ISSN: 2665-8488

JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL SCIENCES AND APPLIED BIOTECHNOLGY

An International Open Access, Peer Reviewed Research Journal
2019, Vol. 1, Issue (1)
Pages: 11-14

Measuring Thermal Conductivity of Certain Solid Industrial Waste by Box Method

Hicham LAKRAFLI a, Mohamed SENNOUNEb, Lamyae LAKRAFLIc
a
Superior School of Technology-Khénifra(EST-Khenifra), University of Sultan Moulay Slimane, BP 170 Khénifra 54000 Morocco.
b
National School of Applied Sciences-Khouribga (ENSA-Khouribga).University of Sultan Moulay Slimane, BP 77, Khouribga
Morocco.
c
Superior Normal School (ENS-Casablanca). University of Hassan II,BP 50069, Casablanca Morocco.

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Received Martch 9th,2019
Received in revised form June 2nd,2019
Accepted June 6th,2019
Keywords:
Thermal conductivity, Wastes,
Thermal insulation, Box method.
This work presents an experimental study of the effect of addition of wood
waste, especially Wood shavings (WS) and sawdust (S), on the thermal
properties using the box method. The results obtained show a significant
decrease in density and thermal conductivity λ (W/m°C) with an increase in the
content of wood waste.
© 2019 EST-Khenifra, University of Sultan Moulay Slimane. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In Morocco, energy consumption is increasing every year. As part of the new energy strategy, the country is developing
an energy efficiency (EE) policy.
The objective is to achieve a primary energy saving of about 20% by 2030 through the implementation of an energy
efficiency plan in the various economic sectors. Among these sectors, the building is the largest consumer of energy with
a share of 36% of the total energy consumption of the country (AMEE).
Thermal insulation is needed to reduce final energy consumption in buildings and to contribute to the use of
unconventional renewable energy sources for sustainable development (Vasilache et al., 2010). In fact, the use of
insulating materials is recommended if we want to obtain a comfortable indoor climate and limited energy consumption
(Grundström et al., 2003). In order to increase the thermal resistance of a wall, thermal insulators are used whose
principle is to trap the air in the smallest possible cells to reduce convection movements and conduction transfers. Most
insulators are porous materials with high thermal conduction resistance. They are able to oppose the heat flow that passes
through them. High performance thermal insulation is translated by the use of low thermal conductivity insulation (Tran
Le, 2010). The objective of our study is to highlight the importance and feasibility of recovering industrial solid waste as
insulating materials in the building industry.

2. Material and methods

2.1 Materials
Wood shavings (WS) and sawdust (S) are waste products resulting from wood processing industries were used in this
study as raw materials (Figure 1). The samples were collected from a carpentry workshop Morocco. The moisture content
(%) of wood shavings and sawdust, calculated from the weight of the sample before and after drying at 105 ° C, is about
11.7 and 11.3%, respectively.
2.2 Box method
The measurement technique used in this work to determine the thermal conductivity of steady-state materials is the box
method (Lakrafli et al., 2012; Taoukil et al., 2011). The apparatus used is shown in the (Figure 2). This involves making a
unidirectional heat flow through a sample of the material to be tested. The sample is placed between a hot environment
generated by a heating film and a cold environment created using a heat exchanger R traversed by glycol water cooled by
a cryostat. After establishing the steady state, the conductivity is calculated.

(* ) Corresponding author: Hicham LAKRAFLI .

E-mail address: h.lakrafli@usms.ma
Journal of Analytical Sciences and Applied Biotechnolgy LAKRAFLI et al.

2.3 Sample preparation and thermophysical measurement

The waste was each valued as a separating material for flat plates based on cement (25%) with sand (75%) and plaster.
The wall dimensions used are as follows: surface 27 x 27 cm², thickness 1 cm, distance between the two panels 2 cm
(Figure 3). Using the principle of composite or multilayer walls, (cement board /wood waste / cement board) and
(plasterboard / wood waste / plasterboard) are used to measure the thermal conductivity of wood shavings and sawdust
(Figure 3).
The multilayer specimens are placed between the box B and the isothermal box A so that the lateral flows are negligible.
The hot face is on the side of the inside of the box B, the cold face is on the side of the isothermal box A. Probes are
placed with the objective to evaluate the subsequent surface and ambient temperatures (Figure 2):
- Temperature of the hot face noted (Tc).
- Temperature of the cold face noted (Tf).
- Ambient temperature of the experiment room (TA).
- Temperature inside the box (TB).
After the establishment of the permanent regime, we measure the temperatures T (°C), the heater voltage V (Volte) , the
thickness e (m) and the subsequent expression to deduce the value of the thermal conductivity λ (W/m°C) of the sample
(equation 1):
e  V² 
=  − C1 (TB − TA )  (1)
S ( TC − TF )  R 
C1: The overall coefficient of heat loss of the box. The experimental determination gives C1=0,16 W/°C (Mourtada,
1982 ; Cerezo, 2005).
Then, the thermal conductivity of the wood waste layer is determined by the equation (2). The flux density φ (w/m²) is
constant throughout the wall in steady state.

=
( Tint – Text )
(2)
1  e  1
+  i  +
h1S  iS  h 2S
h: Coefficient of heat exchange by convection of the fluid(W/m2 °C).
S: Area of the sample (27 x 27 cm2).
Tint and Text: Air temperatures in contact with the inner and outer surface of the multilayer composite material.

Table 1: Thermal conductivity of wood waste deposited between cement board and plasterboard.
Material λ (W/m°C)
Wood shavings (WS) filed between plaster board 0,046
Wood shavings (WS) filed between cement board 0,051
Sawdust (S) filed between plaster board 0,076
Sawdust (S) filed between cement board 0,083

(a) (b)

Figure 1: Sawdust (a) and Wood shavings (b).

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Journal of Analytical Sciences and Applied Biotechnolgy LAKRAFLI et al.

Figure 2: Schematic presentation of the device for thermal conductivity measurement and position of the probes.

Figure 3: Schematic representation of the multilayer composite material.

Figure 4: Thermal conductivity of multilayer composite material as a function of waste (g) / volume ratio (cm3).

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Journal of Analytical Sciences and Applied Biotechnolgy LAKRAFLI et al.

3. Results and discussion

Wood shavings (WS) and sawdust (S) are waste .Their density is about 0.096 and 0.236 g/cm3, respectively. The volume
between the two panels (1458 cm3) are occupied by various amounts of waste ranging from 0 to 0.21 g/cm3 of the wood
shavings, and from 0 to 0.34 g/cm3 of the sawdust. This difference between the weight (g) / volume (cm3) ratios is
mainly due to the difference between the density of the tested materials.
The results of the effect of the (waste (g) / volume (cm3)) ratio on the thermal conductivity of panels separated by
carpentry wastes are reported in Figure 4.
The results obtained clearly show that the heat transfer decreases considerably when we use the building material panels
separated by the waste. As can be seen that a wood shavings (g) / volume (cm3) ratio decrease in the thermal conductivity
by 55 % with plaster board and 32 % with cement board. the same observation, that a sawdust (g) / volume (cm3) ratio
decrease in the thermal conductivity by 30 % with plaster board and 31% with cement board (Figure 4). Also, we can
observe it, the separated panels with the waste are more insulating than the panels separated with the air (reference test
(no waste)). And this decrease in thermal conductivity is explained by the motionless air present in waste fibers to reduce
convection movements and conduction transfers.
For determine the thermal conductivity (W/m°C) of each waste. The specimens (panel / waste / panel) are considered as
multilayer composite materials. At first, we measured the thermal conductivity of plaster board and plaster board.
Secondly we determined, using the box method, the thermal conductivity of each (panel / waste / panel) composite
specimen. The thermal conductivity of each waste is then determined using the principle of multilayer walls. All of the
results obtained show that the thermal conductivity determined using plaster board is in line with those obtained by the
use of cement board (Table 1). As we can see, for each waste, a low thermal conductivity determined, 0,046 (W/m°C) for
wood shavings (WS) filed between plaster board, 0,051 (W/m°C) for wood shavings (WS) filed between cement board,
0,076 (W/m°C) for sawdust (S) filed between plaster board and 0,076 (W/m°C) for sawdust (S) filed between cement
board (Table 1).

4. Conclusion
This experimental study was conducted to determine the thermal properties of wood waste. The wastes tested are used as
separating materials for the construction panels. This way of recovering waste has shown a considerable decrease in
thermal conductivity. The overall results showed that wood shavings and sawdust have low thermal conductivity,
especially when used in the dry state.

References
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expérimentale et modélisation théorique. Thèse de Doctorat. Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, 2005.
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Management (HDM) et Laboratoire Public d’Essais et d’Etudes (LPEE), 2003.
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© JASAB 2019

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