Lightweight glass ceramic foams were produced from a mixture of silicate wastes: 20 wt% coal pond ash & 80 wt% bottle glass cullet. A powder sintering route, incorporating 2 wt% SiC as foaming agent was used. Pore morphology achieved under different sintering conditions was investigated using X-ray microtomography. The apparent density of the foams ranged from 0.2-0.4g cm-3, & porosity ranged from 70-90%. Other variables, pore wall thickness, pore size & roundness, all behaved consistently with sintering temperature. Optimum sintering temperature was in the range 1000-1050 deg C, when porosity was around 75% & was the most uniform. Foams produced under this condition exhibit satisfactory compressive strength, around 1.5 MPa & show relatively high thermal shock resistance, with compressive strength gradually decreasing as quenching temperature increases.
