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    A COMPARATIVE HEAT TRANSFER EXAMINATION OF INDIGENOUS NATURAL FIBERS FOR BUILDING INSULATION USING A DYNAMIC WALL SIMULATOR

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    Kuppusamy_ku_0099M_14761_DATA_1.pdf (8.129Mb)
    Issue Date
    2016-08-31
    Author
    Kuppusamy, Arun Palaniswamy
    Publisher
    University of Kansas
    Format
    141 pages
    Type
    Thesis
    Degree Level
    M.S.
    Discipline
    Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering
    Rights
    Copyright held by the author.
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    Abstract
    The objective of this thesis was to evaluate natural indigenous fibers as potential, cost-effective, alternatives for building insulation. The natural fibers used were Timothy grass, wheat straw, and coconut fiber. A well-calibrated dynamic wall simulator was used for the experimental evaluation under both transient and steady-state heat transfer processes. The experiments centered on comparing the thermal performance of the indigenous natural fibers to a well-known and widely-used building insulation product, namely extruded polystyrene (XPS). The indigenous natural fibers were evaluated at densities of 30, 45, and 65 kg/m3. R-values were calculated for the natural fibers based on the experiments and mathematical expressions of R-value as a function of fiber material density were developed. The experimental results showed that wheat straw at a density of 65 kg/m3 performed within 6% of the XPS insulation. Extrapolations via the mathematical expressions indicated that Timothy grass would perform identically to the XPS insulation if the grass were used at a density of 68.3 kg/m3. The cost, however, would be about 32 times less than the XPS insulation.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/22345
    Collections
    • Engineering Dissertations and Theses [705]
    • Theses [3407]

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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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