Previous research carried out on experimental equipment for the manufacture of foam glass from bottle glass waste using the microwave energy has reached the stage of data verification. The working conditions of a tunnel furnace with a conveyor belt were partially simulated, the raw material being microwave irradiated through the side walls of the furnace coated with a thin layer of silicon carbide (3.5 mm) as microwave susceptible material. Under the conditions of unconventional heating with electromagnetic waves, partially direct due to the low thickness of the susceptible material layer, which is penetrated by the microwaves and partially indirect through the thermal radiation of the material layer, which absorbs part of the waves, the raw material placed on the conveyor belt is sintered at high temperatures (820 – 985 ºC) and the foaming process occurs due to the additio n of a foaming agent (silicon carbide or calcium carbonate). The physical, mechanical and morphological characteristics of the foam glass samples were determined by usual methods, the results confirming the viability of the unconventional heating technique, unlike the conventional methods used worldwide.

Keywords : foam glass; microwave; simulation; furnace; silicon carbide.