Mineral wool insulation - one of the most environmentally friendly materials. Like any other material designed to conserve heat, it uses air as the most efficient heat insulator. In order to “fix” the air layer and make it isolate the room from the cold, it is “preserved” using fibrous materials, which in their state resemble cotton wool.
Fibers can be organic, that is, vegetable origin, such as, for example, cotton fibers in a cotton wool, or inorganic, that is, mineral. Since only non-combustible materials are suitable for the production of insulation, mineral wool based wool is used for this purpose.
Types of mineral wool
There are not so many minerals from which thin and long fibers can be obtained. This, above all - glass, various slags, as well as some rocks, for example, basalts, after appropriate processing.
Consider the most popular insulating materials derived from mineral substances. The leaders are three: glass wool, slag and basalt wool.
Glass wool
Glass wool insulation is one of the most common and relatively inexpensive materials. It has a fibrous structure, color - from light to dark yellow. The raw materials for production are sand, limestone, soda, dolomite, borax, cullet.
This insulation is characterized by low values of thermal conductivity, well tolerates vibration loads, and also compresses well, reducing the volume by six times, which reduces the cost of transportation.
In comparison with basalt wool insulation, it is cheaper and simpler material. It is soft, and can be used where there are no serious loads. Not so long ago, manufacturers began production of semi-rigid plates, which can isolate ventilated facades. Glass wool in the form of cylinders is used to insulate pipelines.
The most famous manufacturers of this type of insulation in the market: "Isover", "KnaufInsulation", "Ursa".
Basalt wool
The main plus of basalt wool insulation compared to others is the possibility of obtaining materials of different density, shape and resistance to mechanical loads. It is made from gabbro-basalt rocks - diabase, basalt, gabbro, adding carbonate rocks (dolomites and limestones).
The thermal conductivity of the resulting material is lower than that of glass wool insulation, other indicators are better, for example, resistance to vibrations. It absorbs less moisture and does not burn. Basalt wool can be obtained at a lower density, and then it will be flexible, or increased - and then a durable material will be obtained.
Considering the fact that basalt fibers can be used to produce materials with different strength characteristics, to give them different shapes and apply different coatings, insulation from it is more versatile than from other types of mineral wool.
Elastic, soft products made of basalt cotton wool are used where there are no large mechanical loads, in low buildings (up to four floors), when weatherization. More dense species can be used in the construction of buildings of large number of floors. It provides sound and thermal insulation, safe in terms of fire requirements. Figured products from this cotton wool isolate pipes and pipelines from external temperatures.
If the insulation will be affected by mechanical loads, apply rigid modifications of insulation basalt wool.
One of the main criteria for the applicability of a heater is its resistance to mechanical stress. Previously, reinforced loads could only withstand high density materials, but today materials have appeared that can withstand considerable efforts even at low densities. In any case, when choosing a material, it is necessary to take into account how heavy the load will be.
So, if it is necessary to fasten heat-insulating sheets among themselves, it is unlikely that glass wool or slag wool can be used, since they are very fragile. In this case, you should prefer basalt wool. When weathe the roof is much more important another indicator: how well it can withstand pressure and compression.
Basalt wool is produced on a substrate of foil or canvas of glass fiber, for greater strength it can be stitched with wire or fiberglass threads.
The most famous manufacturers of this type of insulation on the market: Rockwool, Paroc, Nobasil, Danko-Izol, TechnoNIKOL.
Slag
Another one of the inexpensive and affordable types of mineral wool is slag wool. It is produced from blast furnace slag (glassy or stony mass, which is a waste in metallurgical enterprises, in the smelting of iron in blast furnaces).
The thermal conductivity of this material is quite high, but it has a number of significant drawbacks. Slag wool easily and quickly absorbs water, which imposes restrictions on its use in wet places, for example, for warming facades and bathrooms. At the same time, chemical processes begin in it, leading to an increase in the acid content, and, consequently, to the destruction of the metallic elements surrounding the wool. Another disadvantage is low resistance to vibrations. Currently, almost not used.
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