Thermal, Physical and Mechanical Performance of Orange Peel Boards: A New Recycled Material for Building Application

Matteo Vitale, María del Mar Barbero-Barrera and Santi Maria Cascone
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Matteo Vitale: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy
María del Mar Barbero-Barrera: Department of Construction and Technology in Architecture, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain), Avenida Juan de Herrera 4, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Santi Maria Cascone: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-16

Abstract: More than 124 million tons of oranges are consumed in the world annually. Transformation of orange fruit generates a huge quantity of waste, largely composed of peels. Some attempts to reuse by-products derived from citrus waste have been proposed for energy production, nutrient source or pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. However, their use in the building sector had not been researched. In this study, orange peels, in five different ratios, from 100% of wet peels to 75% and from 0% of dry peels to 25%, were submitted to a thermo-compression procedure. They were evaluated according to their physical (bulk density, water absorption, thickness swelling, surface soundness and thermal conductivity) and mechanical properties (bending strength and modulus of elasticity). The results showed that orange peels can be used as thermal insulation material. The addition of dried peels makes the structure of the board heterogeneous and thus increases its porosity and causes the loss of strength. Hence, the board with the sole use of wet peel, whose thermal conductivity is 0.065 W/mK while flexural strength is 0.09 MPa, is recommended.

Keywords: orange peels; thermo-pressing; citrus board; bio-composite; thermal insulation; sustainable building (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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