Instrumentation Mesure Métrologie

Vol. 18, No. 3, June, 2019, pp. 281-287

Journal homepage: http://iieta.org/journals/i2m

Thermo-physical Properties Measurements of an Insulating Material Extracted from Different

Date Palm Trees
Rachida Oaddi1*, Rachid Tiskatine2, Mohamed Boulaid1 , Lahcen Bammou2, Ahmed Aharoune2, Ahmed Ihlal1
1
Laboratory of Materials and Renewable Energies, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, 80000
Agadir, Morocco
2
Laboratory of Thermodynamics and Energetic, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ibn Zohr University, 80000
Agadir, Morocco

Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]

https://doi.org/10.18280/i2m.180308 ABSTRACT

Received: 6 March 2019 During the last few decades, natural materials appear as a viable solution to current
Accepted: 17 May 2019 environmental problems and have been of interest to industry and researchers. The aim of
this paper is to analyze the thermo-physical properties of a natural material extracted from
Keywords: three varieties of local date palm waste, called petiole, namely Boufeggous, Hafsa and Sair
thermal insulation, thermo-physical from Tinghir oasis, southern Morocco. A Transient Plane Source (TPS) method was used to
properties, Transient Plane Source measure the thermal conductivity and diffusivity of the proposed materials at different
method, porous material, fiber temperatures (40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C, 100 °C, and 120 °C). The thermo-physical properties,
orientation, waste materials according to the orientation of the fibers at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure,
have been also conducted and analyzed. Furthermore, a scanning microscopy (SEM) analysis
of the samples was conducted to characterize the palm microstructure. The results reveal low
values of thermal conductivity which were about 0.070 W/m.K. The microstructure analysis
indicate that the proposed material is a highly porous and satisfies the thermal requirements
of an insulating material. It worth to mention that this material will be used as insulation for a
solar box cooker to reduce heat losses and enhance its performance.

1. INTRODUCTION A mature palm tree has approximately 30-140 leaves with

spines and fibers on the petiole and forms an average of 12-
Materials obtained from natural sources processed with 15 new leaves each year [6]. After the annual date fruit
high-energy consumption such as glass or rock wools or from harvesting, the palms are cut and consequently a large
petrochemicals (mainly polystyrene) are commonly used as quantities of date palm wastes accumulate every year. This
thermal insulating materials. Although, these materials have renewable resource should find rational ways of recycling in
good physical properties, they are very expensive to acquire order to protect the environment and to achieve economical
and highly polluting due to their CO2 manufacturing and their benefits.
disposal environmental issues. The development of natural Recently, more and more researchers have become
thermal insulating materials is rising sharply because of the interested in date palm waste as natural fiber source with
increasing need to conserve the environment. Moreover, all good thermal and mechanical properties and giving the
researchers who have worked in the field of unconventional opportunity to the development of new efficient materials
materials and their composites have agreed that these kinds already considered waste or used in low value products.
of materials can offer environmental advantages such as Tiskatine et al. [7] presented an experimental study on the
lower pollutant and greenhouse gas emission. Furthermore, thermal performance of new low cost composites based on
these natural materials are low cost with low density [1, 2]. natural materials for use in building construction in order to
Around the world, there are approximately 105 million enhance the thermal comfort in buildings. The materials used
palm trees covering an area of 800000 ha. Date palm in this study are widely available in the region of Souss
plantations are distributed throughout the Middle East, North Massa such as: sand, red clay, date palm waste, sawdust,
Africa, South Sahel, East and South Africa, the Southwestern straw and argan shell.
United States of America and even in Southern Europe [3]. Ali et al. [8] experimentally investigated the possibility of
Furthermore, Morocco ranks the 6th in terms of area of palm using the date palm trees surface fiber (DPSF) as a new
trees and 11th in terms of production of dates [4]. Currently, insulation material in building. Cornstarch is used as a resin
the number of date palms in Morocco reaches 4.5 million, to bind the fibers. Original insulating materials using palm
with more than 90 % exists in the southern regions [5]. A tree and seaweed fibers in a cement matrix were studied by
main division of date palm parts is made as follows: the trunk, Boulaoued et al. [9]. Asdrubali et al. [10] report a state of art
leaves, date fruits, petiole, mesh and cluster (Figure 1). Some of innovative thermal and acoustical insulating materials
of these parts are used to isolate land acres and protect them realized using natural or recycled materials.
against sand encroachment and desertification as shown in Benmansour et al. [11] proposed a new material composed
Figure 2. of natural cement, sand and date palm fiber. The results

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reveal that the incorporation of date palm fibers reduces the southern Morocco. Figure 3 shows a sample cut out from the
thermal conductivity and the compressive strength of the petiole part.
composite. They concluded that using a suitable date palm
fiber percentage in the mortar allows obtaining a composite
with good thermal and mechanical properties which can be
used to enhance the thermal insulation of building. Chikhi, et
al. [12, 13] did an experimental study about gypsum based
material containing date palm fiber. The thermo-physical
behavior investigation shows that the increasing of fibers
concentration in gypsum matrix decreases the thermal
conductivity and the composites density.
The present work investigates the thermal properties of Figure 3. (a): Sample cut out from the petiole and (b):
date palm waste, including petiole, in order to use it as an Square plate shape to be used for inner insulating and for
insulating material for a solar box cooker. The remainder of thermal characterization
this paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents a
detailed description of the experimental setup and sample 2.2 Characterization
preparation, Section 3 discusses the finding results. Finally,
Section 4 summarizes the paper and highlights some In order to evaluate the performances of date palm waste,
important recommendations for future related researches. we determined the thermo-physical and morphological
properties of the samples. These parameters are important to
characterize materials for thermal insulation.
Due to the anisotropic nature of the samples, the thermal
measurements were conducted according to the orientation of
fibers (longitudinal and transversal configuration).

Figure 1. Different parts of a date palm tree

Figure 4. Petiole sample in (a) longitudinal direction of

fibers and (b) transversal direction of fibers

2.2.1 Thermal conductivity

The main key property of a thermal insulation material is
the thermal conductivity which is a property of a material to
conduct heat, and where the normal goal is to achieve as low
thermal conductivity as possible [14]. Low thermal
Figure 2. The use of some parts of the date palm tree to conductivity values are required in order to minimize heat
protect the plants losses.
Thermal conductivity (k), defines the steady state heat
flow passing through a unit area of a homogenous material, 1
2. EXPEREMENTAL SETUP m thick, inducted by a 1 Kelvin difference of temperature on
its faces. It can be derived using the Fourier’s law for heat
2.1 Raw materials and samples overview conduction [10, 15].

The natural materials used in this research are from three Q = −k δT⁄δx dAdt (1)
varieties of local date palm wood called petiole, namely hafsa,
Boufeggous and Sair (local names), from Tinghir oasis, q = −k∇T (2)

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where, Q is the heat flux, δT⁄δx the temperature gradient dynamic temperature sensor. Importantly, the time duration
across a material layer, A the surface area, t the time and k of the electrical pulse must be sufficiently short that
the thermal conductivity (W/m.K). Although materials with a temperature gradients do not reach the sample boundaries
thermal conductivity below 0.10W/m.K are generally named during the time period of the test so that the material behaves
as thermal insulating materials. However, this physical like a semi infinite medium. An experimental oven type
quantity remains one of the most difficult to measure, with Binder connected with the TPS device was used to control
many factors capable of influencing the thermal conductivity and maintain the sample temperature at required temperature
of this insulation material, including temperature, density, while its thermal conductivity was recorded. A part from the
porosity, moisture and fiber direction [16]. Eq. 2 represents room temperature, the thermal conductivity was measured at
the three-dimensional form of Fourier's law. This equation elevated temperatures of 40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C, 100 °C and
describes the molecular transport of heat in isotropic media. 120 °C, this covers the practical range of use in hot
However, there are some solids, such as single non cubic conditions.
crystals, fibrous materials and laminates that are anisotropic.
For such substances we have to replace Eq. (2) by:

q = −ҝ∇T (3)

2.2.2. Thermal diffusivity

Thermal diffusivity is a thermophysical parameter that
plays a vital role in heat transfer in materials. It characterizes
the ability of the material to transmit heat more or less
rapidly. This quantity can be related to the thermal
conductivity and the volume heat capacity by the relation:

a = k⁄ρc (4)

2.2.3. Measurement device

The thermal conductivity (W/m.K) and diffusivity (m 2/s)
of date palm samples at different temperatures were
measured using a thermal constants analyzer TPS 1500. The
Transient Plane Source (TPS) technique is a nondestructive
test method highly appreciated for its ability to
simultaneously and quickly determine the properties cited
above from a single measurement, with minimum sample
preparation. The accuracy and the reproducibility are
respectively better than 5 % and better than 1 %. The results
are displayed directly on the device screen. This method has Figure 6. TPS sensor sandwiched between two samples for
been developed by Gustaffson [17] and it is based on using a thermal tests measurements
two-sided Hot disk sensor made of nickel and kapton which
was sandwiched in between of two identical pieces of sample 2.3 Microstructure analysis
being tested as in Figure 6.
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) TESCAN VEGA3
LM is used to observe the surface morphology of the samples.

2.4 Porosity measurement

Wood is a porous material and porosity has its effect via

air and/or water present in the voids and the distribution of
these voids within the medium [18]. The volume fraction of
porosity (∅) can be defined as the fraction of void space (Vp )
relative to the apparent total bulk volume ( Vb ) of the
sample.The mean porosity (∅) of thesamples was calculated
by the following equation:

Figure 5. Picture of a TPS sensor ∅ = Vp ⁄Vb (5)

An electrical current pulse sufficient to increase the sensor The materials used are cut into a cube to facilitate volume
temperature, and the temperature of the sample to rise measurement. The samples were first dried in the oven at
(usually 2−5 °C). From measurements of the change in 90°C until their mass become constant. The mass was
sensor resistance during a constant power input a temperature accepted to become constant when the change of mass
difference can be measured between the actual sensor between three consecutive weighing become less than 0.1 %
temperature and what the sensor temperature would be if of the total mass, according to BS EN ISO 12571 [19]. When
there was no dissipation to the surrounding sample. In this the samples have attained a constant mass, generally after
capacity, the sensor acts as both the heat source and a around 8 hours, the materials were removed from the oven

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and placed in a glass full of water. temperature dependence of their properties that vary with the
nature of the material and the temperature range.
As the temperature rises, the insulating medium (the air or
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION gas within the voids) becomes more excited and its heat
conduction gets boosted, and the radiation effect of the pore
Table 1 compares the thermal conductivity of studied wall is strengthened [28]. Thermal conductivity as a function
samples and other common thermal insulation materials. It of temperature is an empirical relationship based purely on
can be seen that, the thermal conductivity value of Hafsa experimental data [29]. However, the thermal conductivities
petiole in transversal direction of fibers (PTH) is in the same of most pure metals decrease with increasing temperature,
range as those of hemp fibers, straw bale and coconut fiber whereas the conductivities of nonmetals increase; alloys
[24-26]. The thermal conductivity values of Hafsa petiole in show intermediate behavior [30].
longitudinal direction of fibers (PLH), Boufeggous (PTB)
and Sair (PTS) petioles in transversal direction of fibers are
slightly higher than those of the materials cited above and is
about two times lower than those of solid pine wood and corn
cob [20, 22, 23].

Table 1. Thermal conductivity of studied samples and other

natural materials

Sample Density Thermal Reference

kg/m3 conductivity
(W/m.K)
PLH - 0.0736 ±0.001 Present
study
PTH - 0.0670 ±0.001 Present
study
PTB - 0.0893 ±0.001 Present
study
Figure 7. The effect of temperature on thermal conductivity
PTS - 0.07642 ±0.001 Present of studied samples in transversal direction of fibers
study
Wood (pine, 450- 0.151 [20]
Lauan) 630
Hemp fibers - 0.0620 [21]
Corn cob 171- 0.101 [22, 23]
334
Straw bale 50-150 0.038-0.067 [24, 25]
Coconut fiber - 0.046-0.068 [26]

3.1 The influence of anisotropy on thermal conduction

Petiole is an anisotropic material; consequently the thermal

conductivity is different if heat is transferred perpendicularly
or parallel with the fiber axis. The values of the thermal
conductivity according to the orientation of fibers are also
presented in Table 1 (PTH and PLH). The conductivity is Figure 8. The effect of temperature on thermal diffusivity of
slightly higher longitudinally than it is in a transverse studied samples in transversal direction of fibers
direction, and these results are aligned with the scientific
literature [9]. Since natural fibers consist of crystalline 3.3 Study of microstructure
cellulose lattice that are radially arranged around its axis,
they are highly anisotropic, which gives less thermal Natural fibers are classified into three categories: animal,
resistance along the axis compared to across the axis [10], vegetable and mineral fibers. The vegetable fibers generally
[27]. Heat transfer is faster along the grain then across it. have a similar morphology. They are composed of many
fiber-cells which are formed by primary, secondary and
3.2 The influence of temperature on thermal properties tertiary cell walls and lumens [31]. Figure 9 presents the
scanning electron micrographs of PTH (a), PLH (b) and PTB
The thermal conductivity (k) and thermal diffusivity (a) (c); Figure 9(a) and 9(c) show the transverse fiber direction
values, in the transversal direction, of the studied samples at of studied samples. It can be seen that the samples contain
25 °C, 40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C, 100 °C and 120 °C with the TPS cylindrical fibers with irregular and rough surface. The
method are plotted in figures 7 and 8 respectively. k and a are presence of empty slots on the surface should be also
non linear function of temperature for each sample. With remarked. Likewise, the morphology of petiole fibers of date
rising temperature, thermal conductivity reaches its palms is similar to those of coir fiber [32, 33]. Figure 9 (b)
maximum at 60 °C, after that it reduces slightly with presents the longitudinal fiber direction of Hafsa petiole. By
increasing in temperature until it reaches a certain point near observing this microstructure of the sample interface, it can
to the initial value at room temperature. Thermal insulation be seen that there is a large number of hollow single fibers
materials, like other natural or man-made materials, exhibit collected and bonded by a layer; this confirms the porous

284
structure of petiole. These same observations are also
reported in the literature on the fibers extracted from the
mesh surrounding the date palm tree stems [34-36]. The
major constituents of date palm fibers are the same of that of
other lingocellulosic fibers including holocellulose (60-75 %),
lignin (20 %) and ash (1.18 %) [37].

(c) PTB

Figure 9. SEM images for petiole samples

3.4 Porosity measurement

Table 2. Different varieties weights before and after drying

and immersion in water
(a) PTH
Bulk Weight Weight Weight
volume before after after
(cm3) drying (g) drying (g) immersion
(90 °C) in water (g)
Hafsa 1 0.2199 0.1984 0.7351
Sair 1.6 0.4205 0.3679 1.3209
Boufeggous 1.2 0.4939 0.4431 1.4331

Figure 10. Porosity measurements for the studied samples

Table 2 shows the characteristics of the sample that we

used for measuring the fraction of porosity. It is noted that
the weight of the samples after immersion in water is about
three times greater than the weight of the dried samples, this
(b) PLH

285
proves that the material has a large absorption capacity and contexte d’ érosion de la diversité génétique de Phoenix
also the presence of voids. dactylifera L.?. Colloque ‘Biotechnologies végétales et
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topic. This paper reports the results of an experimental Construction and Building Materials, 138: 276-284.
investigation on the thermo-physical and morphological https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.02.012
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