Thermal conductivity of glass foams (Invited Talk)

Glass foams are light weight cellular glasses with many applications in civil engineering and the petrochemical industry. A mix of properties such as low thermal conductivity, high strength and closed porous structure make the glass foam an attractive thermal insulating material. The thermal conductivity is a key parameter of glass foam performances since energy saving is increasingly important for our society and climate. Through the production process, glass foams with controlled chemistry can be created, giving the possibility to understand the heat transport mechanism and, thereby, to optimise the production condition to lower the thermal conductivity. In this presentation, we review recent work on the thermal properties of glass foams, with focus on the heat transport through the glass foam. We demonstrate the importance and ways of controlling gas composition and glass chemistry in respect to foam structure, crystallinity and bulk conductance. Some design criteria for producing low conducting glass foam will be outlined.