Glass Compositions and Fibers Made Therefrom
Embodiments of the present invention provides fiberizable glass compositions formed from batch compositions comprising amounts of one or more glassy minerals, including perlite and/or pumice.
1 . A glass composition formed from a batch composition, the batch composition comprising:
at least 10 weight percent of a glassy mineral, the glassy mineral comprising a combination of SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 in an amount of at least 80 weight percent;
at least 5 weight percent of a sodium source.
2 . The glass composition of claim 1 , wherein the batch composition comprises at least 10 weight percent of a source of both silicon and aluminum.
3 . The glass composition of claim 1 , wherein the batch composition comprises at 10 least weight percent of a source of silicon.
4 . The glass composition of claim 1 , wherein the batch composition comprises at least 10 weight percent of a source of aluminum.
5 . The glass composition of claim 1 , wherein the batch composition comprises at least 25 weight percent of the glassy mineral.
6 . The glass composition of claim 1 , wherein the batch composition comprises at least 40 weight percent of the glassy mineral.
7 . The glass composition of claim 1 , wherein the batch composition comprises at least 10 weight percent of the sodium source.
8 . The glass composition of claim 1 , wherein the glassy mineral comprises perlite, pumice or mixtures thereof.
9 . A glass fiber formed from a batch composition, the batch composition comprising:
at least 10 weight percent of a glassy mineral, the glassy mineral comprising a combination of SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 in an amount of at least 80 weight percent; and
at least 5 weight percent of a sodium source.
10 . The glass fiber of claim 9 , wherein the batch composition comprises at least 10 weight percent of a source of both silicon and aluminum.
11 . The glass fiber of claim 9 , wherein the batch composition comprises at least 10 weight percent of a source of silicon.
12 . The glass fiber of claim 9 , wherein the batch composition comprises at least 10 weight percent of a source of aluminum.
13 . The glass fiber of claim 9 , wherein the batch composition comprises at least 25 weight percent of the glassy mineral.
14 - 15 . (canceled)
16 . The glass fiber of claim 9 , wherein the glassy mineral comprises perlite, pumice or mixtures thereof.
17 . The glass composition of claim 1 , wherein the glass composition comprises:
53-64 weight percent SiO 2 ;
8-12 weight percent Al 2 O 3 ;
8.5-18 weight percent alkali oxide component (R 2 O); and
a metal oxide (RO) component,
wherein the metal oxide component is present in an amount to provide a ratio R 2 O/RO ranging from about 0.15 to about 1.5.
18 . The glass composition of claim 17 , wherein the RO component is present in an amount ranging from 7 weight percent to 31 weight percent.
19 . The glass composition of claim 17 , wherein the RO component comprises a mixture of Cao and MgO.
20 . The glass composition of claim 17 , wherein the RO component comprises CaO in an amount ranging from 7 to 26 weight percent.
21 . The glass composition of claim 17 , wherein the RO component comprises MgO in an amount up to 5 weight percent.
22 - 26 . (canceled)
27 . A method of producing a glass fiber comprising:
providing a batch composition comprising at least 10 weight percent of a glassy mineral and at least 5 weight percent of a sodium source, the glassy mineral comprising a combination of SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 in an amount of at least 80 weight percent;
heating the batch composition to form a melt of the glass composition;
extruding the molten glass through a bushing to form a glass fiber.
28 - 32 . (canceled)