The present invention provides compositions and methods for converting hazardous waste glass into safe and usable material. In particular, the present invention provides compositions and methods for producing ceramic products from toxic-metal-containing waste glass, thereby safely encapsulating the metals and other hazardous components within the ceramic products.

The present application provides a method for recovering and reusing quartz powder waste in an out-of-tube deposition process. The quartz powder recovered by this method meets the optical performance requirements for the preparation of an optical fiber preform rod having a functional cladding, reduces the production cost, and solves the problem of environmental pollution. Also, the present invention further provides a method for preparing an optical fiber preform rod by using the recovered quartz powder. The method reduces and simplifies the difficulty in the manufacturing of a core rod of a preform rod, and simplifies the difficulty in the manufacturing of some preform rods of special structures.

The present invention relates a molded composite material and a method and process for creating the composite material from either recycled low grade mixed glass cullet or new glass. The composite material including; crushed glass; one or more aluminium compounds selected from oxide and hydrate at combined 0.40%-0.78% weight per weight of the glass; oxides of silicon, boron, sodium, calcium and potassium at combined 1.27%-1.90% weight per weight of the glass; zirconium silicate at 0.48%-1.3% weight per weight of the glass; and optionally tin oxide at 0%-0.45% weight per weight of the glass. The composite of the present invention can be used for making tiles, bench tops, work surfaces or other similar types of building products. The use of low grade mixed glass can also help reduce the amount of used glass being dumped in landfill or used in other low value enterprises such as providing highway aggregate or landfill cover.

The disclosure provides a slag wool composition including about 60 to about 80 wt. % blast furnace slag and about 20 to about 40 wt. % basalt, based on the total weight of the inorganic raw materials, wherein the composition has an A/B ratio in a range of about 1.20 to about 1.70. The disclosure further provides a slag wool produced using the slag wool composition of the disclosure, wherein the slag wool has a fiber diameter in a range of about 4.0 microns to about 10.0 microns. The disclosure further provides a method for the manufacture of slag wool.

The invention relates to a method for producing rock wool and cast iron by melting a mixture of materials such as basalt, blast-furnace slag, coke and components necessary for melting, with an admixture containing alumina, said admixture making it possible to adjust the alumina content in order to obtain a rock wool having the following composition (as wt %): Al2O3: 18-22; SiO2: 40-50; CaO: 10-15; MgO: <10; FeO: <2; Na2O: <4; K2O: <2. The method includes the following operations: producing by melting a slag and a cast iron, separating the slag and the cast iron, and performing a fibring operation on the slag followed by a bonding operation in order to obtain the rock wool. According to the invention, at least one spent adsorbent and/or catalyst is used as an admixture, said catalyst containing alumina in Al2O3 form. Said adsorbent and/or catalyst preferably contains at least one metal, and said metal is retrieved in the cast iron.

An invention is provided for creating smoothed, heat-treated glass fragments. The invention includes placing a plurality of heat-treated glass fragments into a tumbling or vibrating apparatus. Each heat-treated glass fragment is formed from glass that has been heated to a temperature of at least 1000° Fahrenheit and rapidly cooled to a temperature below 800° Fahrenheit. The plurality of glass fragments is then tumbled or vibrated for a predetermined period of time such that surfaces of the heat-treated glass fragments are smoother than prior to tumbling. The glass fragments are thereafter removed from the tumbling apparatus, resulting in smoothed, heat-treated glass fragments that have a slightly rounded, bead like-shape and are suitable for direct handling without hand protection.

Apparatus, systems and methods for refining molten glass include a fining chamber having a refractory floor and a sidewall structure that may include a refractory liner, and includes an inlet transition region having increasing width from initial to a final width, and depth decreasing from an initial to final depth. The floor includes a raised curb having width equal to final width of the inlet transition region, curb length less than the length of the inlet transition region, and curb height forming a shallowest depth portion of the fining chamber. The raised curb separates the fining chamber into the inlet transition region and a primary fining region, the primary fining region defined by the refractory floor and sidewall structure. The primary fining region has a constant depth greater than the shallowest depth but less than the depth of the inlet transition region.

A briquette for use as a mineral charge in a cupola furnace for the production of mineral wool fibres is produced by combining: a) recycled waste mineral wool selected from i) waste mineral wool comprising uncured sugar containing binder, ii) waste mineral wool comprising cured binder, iii) waste mineral wool without binder and iv) combination thereof, b) cement, and c) additional sugar(s) to form a mouldable mixture and moulding and curing the mouldable mixture to form the briquette.

Microspheres comprising a plurality of hollow microspheres, each of the plurality of hollow microspheres comprising a plurality of glass walls, and a plurality of hollow spaces, wherein the plurality of glass walls enclosing at least one of the plurality of hollow spaces, wherein the plurality of glass walls comprising a second glass, wherein the second glass comprising a processed first glass melt, wherein the processed first glass melt comprising a melt of a batch and a plurality of redox active group components capable of providing at least one of a plurality of redox reactions and a plurality of events in the second glass.

Systems and methods are disclosed for landfill systems, comprising waste, a geosynthetic product, and a layer of foam glass aggregates interposed between the waste and the geosynthetic product.