Recycling Egyptian Rice Straw to Produce Low-Cost Building Materials for Energy Saving

Nariman Fathy Ibrahim, Chemical Engineering Department, Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology, Tanta, Egypt
N.M. Aboeleneen, Chemical Engineering Department, Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology, New Damietta, Egypt
Nabil Mahmoud Abdelmonem, Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Faisal Hassan Sorour, Chemical Engineering Department, Canal High Institute for Engineering and Technology, Suez, Egypt.Follow

Article Type

Research Paper

Corresponding Author

Dr. Faisal Hassan Sorour

Highlights

Sustainable Material Use: Utilized Egyptian rice straw (ERS), a renewable and biodegradable agricultural waste, as an effective sustainable insulation option in building materials.
Enhanced Thermal Insulation: Achieved a 70% reduction in thermal conductivity with 20% ERS addition to mortar, demonstrating significant insulation improvement compared to standard materials.
Optimal ERS Usage Identified: Determined that 20% ERS is the optimal content for balancing insulation properties and structural integrity in mortar.
Particle Size Impact: Found that smaller ERS particle sizes (5-10mm) enhance insulation properties more effectively than larger sizes (10-15mm).
Empirical Modeling: Developed empirical equations to predict the relationship between ERS ratio, temperature, and thermal conductivity, facilitating future application and research.

Abstract

One form of solid agricultural waste that is produced in numerous quantities in Egypt is rice straw which is burned by farmers and harming the environment and human health. The goal of the work is to create an effective sustainable insulation option to replace conventional materials by using Egyptian rice straw (ERS) as a renewable, biodegradable material in buildings as a means of protecting the natural environment. Experimental results show that ERS's chemical composition includes high portions of silica, fiber, and ash which assessed ERS's thermal insulation capabilities and feasibility when added to mortar and concrete. The ERS was added to the concrete and studied the effect of compressive strength, the results show that adding only 1% ERS by weight decreased the concrete compressive strength by 30.76 %, indicating poor binding. However, the investigation of adding ERS in mortar from 0-20% shows that the optimum conditions for using ERS are the percentage of 20% ERS. The mortar thermal conductivity decreased by 70% with 20% ERS addition compared to standard mortar without ERS. Smaller ERS particle sizes (5-10mm) provided enhanced insulation properties versus larger sizes (10-15mm). General empirical equations were developed to relate thermal conductivity to the ERS ratio and temperature.

Keywords

Thermal Insulation, Rice Straw, Building Materials, Energy Saving, Agriculture Waste, Recycling.

Recommended Citation

Ibrahim, Nariman Fathy; Aboeleneen, N.M.; Abdelmonem, Nabil Mahmoud; and Sorour, Faisal Hassan (2024) "Recycling Egyptian Rice Straw to Produce Low-Cost Building Materials for Energy Saving," Egyptian Journal of Petroleum: Vol. 33 : Iss. 2 , Article 7.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.62593/2090-2468.1024