A Model of Moist Polymer Foam and a Scheme for the Calculation of Its Thermal Conductivity

Vadzim I. Nikitsin, Abdrahman Alsabry, Valery A. Kofanov, Beata Backiel-Brzozowska and Paweł Truszkiewicz
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Vadzim I. Nikitsin: Faculty of Technical Sciences, Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biala Podlaska, 21-500 Biała Podlaska, Poland
Abdrahman Alsabry: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Civil Engineering, University of Zielona Gora, 65-417 Zielona Góra, Poland
Valery A. Kofanov: Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Brest State Technical University, 224017 Brest, Belarus
Beata Backiel-Brzozowska: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Civil Engineering and Transport, Bialystok University of Technology, 15-351 Białystok, Poland
Paweł Truszkiewicz: Department of Foreign Languages, University of Zielona Gora, 65-417 Zielona Góra, Poland

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: This paper proposes a method for determining an effective value of the thermal conductivity for moist, highly porous rigid polymer foams. The model of moist foam based on an ordered structure with interpenetrating components was developed in accordance with the moisture distribution in the pore space. With small moisture content, isolated water inclusions are formed, and the pore space is considered as a binary system (vapor-gas mixture and water) with isolated inclusions. With an increase in moisture content, isolated water inclusions merge, forming a continuous layer, and pore space is considered as a binary system of interpenetrating components. The thermal conductivity of the vapor-gas mixture is represented as the sum of the thermal conductivity of the dry gas and the thermal conductivity of the vapor caused by the diffusion transfer of vapor in the pore space, taking into account the coefficient of vapor diffusion resistance. Using the proposed scheme of calculation, a computational experiment was performed to establish the influence of the vapor diffusion, moisture content, and average temperature of the foam on its thermal conductivity.

Keywords: thermal conductivity; polymer foam; moisture diffusion; porous structure modeling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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