Porous materials for alkali contaminated environments

This study presents the synthesis of alkali aluminosilicates based on the stoichiometry of KAlSiO4 by a hydrothermal treatment followed by a sintering step. The aim was to create formed porous samples which could be a potential material in high temperature applications with alkali corrosive conditions. The material composition was adjusted using analysis of variance (ANOVA) to reach resistance to alkali corrosion of the synthesized material. A casting process was established replacing a part of the raw materials by pre-sintered material to produce porous samples. The final samples were characterized with regard to bulk density, refractoriness under load, cold crushing strength and thermal conductivity. The results showed similar properties compared to conventional materials.