The thesis describes the process of manufacturing thermal insulation panels made from non-woven polyester (PET) textiles. Panels were made by compressing and heating the shredded non-woven felt in a heated platen press. The first few trial panels were made with manufacturing process improvement in mind. Subsequent 35 panels were made in different thickness and density of fill, some of them with and some without added water glass. Nineteen panels were analyzed in detail. At this stage their thermal conductivity, sound absorption and fire resistance were measured. The comparison of the obtained measurement results demonstrated that the density of the panels has the greatest impact on thermal conductivity. The denser the panel, the higher its thermal conductivity, which indicates worse thermal insulation properties. Thermal conductivity is also affected by presence of water glass, since panels with added water glass had higher thermal conductivity compared to the panels of the same density without water glass. Thermal conductivity of the latter depends on the final thickness of the panels as their thermal conductivity increases proportionally to their thickness, whereas the impact of thickness on thermal conductivity of panels with added water glass is negligible. Thermal conductivity of lower density panels is competitive with some of the existing insulators on the market. Thermal conductivity of the tested panels ranged from 0,044 to 0,061 W/mK. Water glass and higher sample density have a positive influence on the sound insulation properties of the panels. It has also been concluded that that the addition of water glass, which itself is non-combustible, has a negative effect on the fire resistance properties of the panels.
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