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The paper presents experimental results obtained in the manufacturing process of porous high-strength glass foam for thermal insulation in buildings made of glass waste and kaolin clay as raw materials and dolomite as a foaming agent. The paper’s originality is the use of the unconventional microwave heating technique. The best product manufactured by this technique was that sintered at 1050 ºC using 18 wt.% kaolin clay and 3.5 wt.% dolomite. The product characteristics were: the apparent density of 0.66 g·cm-3, the thermal conductivity of 0.155 W/m·K, the compressive strength of 5.3 MPa and a microstructural homogeneity with pore size between 0.20-0.50 mm.

The paper presents experimental results obtained in the manufacturing process of high-strength glass foam by combined use of two solid foaming agents (calcium carbonate and graphite) in variable weight ratios. The originality of the work is applying the unconventional microwave heating method, unlike the conventional techniques currently used in similar industrial processes. The optimal experimental variant, composed of 89.1 % glass waste, 0.9% calcium carbonate, 1 % graphite and other additives, was sintered at 828 ºC with a very low energy consumption (0.73 kWh/kg). The main characteristics of the optimal product were apparent density of 0.39 g/cm3, thermal conductivity of 0.088 W/m·K and compressive strength of 3.6 MPa, being usable in fields that requires resistance to mechanical stress and relatively difficult environmental conditions.

The paper presents recent achievements in the microwave use for manufacturing foam glass gravel from recycled glass waste and silicon carbide. The aim was to obtain a product with physical and mechanical characteristics almost similar to those of industrially manufactured materials by conventional heating techniques, but with a higher energy efficiency. A foam glass with the thermal conductivity of 0.075 W/m·K and the compressive strength of 7.5 MPa was experimentally obtained. The specific energy consumption was of 1.0 kWh/kg comparable with the industrial processes and it could reach values up to 25% lower by using a high power industrial microwave equipment.

The paper presents an unconventional technique for manufacturing foam glass gravel. The numerous experimental results obtained by the authors in the last year using various manufacturing recipes common in the world industrial production by conventional techniques were selected and subjected to a qualitative and energy efficiency comparative analysis, aiming to determine the best foam glass gravel manufacturing procedure under the conditions of the use of the microwave energy. The optimum recipe was composed of 83% glass waste, 1 % glycerol, 8 % sodium silicate and 8 % water. The maximum heating temperature reached 823 ºC with a very economical energy consumption of 0.88 kWh/kg. The sample characteristics were apparent density-0.24 g/cm3, porosity-89.1% with pore size between 0.3 - 0.6 mm, thermal conductivity-0.063 W/m·K and compressive strength - 5.9 MPa, almost similar to those industrially obtained.

The paper presents the results of experimental research for manufacture a high mechanical strength thermal insulating material using the microwave energy. Clay brick waste (75 - 83 mass %) and coal ash (15 - 23 mass %) as raw material and silicon carbide (2%) as a foaming agent have been used as a powder mixture. The porous product obtained by a sintering/ foaming process at 1115 - 1145 ºC had relatively low density and thermal conductivity (0.50 - 0.68 g/cm3 and 0.078 - 0.095 W/mK, respectively) and high compressive strength (up to 7.5 MPa). This remarkable combination of some physical and mechanical characteristics of the insulating material allows its use in applications involving mechanical stress resistance.

The paper presents experimental results obtained in the process of making glass foam from glass waste using a cheap foaming agent (natural dolomite). The originality of the work is the application of the microwave energy, unlike the conventional techniques commonly used in the world. The main advantage highlighted by the experiments is the very low specific energy consumption (below 1.5 kWh/kg), due to the peculiarities of the microwave heating technique. The foamed product has physical, mechanical and morphological characteristics (density between 0.30-0.32 g/cm3, thermal conductivity between 0.064-0.067 W/m·K, compressive strength in the range 2.2-2.6 MPa), which are similar to those of foams made by conventional methods and are suitable for its use as insulating material in construction.

The paper presents an aluminum foam experimental technique using the microwave energy. The raw material was recycling aluminum waste processed by ecological melting and gas atomizing to obtain the fine powder required in the foaming process. The powder mixture was completed with dolomite as a foaming agent. The products had a fine and homogeneous porous structure (pore size between 0.4-0.9 mm). The density (1.17-1.19 g/cm3), the compressive strength (6.83-7.01 MPa) and the thermal conductivity (5.71-5.84 W/m·K) had values almost similar to the foams made by conventional methods.

In the work experimental results on the manufacture of glass foam with high mechanical strength from glass waste are presented. By replacing the usual conventional energy source with a nonconventional energy (electromagnetic waves) the heating efficiency allows a fast and economical manufacturing process. Calcium carbonate as a foaming agent and an addition of sodium silicate (aqueous solution) as a binder were used. By their physico-mechanical and morphological features (0.40-0.66 g/ cm3 the apparent density, 0.054-0113 W/ m·K the thermal conductivity, 2.2-6.3 MPa the compressive strength, below 1.2 % the water absorption and under 2 mm the pore size), the foams are appropriate for their use as replacer of existing similar building materials on the market.

Experimental results obtained in the process of manufacturing dense glass foam using the microwave energy are presented in the work. The glass foam is produced from bottle glass waste, calcium carbonate as foaming agent and borax as fluxing agent. The high compressive strength (2.5 - 6.2 MPa) is the main mechanical feature of this product, which together with other physical and morphological features (apparent density 0.60 – 0.90 g/cm3, porosity 59.1 – 72.7%, thermal conductivity 0.081 – 0.105 W m K, water absorption 0.5 – 1.0%, pore size 0.5 – 3 mm), are appropriate for using as a substitute for similar building materials existing on the market.

Huge amounts of vegetable waste, mainly resulting from the food industry, need large areas for storage, as they could cause hazardous environmental impact, leading to soil and water pollution or to CO2 emissions during accidental incineration. This work was aimed at recycling certain lignocellulosic waste (walnut shells, kernels of peach, apricot, and olive) to design advanced carbon material precursors (ACMP) to be used for obtaining nano-powders with high applicative potential in pollution abatement. Both waste and ACMP were characterized using proximate and elemental analysis, and by optical microscopy. Complex characterization of raw materials by FTIR, TGA-DTG, and SEM analysis were carried out. The ACMP were synthetized at 600–700 °C by innovative microwave heating technology which offers the advantages of lower energy consumption using 3.3 kW equipment at laboratory level. The ACMP ash < 3% and increased carbon content of 87% enabled the development of an extended pore network depending on degassing conditions during heating. TEM analysis revealed a well-developed porous structure of the synthesized ACMP carbonaceous materials. Due to the presence of oxygen functional groups, ACMPs exhibit adsorption properties highlighted by an iodine index of max. 500 mg/g and surface area BET of 300 m2/g, which make them attractive for removal of environmental pollutants such as dyes having molecule sizes below 2 nm and ions with pore dimensions below 1 nm, widely used industrially and found in underground waters (NO3−) or waste waters (SO42−).

The paper presents experimental results obtained by a team of researchers from the company Daily Sourcing & Research SRL Bucharest in the field of producing the foamed glass-ceramic from waste bottle glass, coal ash and silicon carbide as foaming agent. The originality of the experiments consists in the use of electricity or microwave energy, unlike all techniques known worldwide consumers of fossil fuel. The product, obtained with low energy consumptions and very low pollutants emissions, has physical and mechanical characteristics of an insulating material, i.e. high porosity, low thermal conductivity and an adequate compressive strength.