In this blog, we have written about boards, gravel and boards made of foamed glass granulate. But up to now, we never discussed the foamed glass granulate itself. Foamed glass granulate is produced in a rotary furnace. I guess that white granulates  are foamed by using white sodalime glass with Calciumcarbonate as foaming agent. The following picture shows a rotary furnace from Liaver.

The Genius group, an organization which focuses on innovation, uses foamed glass granulate for fire protection and to absorb liquids. I give hereunder a citation from their website

• PyroBubbles^® have been positively tested by the MPA Dresden (in compliance with DIN EN 3-7) as an extinguishing agent for solid and liquid flammable materials (Fire Classes A, B, D and F).
• PyroBubbles^® are the ideal filler for storing and transporting lithium-ion batteries (UN3480, UN3090) and are lighter than sand (approximately 235 kg/m³).
  PyroBubbles^® consist mainly of silicon dioxide with an average grain size of 0.5 to 5 mm.
• PyroBubbles^® absorb electrolytes (BAM tested).
• PyroBubbles^® have a low thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity and are electrically insulating.
• PyroBubbles^® are heat resistant to approx. 1050°C. At higher temperatures they begin to melt and form a closed and thermally insulating layer around the source of the fire.
• PyroBubbles^® float on the surface of the liquid and are particularly well suited for fighting flammable liquid fires, independent of polarity.
• PyroBubbles^® can be collected and to a large extent be reused after every application.
• PyroBubbles^® are hydrophobic and resistant to aging.
• PyroBubbles^® comprise porous hollow glass granules and are classified as Class A1 building materials (DIN 4102 and EN13501); they feature excellent processing capabilities.
• PyroBubbles^® require no maintenance and thus generate low maintenance costs.

This is clearly a new approach to clean up (industrial) disasters with waste glass and it can be recovered to be used again. In the datasheet, they mention a thermal conductivity and acoustic absorption. These properties are important for boards produced with these granulates like already mentioned in a previous post.