Steady-State Thermal Properties of Rectangular Straw-Bales (RSB) for Building

Written by esba

Straw is an inevitable product of cereal production and is available in huge quantities in the world. In order to use straw bales as a building material, the characteristic values of the thermal performances should be determined. To not lose the benefits of the cheapness and sustainability of the material, the characteristics must be determined with simple and inexpensive means and procedures. This research aims to implement tools and methods focused on the determination of the thermal properties of straw bales.

For this study, the guidelines dictated by ASTM and ISO were followed. A measurement system consisting of a Metering Chamber (MC) was realized. The MC was placed inside a Climate Chamber (CC). During the test, a known quantity of energy is introduced inside MC. When the steady-state is reached, all the energy put into MC passes through its walls in CC, where it is absorbed by the air-conditioner. A series of thermopiles detect the temperature of the surfaces of the measurement system and of the specimen. By determining the amount of energy transmitted by the various parts of MC and by the specimen, it is possible to apply Fourier’s law to calculate the thermal conductivity of the specimen.

Authors:

  1. Conti, Leonardo
  2. Barbari, Matteo
  3. Monti, Massimo

Link: http://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/6/4/44

About the author

esba

The European Straw Building Association is an independent European association, devoid of any profit making motive. The object of the Association is to promote and develop the use of straw, as a sustainable way of building in all the senses of the term “sustainable”: renewable, ecological, healthy, energy and climate efficient, social and economic.
The Association is a federation composed of organisations and people particularly concerned with the use of straw in buildings.