Study of Heat Treatment Processes in the Production of Porous Thermal Insulation Materials

The properties of porous materials and their areas of usage depend on the chemical composition, thermophysical properties of the components and the manufacturing method: almost all porous thermal insulation materials based on silicates lose their ductility, flexibility and impact strength, become brittle and change their original shape at temperatures above 800 ℃. Therefore, the research and development of equipment and technology for manufacturing materials that can operate under conditions of large temperature ranges, are heat-resistant and do not change the original strength and insulating properties when exposed to high and low temperatures are relevant and require further study. This paper presents experimental data on the influence of various factors on the thermophysical properties of porous materials. Methods and mathematical models for predicting changes in thermophysical properties during heat treatment are also presented. The heat treatment time in the oven causes the greatest influence on the density of finished thermal insulation materials. The longer the heat treatment time is, the lower the density is. Based on the obtained dependencies, we can conclude that the thermal conductivity of the material increases with increasing density. This means that it is necessary to reduce the density of the material while ensuring the required strength in order to obtain a material with better thermal insulation properties.