Composite Panels from the Combination of Rice Husk and Wood Chips with a Natural Resin Based on Tannins Reinforced with Sugar Cane Molasses Intended for Building Insulation: Physico-Mechanical and Thermal Properties

The objective of this work is to develop new biosourced insulating composites from rice husks and wood chips that can be used in the building sector. It appears from the properties of the precursors that rice chips and husks are materials which can have good thermal conductivity and therefore the combination of these precursors could make it possible to obtain panels with good insulating properties. With regard to environmental and climatic constraints, the composite panels formulated at various rates were tested and the physico-mechanical and thermal properties showed that it was essential to add a crosslinker in order to increase certain solicitation. an incorporation rate of 12% to 30% made it possible to obtain panels with low thermal conductivity, a low surface water absorption capacity and which gives the composite good thermal insulation and will find many applications in the construction and real estate sector. Finally, new solutions to improve the fire reaction of the insulation panels are tested which allows to identify suitable solutions for the developed composites. In view of the flame tests, the panels obtained are good and can effectively combat fire safety in public buildings.

Experimental study on the influence of temperature and humidity on the thermal conductivity of building insulation materials

At present,thermal conductivity is usually taken as a constant value in the calculation of building energy con-sumption and load.However,in the actual use of building materials,they are exposed to the environment with continuously changing temperature and relative humidity.The thermal conductivity of materials will inevitably change with temperature and humidity,leading to deviations in the estimation of energy consumption in the building.Therefore,in this study,variations in the thermal conductivity of eight common building insulation materials(glass wool,rock wool,silica aerogel blanket,expanded polystyrene,extruded polystyrene,phenolic foam,foam ceramic and foam glass)with temperature(in the range of 20-60°C)and relative humidity(in the range of 0-100%)were studied by experimental methods.The results show that the thermal conductivity of these common building insulation materials increased approximately linearly with increasing temperature with maxi-mum growth rates from 3.9 to 22.7%in the examined temperature range.Due to the structural characteristics of materials,the increasing thermal conductivity of different materials varies depending on the relative humidity.The maximum growth rates of thermal conductivity with humidity ranged from 8.2 to 186.7%.In addition,the principles of selection of building insulation materials in different humidity regions were given.The research re-sults of this paper aim to provide basic data for the accurate value of thermal conductivity of building insulation materials and for the calculation of energy consumption.

Analysis of the Performances of a New Type of Alumina Nanocomposite Structural Material Designed for the Thermal Insulation of High-Rise Buildings

The sol-gel method is used to prepare a new nano-alumina aerogel structure and the thermal properties of this nanomaterial are investigated comprehensively using electron microscope scanning,thermal analysis,X-ray and infrared spectrometer analysis methods.It is found that the composite aerogel alumina material has a multi-level porous nano-network structure.When employed for the thermal insulation of high-rise buildings,the alumina nanocomposite aerogel material can lead to effective energy savings in winter.However,it has almost no energy-saving effect on buildings where energy is consumed for cooling in summer.

Carbon foams prepared from coal tar pitch for building thermal insulation material with low cost

A new approach is provided to resolve the large-scale applications of coal tar pitch. Carbon foams with uniform pore size are prepared at the foaming pressure of normal pressure using coal tar pitch as raw materials. The physical and chemical performance of high softening point pitch(HSPP) can be regulated by vacuumizing owing to the cooperation of vacuumizing and polycondensation. Results indicate that the optimum softening point and weight ratio of quinoline insoluble are about 292℃ and 65.7%, respectively. And the optimum viscosity of HSPP during the foaming process is distributed in the range of 1000-10000 Pa·s. The resultant carbon foam exhibits excellent performance, such as uniform pore structure, high compressive strength(4.7 MPa), low thermal conductivity(0.07 W·m^(-1) ·K^(-1)), specially, it cannot be fired under the high temperature of 1200 ℃.Thus, this kind of carbon foam is a potential candidate for thermal insulation material applied in energy saving building.

Experimental Study of Heat Transfer in an Insulated Local Heated fromBelow and Comparison with Simulation by Lattice Boltzmann Method

In this paper,experimental and numerical studies of heat transfer in a test local of side H=0.8 m heated from below are presented and compared.All the walls,the rest of the floor and the ceiling are made from plywood and polystyrene in sandwich form(3 mmplywood-3 cm polystyrene-3 mmplywood)just on one of the vertical walls contained a glazed door(2 H/3×0.15 m).This local is heated during two heating cycles by a square plate of iron the width L=0.6 H,which represents the heat source,its temperature Th is controlled.The plate is heated for two cycles by an adjustable set-point heat source placed just down the center of it.For each cycle,the heat source is switched“on”for 6 h and switched“off”for 6 h.The outdoor air temperature is kept constant at a low temperature Tc<Th.All measurements are carried out with k-type thermocouples and with flux meters.Results will be qualitatively presented for two cycles of heating in terms of temperatures and heat flux densitiesϕfor various positions of the test local.The temperature evolution of the center and the profile of the temperature along the vertical centerline are compared by two dimensions simulation using the lattice Boltzmann method.The comparison shows a good agreement with a difference that does not exceed±1℃.

Thermal performance analysis of building construction with insulated walls in summer days and nights

In the present study,the insulation mechanism of building walls during the summer days and nights is investigated with a realistic approach to enhance their performance.A fiber layer,as a porous medium with air gaps,is used along the wall layers to decrease the energy loss.Meanwhile,the radiation heat flux variation during five days in a row has been considered for each side of the building,and it is tried to reach the optimum values for geometrical factors and find suitable insulation for each side of the building.A lattice Boltzmann method(LBM) based code is developed to simulate the actual chain of the heat transfer which consists of radiation,conduction,forced and natural convection combination within wall layers including fiber porous insulation.The results indicate that for the current insulation model,the effect of natural convection on the heat transfer is not negligible and the existence of the porous layer has caused a positive impact on the heat loss reduction by decreasing the circulation speed.Also,by using the optimum location and thickness for the insulation layer,it is showed that each side of the building has different rates of energy loss during a day,and for the appropriate insulation,they need to be evaluated separately.

Applications of Low-Emissivity Hybrid Insulation in South Korea

Low-Emissivity Hybrid Insulation has been developed in South Korea. It combines both resistive and reflective insulating principle. It is composed with many layers of reflective aluminum foils and honeycomb-structure air cells with polyethylene foam. This paper introduces recent South Korean building insulation code and the applications of Low-Emissivity Hybrid Insulation to meet the code.

Dynamic performance and energy efficiency of reflective and insulative composite coating on building exterior wall

Reflective and insulative composite coatings are a new energy-saving material with high solar reflectance and extremely low thermal conductivity for buildings.The optimization and impact of high solar reflectance and low thermal conductivity on the insulating capacity of walls remain uncertain.This work investigates the dynamic thermal performance and energy efficiency of a reflective and insulative composite coating in regions with hot summer and warm winter.A simplified thermal resistance-heat capacitance model of an exterior building wall is established to predict thermal performance.The dynamic temperature and heat flow of the wall are predicted to reduce heat loss through the interior surface of the wall and compared to the conventional coating.The specific impact of the thermal conductivity and solar reflectance of the coating on the heat loss is further investigated to minimize heat loss of the wall.This research shows that the composite coating shows better performance on adjusting outdoor climate change than the other coating.Compared with cement,it reduces the maximum temperature of the exterior surface of the wall by 7.45°C,and the heat loss through the interior surface of the wall by 38%.The heat loss is reduced with the increase of solar reflectance and the reduction of thermal conductivity.The results can provide a useful reference and guidance for the application of reflective and insulative composite coating on building exterior wall to promote their energy-saving use on building envelopes.