The invention relates to a construction unit made from various recyclable materials, for example, from recycled waste plasterboard from the construction industry or flue-gas gypsum which is a by-product from fossil-fueled power plants. The construction units are made from a raw mix comprising gypsum, clay and aggregate and methods of making construction units. The invention also relates to a raw mix for making a construction unit; a kit including a construction unit and mortar; and uses of the construction unit to form a structure.

A process for treating a substrate made of stone material, preferably in the form of slabs, is provided which process improves the mechanical, thermal and catalytic properties of the substrate. The process includes applying a protective coating to the outer surface of the substrate made of stone material and, to improve adhesion of the protective coating to the outer surface of the substrate, preliminarily subjecting the substrate to one or more pre-treatment steps that eliminate or reduce the presence of pollutants and porosity on the surface of the substrate. The pre-treatment of the substrate made of stone material comprises at least one step of treatment under vacuum conditions inside an autoclave, preferably under pressure conditions lower than 10.sup.2 mbar. Then, after having brought the substrate back to ambient pressure, it is possible to apply and effectively adhere the protective coating to the surface of the stone material.

A process for treating a substrate made of stone material, preferably in the form of slabs, is provided which process improves the mechanical, thermal and catalytic properties of the substrate. The process includes applying a protective coating to the outer surface of the substrate made of stone material and, to improve adhesion of the protective coating to the outer surface of the substrate, preliminarily subjecting the substrate to one or more pre-treatment steps that eliminate or reduce the presence of pollutants and porosity on the surface of the substrate. The pre-treatment of the substrate made of stone material comprises at least one step of treatment under vacuum conditions inside an autoclave, preferably under pressure conditions lower than 10.sup.2 mbar. Then, after having brought the substrate back to ambient pressure, it is possible to apply and effectively adhere the protective coating to the surface of the stone material.

Process for the production of a hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding, where a hydrophilic thermal-insulation moulding is brought into contact with a hydrophobizing agent in vapour form with formation of a thermal-insulation moulding coated with hydrophobizing agent, and this is then subjected to a press process and during the press process and/or after the press process is reacted with the hydrophobizing agent with formation of the hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding, where a) the density of the hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding after the press process and after the reaction with the hydrophobizing agent is from 100 to 250 kg/m.sup.3, and b) the density of the hydrophilic thermal-insulation moulding on contact with the hydrophobizing agent is from 50% to less than 100% of the density of the hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding.

Process for the production of a hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding, where a hydrophilic thermal-insulation moulding is brought into contact with a hydrophobizing agent in vapour form with formation of a thermal-insulation moulding coated with hydrophobizing agent, and this is then subjected to a press process and during the press process and/or after the press process is reacted with the hydrophobizing agent with formation of the hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding, where a) the density of the hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding after the press process and after the reaction with the hydrophobizing agent is from 100 to 250 kg/m.sup.3, and b) the density of the hydrophilic thermal-insulation moulding on contact with the hydrophobizing agent is from 50% to less than 100% of the density of the hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding.

Process for the production of a hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding, where a hydrophilic thermal-insulation moulding is brought into contact with a hydrophobizing agent in vapour form with formation of a thermal-insulation moulding coated with hydrophobizing agent, and this is then subjected to a press process and during the press process and/or after the press process is reacted with the hydrophobizing agent with formation of the hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding, where a) the density of the hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding after the press process and after the reaction with the hydrophobizing agent is from 100 to 250 kg/m.sup.3, and b) the density of the hydrophilic thermal-insulation moulding on contact with the hydrophobizing agent is from 50% to less than 100% of the density of the hydrophobic thermal-insulation moulding.

The disclosure relates to a method for simulating intraplate volcanism. A technical solution is: mixing 47-60 wt % of calcium oxide powder, 35 wt % of alumina powder and 5-18 wt % of silica powder uniformly to obtain a mixed powder; putting the mixed powder in a corundum crucible, placing the crucible in a high-temperature furnace provided with an observation window outside which an industrial camera with a depression angle of 30-45 is provided, heating to 1,500-1,900 C. at a rate of 1-30 C./min under an air atmosphere at a normal pressure, holding for 0.5-5 h; recording intraplate volcanism formed by upwelling of a melt of the mixed powder along an inner wall of the crucible during the holding with the industrial camera to obtain a simulated process of the intraplate volcanism.

Provided herein are a method and a system for producing slabs, tiles or sheets of artificial stone, with a wide vein effect, comprising inorganic particles of different sizes and hardened binders, and which simulate the appearance of natural stone.

Provided herein are a method and a system for producing slabs, tiles or sheets of artificial stone, with a wide vein effect, comprising inorganic particles of different sizes and hardened binders, and which simulate the appearance of natural stone.

The invention relates synthetic silicate granules comprising a mixture of SiO.sub.2, Al.sub.2O.sub.3 and Na.sub.2O, which can be obtained by sintering; to their use in manufacturing an agglomerate stone material and to the agglomerate stone material resulting thereof.