As highlighted in the Business Plan, the Pianosilica product is characterised by new features and functionalities that distinguish it from other products available on the market; in particular, from the competing product in the form of mineral wool. The mentioned features and functionalities include:
- a wide range of modifications of physical and chemical parameters through the use of nano-additives or other specific components – part of the raw materials can be successfully replaced with waste materials, so that the production cost will be additionally reduced,
- a simpler, more flexible and less capital-intensive production process in comparison to the mineral wool production process – the manufacturers of sandwich panels purchase their wool from external suppliers, and as a result, the production process is not only a multi-step process, but it also has a lower rate and higher costs (increased by, for example, costs of wool transport); in contrast, the production of foam silicates could be performed directly in the manufacturers' factories, since the manufacturing process is much less complicated and requires less expenditures for starting the production line, and this makes it possible to shorten the process and reduce its costs,
- a lower demand for electricity required for producing the finished product – mineral wool is manufactured at a temperature of 1000oC (glass wool) or 1400oC (rock wool), whereas foam silicates are manufactured at a temperature of 400-600oC – in consequence, the demand for electricity required for the manufacturing of 1 tonne of the output material of mineral wool is by 280% higher than in the case of foam silicate,
- due to very high adhesion of foam silicate to other surfaces (e.g. steel sheet, which is the most common cladding for sandwich panels), it is not necessary to use an adhesive in order to hold the cladding of the panel and its core together; as a result, in the event of fire, there is no emission of harmful gases that would be otherwise produced during the combustion of adhesives used in mineral wool.
By reducing heat losses and using materials sourced from waste, our innovative technology will make a direct contribution to more efficient use of resources and CO2 emission, and as such it can be called as eco-innovative. It has been developed by an SME company composed of scientists of ILT&SR PAS. Being a small business, we do have sufficient human capital, which can maximize its potential and become more competitive if we receive the grant.
Thanks to our solution, we can contribute to the common European challenge of accelerating the commercialization of eco-innovative construction related solutions with a view to stimulating sustainable economic growth, business and job creation in the construction sector. Our technology, thanks to novel methods of materials manufacturing, can help with achieving more sustainable materials management, consumption and recycling while maintaining high level of cost efficiency. Thanks to Pianosilica we will also help to achieve the goals of the European Commission in terms of environment protection and use of resources. Those goals mainly embrace objectives and strategies set out in the following documents “Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe” [COM(2011) 571] and “A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy” [COM (2011) 21].
