Conversion of Eelgrass into Effective Building Insulation

摘要

To test the suitability of accelerated solar drying of Zostera marina (Eelgrass), a solar heated drying chamber was constructed. Initially, a small pilot unit was assembled to verify the concept. Temperatures well over 200 exp 0 F were achieved with this unit, so a larger version of approximately 50 square feet of solar surface was constructed. The principal used in the construction was as noted on the following description, however, a stationary unit, not floating, was used for the drying tests. It was found that eelgrass could be dried to a form suitable for use in approximately 4 to 6 hours. During that time, the water content of the leaves was reduced from 4 to 5 times their dry weight to equilibrium moisture level. This compares wtih a reported 3 to 4 weeks drying time required of open air sun drying used in the early part of this century. See following chart for a typical drying run. The major problem encountered during the drying cycle was that the eelgrass on the top surface, as it dried, formed an insulating blanket over the grass below. It became necessary to periodically turn over the material for more uniform drying. A slowly rotating drying chamber would resolve this problem on future designs. The paper contains further information on various seagrasses. (ERA citation 10:042312)