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"Manufacturing and using of foamglas"

Author: Kalinchenkova S.J.

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LIFE CYCLE INVENTORY

1. INTRODUCTION

FOAMGLAS is a thermal insulation product manufactured and distributed throughout the world by Pittsburgh Corning Europe (PCE) und Pittsburgh Corning Corporation. FOAMGLAS is produced in the form of slabs and pre-cut shapes. It is chiefly used as an insulation material throughout the building industry in addition to being employed for a range of specialized industrial applications. The main application areas in buildings are: flat roofs, underground walls, floors and terraces/car park decks. For the European market, FOAMGLAS is produced at three production sites in Tessenderlo (BE), Schmiedefeld (D) and Klasterec (CZ). In 2005, the production site in Tessenderlo produced approximately 320'000 m³ of FOAMGLAS products of varying densities. This corresponds to 39'200'000 kg FOAMGLAS® products per year when calculating with an average density of 122.5 kg/m³. Of this amount, approximately 70'000 m³ were delivered to Switzerland, including Lichtenstein, and 7'700 m³ were delivered to Austria. In terms of quantity, the main product is the FOAMGLAS board, T4 WDS, which is used for roof insulation (e.g. compact roof systems). Because of its industry prevalence, the T4 WDS production process can be regarded as being representative for all FOAMGLAS products. 95% of the European consumption of this FOAMGLAS board is produced in Tessenderlo. A negligible 5% is produced at the site in Germany. The market share of FOAMGLAS products on the foam glass market for flat roof insulation in Europe is nearly 100%. Electricity use for the production volum delivered to Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and Austria, is covered by renewable energy certificates.

OBJECTIVE

Current environmental data cited in the ecoinvent inventory database1, which is used to assess the environmental impact of buildings and building components by architects, building contractors and building authorities, no longer reflect the present environmental impact of the foam glass production process in Europe. For this reason, an updated inventory has been designed which shall in future replace the old life cycle inventory in the ecoinvent 2 database. It will focus on the publication of reliable and adequate inventory data in compliance with the ISO 14040 series without comparative assertions. The life cylcle inventory (LCI) covers the production of FOAMGLAS from cradle to gate 3 including upstream processes. Data ascertainments were conducted by collaborators of Pittsburgh Corning Europe in Tessenderlo in cooperation with BAU- UND UMWELTCHEMIE Beratungen + Messungen AG. An accompanying external critical review according to ISO 14040:1997 §7.3.1 was carried out by 1EMPA4.

EMPA had full access to the data considered in this study which is required for data validation and for a future integration in the ecoinvent database.The presented data collection on raw materials is based chiefly on easurements (e.g. raw materials and packing materials) at the production facility in Tessenderlo. Energy onsumption is measured by gas and electricity meters and is cross-checked with theoretical calculations. Data on the wear-and-tear of parts and material quality were obtained from delivery orders and from their yearly consumption across the entire production volume. Transport distances include transport from the supplier to the production facility. All data are average values for the overall production of this product per year. Modelling principles according to ecoinvent-report 1 are used. All data, assumptions, units, energy and emission considerations and naming rules are implemented as proposed in this report. Transport distances are calculated according the chapter Transport services in ecoinvent-report No. 1

2. RESERVES, RESOURCES AND RAW MATERIALS FOAMGLAS

insulation materials are made from recycled, mechanically cleaned float-glass (68%) and feldspar (25%) in raw material quality. Small amounts of salt cake, soda ash, iron oxide, manganese oxide, sodium nitrate and carbon black - all in technical grade quality - are added to the raw material mix. Electricity is used for the melting process and raw mix production. Natural gas is used for the production process. Further information on the reserves and resources of FOAMGLAS raw materials can be found in part I on gravel products and part VII on lime products in the ecoinvent report no. 7. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES The product inventoried in this study is an insulation slab 40 mm to 200 mm in thickness with a thermal conductivity of 0.040 W/mK and a density of 110 kg/m³.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES FOAMGLAS consists of glass (>99% by weight) and small mounts of hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide. The product is resistant to rodents, vermin and insects, as well as being rot proof, resistant to ageing, resistant towards acids (except ydrofluoric acid) and chemical substances, especially organic solvents.

3. SYSTEM CHARACTERISATION

The inventory data for FOAMGLAS is based on production values for 2005 and represents the product T4 WDS which is one of a number of different FOAMGLAS products manufactured in Tessenderlo, Belgium with a density of 110 kg/m 3. In terms of quantity, T4 WDS is the most important FOAMGLAS product and its manufacturing process is representative for FOAMGLAS products.

95% of T4 WDS sold on the European market is produced in Tessenderlo. A negligible 5% is produced at the site in Germany. Due to the market monopoly of FOAMGLAS products in Europe, the technology employed at the production site in Belgium is the de facto, current technology for producing FOAMGLAS in Europe. System boundaries considered of the FOAMGLAS production process Over the past several years, the use of sand has been completely, if gradually, superseded by the use of recycled glass. Today, more than half of the recycled glass employed is directly injected in the ball mill (milling) without melting, allowing for a large reduction in energy input. The first step of the FOAMGLAS production process consists of the raw mix production, a raw material conditioning process which includes the process-storage of raw materials in a silo,weigh batching of raw materials, melting of raw materials in an oven and milling in a ball mill. Raw materials such as: recycled glass, feldspar, iron oxide, salt cake, soda ash, manganese oxide, sodium carbonate and sodium nitrate are added to the melting furnace and heated to approximately 1250⁰C. The melting furnace is an electronic furnace equipped with glass melting molybdenum electrodes. The molten glass flows from the melting oven into the continuously fed ball mill where the glass is rapidly ground to colloidal fineness (approximately 10 micron or finer) with the help of corundum cylinders as a grind medium. Another batch of crushed recycled glass is added to the ball mills without melting.

Production process of FOAMGLAS insulation material During the second step - the virtual production process - the milled raw material mix undergoes a foaming procedure in steel moulds coated with clay and aluminium hydroxide at 850⁰C in the cellulating gas furnace (> 1000 kW) and is subsequently cooled down in the annealing furnace. Finally the cold foam glass cuboid is cut into pieces, acked and stored.

Electricity and natural gas are the fuels used in the production of FOAMGLAS. 63% of the electricity is consumed by the melting oven . About 18.5 % is used for the grinding or milling process in the ball mills and some 18.5% is used for supplementary systems and processes such as trimming, packing and for storage. Natural gas is used solely for the cellulating and annealing furnace. Diesel fuel and heating oil is used for the operation of fork lifts and buildings. Heat emissions from the melting oven and annealing furnace are reused in the production process.