collect mixed-grade glass and obtain raw materials for factories.
This will make it possible to replicate the experience of Shukhov's scientists across the regions.