Thermal insulation panels from cellulosic fibres

Recycling of paper is a relatively old but important process. During breakdown of recycled paper cellulosic fibres with different morphology (size) are generated. An important aspect that was considered was the impact of fibre size on thermal insulation. For the research cellulosic fibres where separated into three different fractions, from which panels with target density of 50 kg/m3 and thickness 80 mm were made. Thermal conductivity of panels was determined by steady-state technique at temperature differences of 10, 25 and 40°C. It was determined that size of fibres used has little impact on thermal conductivity. The lowest thermal conductivity was determined when boards were made from coarser fibres, while the highest was achieved when fines were used. Thermal conductivity was between 0.045 and 0.066 W/m∗K. An increase in thermal conductivity with regard to temperature difference was determined. © Forest Products Society 2015.