image: In conjunction with the French company Keey Aerogel, Tecnalia has developed a highly competitive aerogel-based thermal superinsulator which has earned them double European recognition. view more
Credit: Tecnalia
On 29 June Tecnalia and Keey Aerogel together received the People's Choice Award for environmentally more sustainable construction products. This prize comes within the framework of an innovation competition, the third edition of which was organised by the World Materials Forum in Nancy, France. They were awarded the previous prize "Business Ideas Competition for Innovation in Raw Materials" in Berlin in May.
This new aerogel-based superinsulating material (SICLA) is able to cut energy consumption by up to 40%, thus allowing better use of resources to be made. The alliance between the French SME Keey Aerogel and Tecnalia has resulted in the development of technology enabling this type of material to be manufactured, but based on a sustainable, innovative production process and starting with a very low-cost raw material that includes recycled material with a high silicon content.
Those set to benefit from this new technology are the oil and gas sector, heating equipment manufacturers, thermal and acoustic insulation product manufacturers and construction product manufacturers, among others. They will be able to significantly reduce energy consumption and make better use of resources.
Aerogel, also known as "frozen smoke", constitutes an amazing array of materials that have been used since the 1960s on space missions, but today they are finding a whole range of uses thanks to their properties. Their solid shape has a texture similar to that of polystyrene and their solidity is similar to that of glass.
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