Abstract
The adobe is a widely used traditional material in popular building construction in rural areas of Northeastern, Nigeria and more generally in African countries. In order to increase comfort and energy efficiency of buildings, it is necessary to better consider the thermal properties of the adobe. Adobes at different locations as a function of moisture content have been studied. Thermal conductivity and thermal resistivity were measured by means of a single probe method. Density was estimated by the ratio of mass to volume. The measured values of thermal conductivity and thermal resistivity of adobe soil are varying between 0.191 to 0.428 W/m K and 2.34 to 5.23 mK/W in the moisture content range 5-20% wet basis. However, the effect of moisture content increase by increasing the thermal conductivity and decreases the resistivity of soil samples. Regression analysis was carried out which could be used to reasonably estimate the values of the thermal conductivity and resistivity as a function of specified moisture content. For the adobe soils studied, thermal properties increased with increasing soil moisture content.
Highlights
Adobe bricks have been an important component of buildings in Nigeria before the advent of sandcrete blocks
It was found that thermal conductivity of soil samples increased with an increase in moisture content (P≤0.03), which was in agreement with some previous researchers who studied thermal conductivity of other soils (Evett et al, 2012; Ekwue et al, 2011)
This may be due to the fact that the thermal conductivity of water ranges from 0.6106 to 0.6372 W/m K at temperatures of 26.5-45°C (Mahmoodi and Kianmehr, 2008) which is much higher than that of air filled in pores following reduction in moisture
Summary
Adobe bricks have been an important component of buildings in Nigeria before the advent of sandcrete blocks. The literature contains many reports the effect of moisture content, bulk density, temperature, tillage treatments, salt Concentration and organic matter on thermal properties of soils (Edem et al, 2012). Such information assumes greater importance with increasing attention being paid to developing the agricultural and building construction industry in Nigeria. Construction with adobe is still highly practiced among the communities of developing countries as it is affordable and economical (Hugo and Hubert, 1994) Local people use their experiences and rough estimation in producing bricks manually (Napatsriwattanaprayoon, 2014). The indoor environment was more stable inside the traditional houses; no house was able to provide thermal comfort
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