Ceramic foam body having closed cell structure
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorsBilly L. George, Timothy J. Gennrich, Joseph Graham
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cylindrical ceramic foam body that can be the sole buoyant member of an oil-containment boom is produced by firing a mixture of fine particles of ceramic precursor, a source of carbon such as silicon carbide, and a metallic oxide. In the boom, a stack of the ceramic foam bodies, each of which is a cylinder, can be held together by wire mesh to provide a buoyant log. A plurality of the buoyant logs can be inserted end-to-end into a 3-layer loop, viz., an inner layer of a ceramic textile fabric, a middle layer of knitted wire mesh, and an outer layer of polymer-coated fabric.
Claims19
A ceramic foam body produced by firing a green shape of a mixture of fine particles of, by weight,
- 100 parts of ceramic precursor selected from the group consisting of volcanic ash, vermiculite, perlite, obsidian, and feldspar,
- a source of carbon in an amount of providing from 0.3 to 5 parts of carbon, and
- a nonrefractory metallic oxide in an amount providing from 0.3 to 3 parts of oxygen at a temperature sufficient to produce a ceramic foam body having a hard-cell crust, a closed-cell interior, and a density of from 0.1 to 0.5 g/cm.sup.3.
Method of making a ceramic foam body comprising the steps of
- (a) forming a green shape of a mixture comprising water and fine particles of, by weight,
- 100 parts of ceramic precursor, selected from the group consisting of volcanic ash, vermiculite, perlie, obsidian, and feldspar,
- a source of carbon in am amount providing from 0.3 to 5 parts of carbon, and
- a metallic oxide in an amount providing from 0.3 to 3 parts of oxygen, and
- (b) firing the mixture at a temperature sufficient to produce a ceramic foam body having a density of from 0.1 to 0.5 g/cm.sup.3, a hard-shell crust, and a closed-cell interior.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.