Thermal Ceramics manufacture high-temperature thermal insulation, much of which is made in the form of fibre, for use in furnaces, aeroengines, domestic appliances, fire protection systems and other applications. In the manufacturing process, a melt stream emerges from a circular orifice and falls on to two successive spinning wheels, resulting in fiberisation. However, the process also results in a significant fraction of unfiberised material in the form of shot particles. The presence of shot tends to increase the thermal conductivity of the final product. Moreover, some areas of application, such as the automotive industry, require clean fibre with zero shot. Reducing the amount of shot that is produced in the fiberisation process would also reduce the costs of 'cleaning' the fibres for these markets. The Study Group was asked to look at how melt transfers on to the spinning wheels, what kind of melt layer exists on the wheels, and how this layer breaks up. By using a mathematical model to understand the relative importance of various parameters, it is hoped to guide experimental trials and then the scale-up to production levels.

Problem presented by
Gary Jubb, Thermal Ceramics

Study Group contributors
Chris Breward (University of Oxford)
John Byatt-Smith (University of Edinburgh)
Linda Cummings (University of Nottingham)
Rosemary Dyson (University of Oxford)
Carina Edwards (University of Oxford)
Alistair Fitt (University of Southampton)
Ian Griffiths (University of Oxford)
John Hinch (University of Cambridge)
Peter Howell (University of Oxford)
Sam Howison (University of Oxford)
Gareth Jones (University of Oxford)
Paul Metcalfe (University of Cambridge)
Shailesh Naire (Heriot-Watt University)
Hilary Ockendon (University of Oxford)
John Ockendon (University of Oxford)
Howell Peregrine (University of Bristol)
Colin Please (University of Southampton)
Chris Poole (University of Oxford)
Giles Richardson (University of Nottingham)
Steven Roper (University of Cambridge)
Jennifer Siggers (University of Nottingham)
Frank Smith (University College London)
Jean-Marc Vanden-Broeck (University of East Anglia)
Jennifer Wright (University of Bath)
Xu Xu (Aberdeen University)
Maxim Zyskin (University of Bristol)