Thermal performance optimization of hollow clay bricks made up of paper waste

Abstract

a b s t r a c tIn this paper, the thermal behavior of hollow clay bricks made up of paper waste has been studied and their thermal performance has been optimized. On the one hand, both strength and thermal properties of different paper waste concentrations have been obtained by means of laboratory tests. Thermal conductivity of the microporous brick materials with additives produced in this study reduced from 0.68 W/m K to 0.39 W/m K compared with that of the sample without additives. On the other hand, the finite element method (FEM) has been applied to the nonlinear numerical thermal analysis of three different hollow bricks, including radiation and convection phenomena inside holes. Next, using the design of experiments (DOE) over the FEM models, several parameters such as the material conductivity, the convection and radiation properties and the mean brick temperature have been studied. In general, the thermal resistance is a nonlinear function that depends on the geometry of the recesses, the material properties and the temperature distribution. In all analyzed cases, minimizing the material thermal conductivity of bricks and decreasing the recesses surface radiation emissivity caused a lower thermal transmittance in the brick. Finally, the most important conclusions and the main findings of this research are exposed.

Influence of expanded vermiculite on physical properties and thermal conductivity of clay bricks

“…The thermal performance of bricks depends on the geometry of the brick recesses and the material properties. The differences of thermal conductivity in function of product geometry are described another study by Sutcu et al [10].…”

Mathematical approach to application of industrial wastes in clay brick production—Part II: Optimization

“…For example, a few studies are conducted to optimize insulation abilities by designing number and place of voids in the brick structure, mostly by finite volume method [9][10][11][12], whereas one study only shows admixtures of heavy clay and industrial waste [13]. Optimization of the most suitable product form and firing temperature, together with heavy clay raw materials chemical composition, trapezoidal membership function is used [14,15].…”

Compressive Strength and Bulk Density of Concrete Hollow Blocks (CHB) with Polypropylene (PP) Pellets as Partial Replacement for Sand

“…Conducted in New Zealand, where a considerable volume of waste latex paint exists, it was concluded that waste latex paint was a suitable substitute for common admixtures in concrete masonry blockfill, resulting in maintained strength and improved workability. In another study, paper waste was considered as an additive to produce porous and lightweight hollow clay bricks with reduced thermal conductivity and acceptable compressive strength [17].…”