UTILIZATION OF SOME EGYPTIAN RAW MATERIALS IN ROCK WOOL INDUSTRY: THERMAL AND ACOUSTIC INSULATION

In the time of increasing the cost of energy, we try to use different grades or inexpensive basalt in rock wool production to reduce the cost and produce well-matched rock wool quality commodities. This work assesses the suitability of basalt from three localities in Egypt (Abu-Zaabal, El-Fayoum and Baharyia) to produce rock wool that intended for thermal and acoustic insulation of buildings, and industrial equipment. Dolostone from Gabal Ataqa was incorporated in the batch to facilitate melting of basalt. All raw samples and the produced rock wool were chemically characterized using XRF. In addition, the different properties of the obtained rock wool such as thermal, mechanical, acoustic and reaction to fire have been evaluated. The obtained results reveal that all rock wool characteristics are bracketed in the acceptable range for the thermal, mechanical, acoustic and reaction to fire properties. The thermal conductivity (K) of all wool slabs are bracketed in the acceptable ranges of standard specifications.