Abstract

Using possibilities of some mineral-bound organic composites as thermal insulationmaterial in rural buildings was investigated in this research. For this purpose, using rice husk (RH) and ground sunflower stem (SS) as the main material and cement andgypsum as mineral-binding materials, series I and series II samples with the volumetric mixing ratio of 1/3, 1/6 and 1/9 were produced. Thermal conductivity of cement-bound samples of serials-Ib3 and Ic3 were found to be 0.062 and 0.065 W/mK, respectively, whereas thermal conductivity of gypsum-bound sample as of serials-IIb2, IIc2, IIb3 and IIc3 were obtained as 0.063, 0.065, 0.054 and 0.057 W/mK, respectively. Measurement and test results carried out on the samples showed that,serials-Ib3 and Ic3 among the cement-bound samples; serials-IIb2, IIc2, IIb3 and IIc3 among the gypsum-bound samples may be used as thermal insulation materials in rural buildings. Use of these organic wastes in this way could be an economic alternative to common destruction method of burning, harmful to the environment.

Key words: Thermal insulation, insulation materials, organic composites, rural buildings.