Thermal insulators based on abundant waste materials

Abstract

Any airconditioned zone must be thermally insulated from its surroundings to maintain the desired temperature. Thermal insulators thus play a significant role in reducing heat transfer between airconditioned areas and their surroundings to save energy. Thermal insulators are usually made from materials with low thermal conductivity, and to reduce the cost of such insulators, this study investigated the use of waste organic materials as thermal insulators. This study is the second part of a project that aims to achieve an optimised insulator from both the thermal and economic perspectives. To achieve this, the heat conductivity of five different samples made from hair, grass, date seed, and date palm fibre were examined. The all samples were made with industrial white glue as a binder. The heat flow method was employed to determine their thermal conductivity, with results that showed that all samples offered thermal resistance to heat transfer in the range 0.0530 to 0.1068 W/mK. The best thermal resistance was provided by the sample made from hair and fibres. The current study supports sustainability by encouraging the use of waste organic materials in thermal insulators.