The application of foam concrete in 12 major fields

Foam concrete is a lightweight porous material. It is known as the four major inorganic foam materials together with foam glass, foam ceramics, and foam aluminum. It is the variety with the largest production and sales volume and the most promising development prospects among the four major inorganic foam materials.

Foam concrete is self-cementing concrete Producing one of the most significant technological advances in more than 100 years. It makes heavy cement concrete lightweight and functional, giving it lightweight, thermal insulation, heat insulation, sound absorption, sound insulation, fire resistance, fire prevention, impermeability, waterproof, shock wave resistance, electromagnetic wave resistance, water permeability, air permeability, and filtration , corrosion resistance, water retention, energy absorption and dozens of other functions. It is one of the most versatile bulk inorganic lightweight materials to date. Its invention and application have opened up a special application field for concrete. In the future, foam concrete will profoundly affect people’s lives and benefit all aspects of society. Its significance will soon become apparent.

1 Thermal insulation application

Foam concrete contains a large number of closed pores, and the pores do not flow. Air is a good insulating medium and can cut off heat exchange. The lower its density, the more pores, and the better its thermal insulation. Especially for foam concrete with a density lower than 500㎏/m³, its thermal conductivity is less than 0.09w/m.k. Generally, materials with a thermal conductivity lower than 0.23 are called thermal insulation materials, and thermal insulation materials with a thermal conductivity lower than 0.14 are called thermal insulation materials. Most of the foam concrete is lower than 0.14, and most are lower than 0.09, so it is a good thermal insulation material.

1.1 Application of building thermal insulation

Building thermal insulation is the main application field of foam concrete. At present, Accounting for 80% of the total production of foam concrete, it is used for building insulation. Its good thermal insulation performance and the policy push for building energy conservation have prompted its large-scale application in the field of building insulation. At present, the focus of development and application has begun to shift to walls, and the next round of application boom will mainly be self-insulating walls. Various foam blocks, foam wall panels, foam cast-in-place walls, various composite structural exterior wall insulation panels, etc. have been launched in various places, and their large-scale production and application have begun. From a national perspective, the application of foam concrete in building insulation has developed from the initial stage to the comprehensive promotion and application stage, and there will be an application peak within 3 to 5 years.

If all foam concrete is used for building insulation, including roof insulation layer, wall insulation layer, floor heating insulation layer (or cushion), it is equivalent to using foam concrete to To wrap up the entire house, one square meter of building area requires approximately 0.2m³~0.5m³ of foam concrete (the roof, floor, and four walls are all calculated with 125px insulation layer). A building with a building area of ​​10,000 square meters requires 2000m³~5000m³ of foam concrete. . If foam concrete were used in new buildings and existing energy-saving renovations across the country, the demand would be astronomical.

1.2 Insulation of pipelines and thermal equipment

At present, the thermal insulation of thermal pipelines and thermal equipment in my country The demand for materials is 2.5 million m³/year. One power plant alone requires 20,000 to 50,000 m³ of insulation materials. The demand for thermal insulation materials for heating pipes and factory heating pipes in northern winter is even more astonishing. The current leading product, mineral wool-based inorganic fiber, makes people’s skin itch, is highly absorbent, and is expensive. It is in urgent need of replacement. Foam concrete will also make a difference in this regard. Around 1957, my country used Soviet technology to produce and apply 60,000 m³ foam concrete thermal pipe insulation shells, which were used for thermal pipe insulation in Dalian Power Plant and Fengfeng Power Plant. Later, production was stopped due to the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations. This shows that it is feasible for foam concrete to replace inorganic fiber cotton. At present, foam concrete has not been applied in this field and is in urgent need of development.

The main products of thermal pipe insulation are prefabricated pipe insulation shells and special-shaped materials, as well as insulation panels.

1.3 Cold storage insulation

Foam plastics are currently used for cold storage insulation. Because foam plastics are prone to aging, shrinkage and flammability, developed countries have switched to foam concrete pouring or masonry insulation layers, and my country has also begun to replace them. It mainly uses integral cast-in-situ foam concrete for the roof, walls and floor, with no cold bridges or gaps.

1.4 Industrial furnace insulation

The main product is refractory insulation bricks.

In order to reduce energy consumption, large industrial furnaces such as steel plants, glass plants, ceramic plants, non-ferrous metal smelting plants, and cement calcining kilns need to be Build a layer of insulating refractory bricks. In the past, floating bead bricks and alumina foam bricks were mostly used, which were extremely expensive. my country has begun to use foam concrete refractory bricks to replace high-priced traditional products. The price is less than half of the price and is very competitive.

2 Sound absorption and sound insulation applications

Open-cell foam concrete is an excellent sound-absorbing material. Closed-cell foam concrete is an excellent sound insulation material. Both have huge markets, especially sound-absorbing materials, which have better prospects.

<Foam concrete grouting has been used to plug water in foreign countries. Because foam concrete has a high closed cell ratio, the material itself is impermeable to water, and its elasticity can absorb the deformation of the well wall, so the water blocking effect is better. It is a new water blocking technology.

12 Oilfield Application

In the early 1990s, the United States introduced foam concrete technology into oil and gas fields It was successfully exploited and quickly applied in oil fields around the world. my country also introduced this technology at the end of the last century and adopted it in major domestic oil and gas fields, becoming an important oil and gas extraction technology.

12.1 Foam concrete cementing

Using foam concrete to replace high-priced floating beads concrete cementing is cost-effective It has a series of advantages such as low cost, good pumpability, fast construction speed, adjustable density, good compactness of the hardened body, airtightness, watertightness, and strong erosion resistance. At present, this technology has been recognized by countries around the world and is the main technical means for cementing in the future. my country has also adopted it in major oil fields.

12.2 Foam drilling loss plugging

In areas with developed formation fractures, drilling loss of oil and gas wells requires Good leak-stopping techniques. In recent years, the use of micro-foam drilling fluid to increase drilling speed and the use of coarse foam to plug leakage have become an eye-catching new technology and have also begun to be applied in our country.

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