Mineral Fibrel

Types Of Mineral Fibers There are basically 5 types of mineral fibersAsbestos Fiber Glass Metallic Fiber Carbon Fiber Glass Wool

Rock Wool

ASBESTOS Introduction Asbestos is a group of minerals with long, thin fibrous crystals. The word "asbestos" is derived from a Greek adjective meaning inextinguishable. The Greeks termed asbestos the "miracle mineral" because of its soft and pliant properties, as well as its ability to withstand heat.

Types and Associated Fibers White, Brown, Blue and other materials.

Production Trends In 2005, 2.2 million tons of asbestos were mined worldwide. Russia was the largest producer with about 40% world share followed by China and Kazakhstan

Uses of Asbestos – the ancients used asbestos to make perpetual wicks for Sepulchral or other lamps. – Asbestos became more widespread during the industrial revolution, in the 1860s it was used as insulation in the U.S. and Canada. – By the mid 20th century uses included fire retardant coatings, concrete, bricks, pipes and fireplace cement, heat, fire, and acid resistant gaskets, pipe insulation, ceiling insulation, fireproof drywall, flooring, roofing, lawn furniture, and drywall joint compound. – In Japan, particularly after World War II, asbestos was used in the manufacture of ammonium sulphate for purposes of rice production, sprayed upon the ceilings, iron skeletons, and walls of railroad cars and buildings (during the 1960s), and used for energy efficiency reasons as well.

Specific Products Serpentine Group Amphibole Group Health Issues Tumor in animals, a disease called Mesotheliomas, Blue asbestos is commonly thought of as the most dangerous type of asbestos. Asbestos exposure becomes a health concern when high concentrations of asbestos fibers are inhaled over a long time period. People who become ill from asbestos are almost always those who are exposed on a day-to-day basis in a job where they work directly with the material. Other Asbestos related diseases includes Asbestos Warts, Pleural Plaques and Diffused Plural Thickening.

Fiber Glass Introduction Fibreglass (also called fibreglass and glass fibre) is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. It is used as a reinforcing agent for many polymer products; the resulting composite material, properly known as fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) or glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), is called "fibreglass" in popular usage.

Formation – Glass fibre is formed when thin strands of silica-based or other formulation glass is extruded into many fibers with small diameters suitable for textile processing. – The technique of heating and drawing glass into fine fibers has been known for millennia; however, the use of these fibers for textile applications is more recent.

Properties – Glass fibers are useful because of their high ratio of surface area to weight. – good thermal insulation, with a thermal conductivity of 0.05 W/mK. – the increased surface area makes them much more susceptible to chemical attack. – The freshest, thinnest fibers are the strongest because the thinner fibers are more ductile.

Manufacturing Process – – – –

Melting Formation Continuous Filament Process Staple Fiber Process

Uses End uses for regular fibre glass are mats, insulation, reinforcement, sound absorption, heat resistant fabrics, corrosion resistant fabrics and high strength fabrics. Fibre glass is also the main source of material used by the modern automobile industry.

Metallic Fiber Introduction Metallic fibers are manufactured fibers composed of metal, plasticcoated metal, metal-coated plastic, or a core completely covered by metal .Gold and silver have been used since ancient times as yarns for fabric decoration.

History Historically, the metallic thread was constructed by wrapping a metal strip around a fiber core (cotton or silk), often in such a way as to reveal the color of the fiber core to enhance visual quality of the decoration. Ancient textiles and clothing woven from wholly or partly gold threads is sometimes referred to as Cloth of Gold.

Fiber Properties Coated metallic filaments help to minimize tarnishing. When suitable adhesives and films are used, they are not affected by salt water, chlorinated water in swimming pools or climatic conditions. If possible anything made with metallic fibers should be dry-cleaned, if there is no care label.

Production Method There are two basic processes that are used in manufacturing metallic fibers. – Laminating process, which seals a layer of aluminum between two layers of acetate or polyester film. – Metalizing process, which involves heating the metal until it vaporizes then depositing it at a high pressure onto the polyester film.

Uses The most common uses for metallic fibers is upholstery fabric and textiles such as lamé and brocade. Many people also use metallic fibers in weaving and needlepoint. More commonly today you can find metaillic fibers in clothing, anything from party and evening wear to club clothing, cold weather and survival clothing and everyday wear.

Carbon Fibres Introduction Carbon fibre or carbon fibre (also sometimes called graphite fibre) is a material consisting of long thin sheets of graphite-like carbon, packed to form a fibre. It has the highest specific tensile strength of all the reinforced materials (composite materials), and it has a high strength to weight ratio and low coefficient of thermal expansion. The density of carbon fibre is also much much lower than the density of steel. Carbon fibre takes the form of several thousand long, thin strands of material which are mostly composed of carbon atoms.

History Of Carbon Fibres In 1958, Dr. Roger Bacon created the first high performance carbon fibres at the Parma Technical Centre outside of Cleveland, OH. Bacon's carbon fibres were mainly graphite whiskers that were sheets of graphite rolled into scrolls; they contained graphite sheets that were continuous over the entire length of the graphite filament.

Structure and Properties – The atomic structure of carbon fibre is similar to that of graphite, consisting of sheets of carbon atoms (graphene sheets) arranged in a regular hexagonal pattern. – The difference lies in the way these sheets interlock. Graphite is a crystalline material in which the sheets are stacked parallel to one another in regular fashion. – The chemical bonds between the sheets are relatively weak Van der Waals forces, giving graphite its soft and brittle characteristics. – Depending upon the precursor to make the fibre, carbon fibre may be turbostratic or graphitic, or have a hybrid structure with both graphitic and turbostratic parts present. – In turbostratic carbon fibre the sheets of carbon atoms are haphazardly folded, or crumpled, together.

Synthesis – A common method of making carbon filaments is the oxidation and thermal pyrolysis of polyacrylonitrile (PAN), a polymer based on acrylonitrile used in the creation of synthetic materials. – Like all polymers, polyacrylonitrile molecules are long chains, which are aligned in the process of drawing continuous filaments.

Applications – Carbon fibre is most notably used to reinforce composite materials, particularly the class of materials known as Carbon fibre or graphite reinforced polymers. – Another utilization of Carbon Fibre is its added aesthetic value to various consumer products. – Carbon Fibre as a tough and lightweight material is applied in the production of watch cases and dials. – Non-polymer materials can also be used as the matrix for carbon fibres.

Glass Wool Introduction Glass wool is similar to steel wool. It is simply very thin strings of glass arranged into a spongy texture. Glass wool is used widely as an insulating material.

Manufacturing process – After the fusion of a mixture of natural sand and recycled glass at 1,450 °C, the glass that is produced is converted into fibers. – The cohesion and mechanical strength of the product is obtained by the presence of a binder that “cements” the fibers together. – Ideally, a drop of bonder is placed at each fibre intersection. – This fibre mat is then heated to around 200 °C (to polymerize the resin), and is calendared to give it strength and stability. – The final stage involves cutting the wool and packing it in rolls or panels under very high pressure before palletizing the finished product in order to facilitate transport and storage.

Side-Effect A 2002 summary by International Agency for Research on Cancer puts insulation glass wool into Category 3 carcinogen, "not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans". The summary found "inadequate evidence" of glass wool causing cancer in humans and "limited evidence" of it causing cancer in experimental animals. Two unspecified "large" studies reviewed in the summary showed "increased mortality" (6% in the "US cohort study") from respiratory cancer in workers exposed to glass wool production. The longevity of exposure did not affect mortality. Smoking habits were not factored out. Non-occupational indoor settings were found to contain "much lower" fibres per volume unit.

Rock Wool Introduction Rock wool is an amorphous silicate manufactured from rock. Mineral wool means fibres made from minerals or metal oxides, be they synthetic or natural. In industry use, MMMF (man-mademineral-fibres) generally refer to synthetic materials. This includes fibreglass, ceramic fibres and rock wool, also known as stone wool.

Manufacturing Stone wool is a furnace product of molten stone, at a temperature of about 1600 °C, through which is blown a stream of air or steam. More high tech production techniques are based on spinning molten rock (lava) on high speed spinning wheels (compare with candy floss). The final product is a mass of fine, intertwined fibers with a typical diameter of 6 to 10 micrometres. Mineral wool may contain a binder, often food grade starch, and an oil to reduce dusting.

Uses  The fibres themselves are excellent conductors of heat but they

package air so well, that when pressed into rolls and sheets, rockwool makes for an excellent and reliable insulator.  They make common components in passive fire protection systems, such as in spray fireproofing, stud cavities in drywall assemblies required to have a fire-resistance rating, packing materials in firestops and more.  Mineral wools are unattractive to rodents but will provide a structure for bacterial growth if allowed to become wet.  Other uses are in resin bonded panels growth medium in hydroponics, filler in compounds for gaskets, brake pads, in plastics in the automotive industry and as a filtering medium.