Asbestos and ceramic fiber are fine high temperature resistant materials, but they have differences. First, their raw materials are different. The main compositions of asbestos materials are asbestos, fillers and rubber. The main components of ceramic fiber materials are aluminum silicate and other small amount of ores. Due to different raw materials, they have different high temperature resistant property. Asbestos can resist high temperature of about 600° C, but ceramic fiber can resist extremely high temperature. Its temperature can reach up to 1000 ° C to 1430 ° C.

Asbestos is generally used as the thermal insulation building material. It can be used as sealing material for flanges, valves, etc and also can be made into fireproof gloves and fireproof clothing, but can not be used as refractory lining materials for high temperature furnaces and kilns due to lower temperature. Ceramic fiber blanket and module are mainly used as thermal insulation linings for furnaces, kilns and other high temperature equipments. They also can be used as thermal insulation building materials and used in other insulation applications.

Ceramic fiber has high mechanical strength. The tensile strength of asbestos is not as high as ceramic fiber, so the mechanical strength of ceramic fiber is higher than asbestos. Ceramic fiber has solid fiber structure, so it has good compactness. Asbestos is a collection of tiny tubular fibers arranged parallel to each other, so its compactness is not as good as ceramic fiber.

Asbestos is a fine thermal insulation material which has been used for many years, but later people find that it has toxicity and it will cause human health hazards. If people inhale its fibers, they will stay in human body for very long time, even as long as 10 or 20 years. It will cause lung disease or even lung cancer. Ceramic fiber is an environmentally friendly material, especially in recent years the invention of bio soluble ceramic fiber products. Ceramic fiber products have high temperature resistance, good sealing insulation, easy processing and other advantages, so it is excellent thermal insulation material.

At present, more and more countries in the world have prohibited to use asbestos due to its harmful to human body, especially in the developed countries. The use of asbestos materials in China has been also prohibited, but some places are still in use. We believe that with the awareness of health hazard, asbestos materials will be completely replaced by ceramic fiber materials or other environmentally friendly materials.