Centrifugal spinning and thermal processing of glass fibres

Currently, our commercial borate-based “Cobra rod” glass is being used to preserve utility poles, doubling or trebling the lifetime and is a key to enhancing lifetimes of wood distribution and transmission power poles. Our main objective is to successfully process our glass into fibres, beads, and glass fibre mats like those used in the insulation industry. Along the way, we hope to gain fundamental knowledge about the thermal behaviour and processing parameters of our glass, to further glass science as well as guide future needs of the partner organization. This ability to tune the production process will lead to new products, clients, patents, and avenues for the application of our product, such as incorporation into engineered wood products. Furthermore, the partner organization will fabricate lab equipment which can be used for fundamental glass research in future collaborations with the scientific community.

Faculty Supervisor:

M. Yaman Boluk;Ravin Narain;Jason MacQueen;Alex Shum

Student:

Partner:

Genics

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing; Mining; Utilities

University:

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology; University of Alberta

Program: