Discovering and Manufacturing a New Natural Insulating Material Extracted from a Plant Growing up in Saudi Arabia

Insulating materials are very important in our daily life. They are used in building walls, refrigerators, some electrical devices, in insulating the electrical cables and in many other applications. This study presents experimental work done to determine the thermal conductivity of a new insulating natural material. This new material is extracted and developed from a plant, which grows in the desert areas of Saudi Arabia. Experimental results show that their thermal conductivity is comparable to that of the Rockwool mineral fiber. The thermal conductivity of the new material is measured for some samples with different densities. Other samples are made in the form of boards with different thicknesses using resins such as Phenol-Formaldehyde or cornstarch solution (Formaldehyde free). The thermal conductivity test is conducted at various mean temperatures from 10 to 90 oC and compared to that of the Rockwool material of similar density. The advantage of using such natural insulating materials with cornstarch as a binder is that they are not hazardous to human beings.