Insulation behavior of foamed based geopolymer as a thermally efficient sustainable blocks

Abstract

The importance of sustainability and energy efficiency in the construction and design of houses is crucial in today's environment. The material used as an insulation layer within the building envelope restricts heat transfer through it. However, heat transfer depends upon the characteristics of the insulating layers and their properties. Therefore, creating materials that possess low thermal conductivity while maintaining their mechanical, physical and durability properties is of utmost significance. The aim of this research is to explore the feasibility of utilizing foamed insulating geopolymer blocks as a means to address energy efficiency and environmental sustainability issues. The research involves utilizing copper slag and glass powder as the primary raw materials to produce the geopolymer. Additionally, the technique of foaming is applied to enhance the thermal resistance of the resulting product. The study results revealed that the foamed geopolymer material exhibited thermal conductivity in the range of 0.13 to 0.16 W/mK. Also, the developed product was subjected to conjugate thermal analysis to understand the heat transfer behavior of material. The heat transfer analysis is performed by in-house developed conjugate heat transfer solver in OpenFOAM. The variation of temperature through the solid geopolymer walls to internal room environment is reported, and Nusselt number at the solid–fluid interface is plotted to observe the insulation strength of developed geopolymer. The findings suggest the developed product can provide better thermal insulation than conventional material, in addition to this the foamed geopolymer can be treated as sustainable material as it utilizes waste and reduces the energy requirements of buildings.