Thermal Properties of Palm Fronds (Krino) for Utilizing as a Thermal Insulation Material

Insulation materials are of great importance for conserving stored energy and maintaining temperatures in cooling or heating processes. The cost of insulation materials is a large part of the initial, maintenance and repair costs. Glass-wool insulation namely exchanges in a short time due to its absorption of moisture resulting in decreasing the insulation value. Disposal of glass-wool insulation material constitutes an environmental problem due to its difficultly of degradation. The palm leaves are considered as a great field residues annually produce in Egypt and the Arab countries when each palm produces more than 25 kg per year and the number of palm trees in Egypt is more than 17 million palms. These field residues are rich in cellulose, sugars and many other important elements that can be used in different industries or extraction of important natural materials, which provide return an economic benefits instead of burning them. To achieve the goal of this research, four cylindrical metallic tanks made of black iron sheet, each one having gross dimensions of 50 cm long, 30 cm in dimeter, and 1 mm thick.  Three tanks were thermal insulated using krino as an insulation material, with three different densities of insulation (50, 60, and 70 kg/m3) and 5 cm thick. The fourth tank was insulated using 5 cm thick of glass wool. The most important results of the thermal conductivity test of krino revealed that the thermal conductivity of the krino depends on its density and temperature. The best density was 50 kg/m3. The values of thermal conductivity of the three different densities was ranged between 0.0954 and 0.190 W/m K)