Production and thermo-structural analysis of a hybridized natural fibre-based ceiling board for building applications

Abstract

Canewood and palm kernel fibre (PKF) have successfully been used as filler material for producing ceiling boards, with recycled low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as the binder. This work covered three aspects which are the optimization of process and production parameters, chemical, and thermal analysis of the utilized filler material. The production parameters considered are the percentage composition of both the binder and filler material while the process parameters studied are the press temperature, pressure and time. These parameters were optimized over both physical and thermal properties of the developed ceiling board which are thermal resistivity, water absorption and thickness swell. Thermal results for both the cane wood and PKF proved to be thermally stable up to temperatures as high as 325 and 310°C, respectively. The optimized ceiling board showed a thermal resistivity, water absorption and thickness swell of 16.192 W/M.K, 4.669 and 6.594% respectively, for a production and process parameters of 15% cane wood, 10% PKF, 75% LDPE, 6 min press time, 7 bar pressure and 198°C press temperature. The produced ceiling board showed a specific heat capacity, thermal energy and heat flux of 769.23 Jkg−1K−1, 60 W and 23.07 kWm−1 respectively. The findings imply that the LDPE filler materials are appropriate for use in ceiling board applications.