Thermal insulation material made from oil palm empty fruit bunch fibres

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to characterize cut oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibres and to focus on the manufacturing of environmentally friendly thermal insulation material from these fibres for building purposes. Originally, the EFB fibres were heterogeneous, and rolled up in compacted wads in a disorderly fashion, with fibre lengths of approximately 50 mm to more than 200 mm. The moisture content and density of these fibres were approximately 12.7% and 18.1 kg/m 3 , respectively. For the production of thermal insulation material (patent DE 43 16901 Al with some modifications) the EFB fibres were cut and needles, dust and dirt were removed to improve the homogeneity of the raw material. Potassium water glass and water were used as a binding agent and as a solvent, respectively. Carbon dioxide gas and hot air (60°C) were blown through the fibres in a fumigation room to cure the waterglass and produce a hardened fibre sheet. The results of this study were gathered from the information on the characteristics of the cut EFB fibres as a raw material (incl. fibre length distribution, density, moisture and oil content), physical properties (incl. moisture content, density and thermal conductivity) and the technical aspects of insulation material production. According to the results obtained, moisture content and density of the cut EFB fibres were approximately 11.36% and 40.5 kg/m 3 , respectively. Density of the insulation material was approximately 116.4 kg/m 3 with thermal conductiv-ity between 0.049 and 0.054 W/mK. Using cut EFB fibres as raw material for the insulation material production technique appear to be technically acceptable based on this investigation and the above mentioned patent. EFB fibre insulation material is also acceptable as an environmcntally-friendly insulation material for building purposes according to the insulation for buildings requirement DIN 4102-1 (1981).