Mineral wool from recyclable materials
View Patent ↗Provided is a mineral wool that includes recycled material. The mineral wool is characterized by an acid to base ratio within a specified range. Also provided is a method of manufacturing the mineral wool that includes selection of post-consumer or post-industrial recyclable materials. Application of the mineral wool to products such as an acoustical ceiling panel is also provided.
1. A mineral wool comprising: recycled material, wherein an acid-to-base ratio of said mineral wool is defined as
Al
2
O
3
+
SiO
2
CaO
+
MgO
,
and said mineral wool has the acid-to-base ratio from about 1.0 to about 1.5 by weight; and wherein SiO 2 is in the range from 36% to 44% by weight, Al 2 O 3 is in the range from 8.0% to 14% by weight, MgO is the range from 4% to 13% by weight and CaO is in the range from 32% to 44% by weight; and wherein said mineral wool is made of fibers with a diameter from 4.5 to 5.6 microns.
2. The mineral wool of claim 1 wherein said recycled material is selected from a group consisting of post-industrial recyclable materials, post-consumer recyclable materials or a combination thereof.
3. The mineral wool of claim 2 wherein the recycled material is selected from a group consisting of slag, post-consumer concrete, post-consumer brick chips, post-industrial brick chips, waste glass, foundry sand and combinations thereof.
4. The mineral wool of claim 3 , wherein said slag constitutes a percentage by dry weight of the starting materials in the range of 20%-90%.
5. The mineral wool of claim 3 , wherein said post-industrial, post-consumer, or a combination of brick chips constitute a percentage by dry weight of the starting materials in the range of 5%-12%.
6. The mineral wool of claim 3 , wherein said post-consumer concrete constitutes a percentage by dry weight of the starting materials in the range of 12%-84%.
7. The mineral wool of claim 1 further comprising virgin minerals constituting a percentage by dry weight in the range of 2%-4%.
8. A product comprised of the mineral wool of claim 1 , wherein said product includes an acoustic ceiling panel, loose mineral wool and balls of mineral wool.
9. A mineral wool comprising: recycled material, wherein an acid-to-base ratio of said mineral wool is defined as
Al
2
O
3
+
SiO
2
CaO
+
MgO
,
and said mineral wool has the acid-to-base ratio from about 1.0 to about 1.5 by weight, and said mineral wool further has the LEED RC (LEED Recycled Contribution) value of at least 46%, wherein said LEED RC value is calculated by using the following formula:
LEED RC=X+(0.5×Y), in which X represents the percentage of post-consumer recycled content, and Y represents the percentage of post-industrial recycled content; and wherein SiO 2 is in the range from 36% to 44% by weight, Al 2 O 3 is in the range from 8.0% to 14% by weight, MgO is the range from 4% to 13% by weight and CaO is in the range from 32% to 44% by weight; and wherein said mineral wool is made of fibers with a diameter from 4.5 to 5.6 microns.
10. The mineral wool of claim 9 , wherein the recycled material is selected from a group consisting of post-industrial recyclable materials, post-consumer recyclable materials, slag, post-consumer concrete, post-consumer brick chips, post-industrial brick chips, waste glass, foundry sand and combinations thereof.