Investigation of heat transfer and mechanical properties of Saccharum officinarum leaf board

摘要

Abstract Due to the problems militating against solid-waste management in developing countries, the disposal of sugarcane leaves is majorly done by burning in an open space. Such practice usually results in environmental pollution due to generation and emission of carbon dioxide. There is need to look into a scientific way of reducing the waste in question and enhance its use in the production of environmentally-friendly, inexpensive, and value-added material. In this work, thermal conductivity (k), bulk density (ρdocumentclass[12pt]{minimal} usepackage{amsmath} usepackage{wasysym} usepackage{amsfonts} usepackage{amssymb} usepackage{amsbsy} usepackage{mathrsfs} usepackage{upgreek} setlength{oddsidemargin}{-69pt} begin{document}$$rho$$end{document}), specific heat capacity (C), thermal diffusivity (λ), thermal absorptivity (?), thermal inertia (e), water absorption (W.A), flexural strength (σdocumentclass[12pt]{minimal} usepackage{amsmath} usepackage{wasysym} usepackage{amsfonts} usepackage{amssymb} usepackage{amsbsy} usepackage{mathrsfs} usepackage{upgreek} setlength{oddsidemargin}{-69pt} begin{document}$$sigma$$end{document}), and compressive strength (CS) were investigated for compressed boards made of sugarcane (Saccharum Officinarum) leaves. The mean with standard error values obtained for k, ρdocumentclass[12pt]{minimal} usepackage{amsmath} usepackage{wasysym} usepackage{amsfonts} usepackage{amssymb} usepackage{amsbsy} usepackage{mathrsfs} usepackage{upgreek} setlength{oddsidemargin}{-69pt} begin{document}$$rho$$end{document}, C, λ, ?, e, W.A,σdocumentclass[12pt]{minimal} usepackage{amsmath} usepackage{wasysym} usepackage{amsfonts} usepackage{amssymb} usepackage{amsbsy} usepackage{mathrsfs} usepackage{upgreek} setlength{oddsidemargin}{-69pt} begin{document}$$sigma$$end{document}, and CS were (0.0481?±?0.0004) Wm?1?K?1, (253.558?±?2.459) kg.m?3, (2140.930?±?1.356) Jkg?1?K?1, (8.867?±?0.024)?×?10?8m2?s?1, (20.252?±?0.004) m?1, (161.633?±?1.421) Jm?2?K?1?s??, (90.123?±?0.164) %, (0.263?±?0.004) Nmm?2, and (0.152?±?0.006) Nmm?2, respectively. Observably, these values compare favourably with those of already-known conventional ceiling panels. Thus, sugarcane leaf is a potential eco-friendly raw material for the production of thermal insulation boards that are suitable for use as a ceiling for naturally cooled building design, especially, in tropical regions. Doing so can help to minimise the adverse effect resulting from the practice of its disposal by open burning method.