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Energy
EnergyProcedia
Procedia157 (2019) 000–000
00 (2017) 480–491
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
Technologies and Materials for Renewable Energy, Environment and Sustainability, TMREES18,
Technologies and Materials for Renewable
19–21 Energy,
September 2018,Environment and Sustainability, TMREES18,
Athens, Greece
19–21 September 2018, Athens, Greece
Thermal characterization of a new multilayer building material
Thermal The
characterization of a newonmultilayer
15th International Symposium building
District Heating material
and Cooling
based on clay, cork and cement mortar
based on clay, cork and cement mortar
Assessing the feasibility of using the heat demand-outdoor
Fatima Zohra El Wardia,a,* , Abou-bakr Cherkiaa, Soumia Mounirbb , Abdelhamid
temperature
Fatima Zohrafunction *for
El Wardi Khabbazia long-term
, Abou-bakr
a Cherki
, Youssef district
, Soumia
Maaloufa a heat
Mounirdemand forecast
, Abdelhamid
a
Khabbazi , Youssef Maaloufa
a
a
EMDD_CERNE2D,
a,b,c MOHAMMED a V UNIVERSITYaIN RABAT, EST Salé, b 227 Avenue Prince Héritier,
c Salé, Morocco c
I. Andrić
a *, A. Pina , P. Ferrão , J. Fournier ., B. Lacarrière , O. Le Corre
b
EMDD_CERNE2D, MOHAMMED National school of architecture
V UNIVERSITY INFez, 80 Avenue
RABAT, saint227
EST Salé, louis, essaada,
Avenue FezHéritier, Salé, Morocco
Prince
a
b
National school of architecture Fez, 80 Avenue saint louis, essaada, Fez
IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research - Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
b
Veolia Recherche & Innovation, 291 Avenue Dreyfous Daniel, 78520 Limay, France
c
Département Systèmes Énergétiques et Environnement - IMT Atlantique, 4 rue Alfred Kastler, 44300 Nantes, France
Abstract
Abstract
Developing construction materials with high thermal performance will reduce significantly energy consumption of
Developing
the building.construction
Abstract This research materials
aims towith high thermal
characterize thermalperformance
insulation will
of a reduce significantly
new multilayer energy
building consumption
material using theof
the building. This
asymmetrical hot research
plate in aims to characterize
transient and steadythermal insulation
state regime. of amaterial
This new multilayer
based onbuilding material clay-cork
the composite using the
asymmetrical
consolidated
District heatinghot
with plate
an
networks in
are transient
internal and
and external
commonly steady ofstate
layer in
addressed cement
the regime. asThis
mortar.
literature A material
one comparison
of the mostbased on experimental
of the
effective the composite
solutions clay-cork
results with
for decreasing the
consolidated
theoretical gaswith
greenhouse models an
of internal
emissions andbuilding
equivalent
from the externalsector.
thermal layerThese
of cement
conductivity mortar.
require A
is established.
systems comparison
Finally,
high ofwhich
the experimental
an evaluation
investments resultsthewith
of cost/ through
are returned effectiveness
heat
theoretical
ration Dueofmodels
sales.and tothermal of equivalent
transmittance
the changed thermal
climate for conductivity
multilayer
conditions buildingismaterial
anddeveloped established.
renovation Finally,
waspolicies,
done heatandemand
compared evaluation theoffuture
with ainclassiccost/
holloweffectiveness
claydecrease,
could brick.
ration and of thermal transmittance for
prolonging the investment return period. multilayer developed material was done compared with a classic hollow clay brick.
©The
2018 Thescope
main Authors. Published
of this by
to Elsevier
paper isby Ltd.
assess the feasibility of using the heat demand – outdoor temperature function for heat demand
© 2018
© 2019
This The
The
is an Authors.
Authors.
open access Published
Published
article by Elsevier
under Elsevier Ltd.
Ltd.
thelocated
CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
forecast. The district of Alvalade, in Lisbon license
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND (Portugal), was used as a case study. The district is consisted of 665
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
This is an and
Selection
buildings open
that access
vary article
peer-review
in both under
under the CC period
construction BY-NC-ND
responsibility of the
and license committee
scientific
typology. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Three of Technologies
weather and Materials
scenarios (low, medium, for Renewable
high) and threeEnergy,
district
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of Technologies and Materials for Renewable Energy,
Selection
Environment
renovation
Environmentandscenarios
peer-review
and
and wereunder
Sustainability,
Sustainability, responsibility
TMREES18.
developed
TMREES18. of the
(shallow, scientific committee
intermediate, deep). To of Technologies
estimate andobtained
the error, Materialsheat
for demand
Renewable Energy,
values were
Environment
compared with andresults
Sustainability, TMREES18.
from a dynamic heat demand model, previously developed and validated by the authors.
Keywords: multilayer
The results showedbuilding material;
that when onlythermal
weatherinsulation;
change asymmetrical hotthe
is considered, plate; clay-cork;
margin cement
of error mortar;
could thermal transmittance.
be acceptable for some applications
(the errormultilayer
Keywords: in annual building
demandmaterial; thermalthan
was lower insulation;
20% for asymmetrical hotscenarios
all weather plate; clay-cork; cement mortar;
considered). However,thermal transmittance.
after introducing renovation
scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered).
1.The
Introduction
value of slope coefficient increased on average within the range of 3.8% up to 8% per decade, that corresponds to the
1.decrease
Introduction
in the number of heating hours of 22-139h during the heating season (depending on the combination of weather and
Developing
renovation local and
scenarios ecological
considered). construction
On the other hand,materials with high
function intercept thermalforperformance
increased 7.8-12.7% perwill not only
decade reduceonthe
(depending the
energy
coupled consumption
Developing localThe
scenarios). of values
and the building
ecological butcould
will be
construction
suggested assure also
materials
used sustainability
with the
to modify and parameters
highfunction
thermal transform ourthe
performance
for villages
will not to efficient
only
scenarios reduceeco-
considered,the
and
villages,
energy especially
the accuracyinof
improveconsumption very
of thecold
heat andestimations.
building
demand poor areas,assure
but will wherealso
the sustainability
houses are in aand
deplorable
transformcondition and poorly
our villages to efficient eco-
villages, especially in very cold and poor areas, where the houses are in a deplorable condition and poorly
© 2017 The Authors.
* Corresponding author.Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Tel.: +212-658-420-629.
Peer-review
E-mail under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and
address: fatima.zohra.elwardi@gmail.com
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +212-658-420-629.
Cooling.
E-mail address: fatima.zohra.elwardi@gmail.com
1876-6102 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: Heat demand; Forecast; Climate change
This is an open
1876-6102 access
© 2018 Thearticle under
Authors. the CC BY-NC-ND
Published license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection
This is an and
openpeer-review under
access article responsibility
under of the scientific
the CC BY-NC-ND licensecommittee of Technologies and Materials for Renewable Energy, Environment
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
and Sustainability,
Selection TMREES18.
and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of Technologies and Materials for Renewable Energy, Environment
and Sustainability, TMREES18.
1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
1876-6102 © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of Technologies and Materials for Renewable Energy,
Environment and Sustainability, TMREES18.
10.1016/j.egypro.2018.11.212
 Fatima Zohra El Wardi et al. / Energy Procedia 157 (2019) 480–491 481
El Wardi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 2

adapted for the hard climate condition. Clay is a building material very used in walls or floor in these regions. Some
studies have already been established and published about composite materials based on clay; A work of Mounir [1]
treated the thermal characterization of the composite clay-wool, another of Elhamdouni [2] studies the fiber Alfa
effect on the thermal characteristics of clay-based materials and another work of Maaloufa [3] characterize thermal
proprieties of clay bounded with cork or expanded perlite, indicate that the composite material clay embedded with
granular cork has very interesting results in term of thermal insulation, energy storage capacity and lightness. Also a
lot of work has been done about cork and composite materials based on cork such as the studies of Jelle [4] which
treated the advantages and the disadvantages of thermal building insulation materials and consider that cork can be
produced as both filler materials or as boards; also, Ideas of consolidating granular cork with plaster treated by
Cherki [5] for motivating the proposal that this composite will be used as false ceiling. Moreover, a description of
the thermal and the mechanical properties of a new material based on granular cork and cement mortar by varying
the percentages of cork using the box method is conducted by Khabbazi [6]. Pereira [7] wrote a book about the
biology production and uses of cork. Silva [8] presented a study about cork, its properties, capabilities, and
applications. Indeed, the experiment results in a work of Mounir [9] treated the thermal characterization of the
composite clay-cork proved that the composite material clay embedded with granular cork has very interesting
results in term of thermal insulation. All These studies show the usefulness of the cork, abundant in Morocco, likely
to be a material of choice in thermal insulation applications and indicate that the composite clay-granular cork has
interesting results in term of thermal insulation, energy storage capacity and lightness. However, mechanical
proprieties of clay-granular cork and his resistance to exterior climate conditions should be more improved.
Therefore, the main idea of this scientific research is to understand thermal behavior of a new multilayer
composite material based on the composite clay-granular cork consolidated with an internal and external layer of
cement mortar which is very used in construction such as plastering over bricks or serve as a protection layer for the
construction materials. The new material consists of three layers; the intermediate layer is made with clay-granular
cork to reinforce thermal insulation of walls, the inner and the outer layers are composed of cement mortar to
improve mechanical proprieties of the composite clay-cork and his resistance of exterior climate conditions.
For this purpose, a series of experimental studies were performed on the new material in different thicknesses of
the intermediate layer made of clay-granular cork. So, the first step in this work is the physic-chemical
characterization of clay using the fluorescence X method. The measurement of the thermal proprieties has been
performed in the second step using the asymmetrical Hot Plate method in transient and steady state regime [10, 11].
In the third step of this work, a sensitivity study was carried out to study the influence of the various parameters with
respect to the measurement performed. A comparison of the experimental results with theoretical models of
equivalent thermal conductivity is established in the fourth step. In the last step, a comparison between the thermal
transmittance and the cost of a full brick done from the new material and a classic hollow clay brick were done in
order to evaluate the energy gain from the new material.

2. Raw materials

2.1. Clay

Clay is a local and ecological construction material formerly used in building shelters, especially in rural areas. It
is obtained naturally from the rocks’ decomposition. The mineral clay has a crystalline composition made of
sheetlike structure which is known as the phyllosilicate. It is combined with a different mineral like Carbonate;
silica; oxide and hydroxide of aluminum and Ferriferous mineral. In this study, we use clay from Benhmed area
which can be used in the fabrication of bricks such as confirmed in the thesis of El Yakoubi which contains which
can be used in the fabrication of bricks such as confirmed in the thesis of El Yakoubi which contains a analysis of
used clay [12]. Thanks to the fluorescence X method, we could find the chemical composition of the clay given in table 1.

Table 1. Chemical analysis of used clay by the fluorescence X method

Chemical component SiO2 TiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 MnO K2O Na2O CaO MgO SO4 P.F
Mass composition % 55.16 0.56 14.28 3.95 0.103 3.60 1.61 3.16 2.98 0.64 9.97
482 Fatima Zohra El Wardi et al. / Energy Procedia 157 (2019) 480–491
El Wardi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 3

2.2. Cork

Cork, natural and renewable product, has very interesting thermal and acoustic properties because of its
microstructure and porosity representing a significant portion of its apparent volume; it’s coming from
Moroccan Maamora's forest. The density of used cork is 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 . This value has been calculated using the
water volume variation method: a weighted quantity of granular cork is filled in a vessel containing a known
water volume; the water volume increase corresponds to the volume of impregnated cork, so we can compute
the density of granular cork; its size is d-D = 6.3–8 mm and its granulometric analysis is well established in a
work of Khabbazi [6]; the thermal conductivity has been calculated by applying for the Asymmetrical Hot Plate
method in steady-state regime to a compressed cork board sample. The density and thermal conductivity of cork do
not depend on the grain size [13]. The thermal conductivity of cork obtained is 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎– 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 . The
chemical composition of cork is established (see reference [14], chapter IV).

2.3. Cement mortar

Cement Mortar is the combination of sand, cement and a specified amount of water. It has many uses;
either serve as a binder and so links the construction materials together or serve as a protection layer for the
construction materials such as our case. The cement CPJ35 object of work used according to the NM 10.1.004.
The proportion of sand on the mortar is 50% with a fineness modulus 2.2-2.6. The percentage of
water (w/g) used is 0.2.

3. Description of experimental approach for the thermal characterization

3.1. Samples preparation

Authors prepared many three samples corresponding to three different thicknesses of the intermediate layer of
clay-cork composite, and the thickness of inner and outer layer made on cement mortar is 0.7 cm constant in all
samples as shown in Fig. 1. The dimensions of used mold are𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 . And one sample containing
one of the materials; clay alone (the percentage of water used is w/g= 0.25 by mass), clay-granular cork, mortar
cement (w/g= 0.2 by mass) were prepared having dimensions 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 in order to compare the
variation of densities and thermal proprieties of the multilayer material with those of clay alone and cement mortar
alone. To prepare clay-granular cork sample, we fulfilled in the mold a volume of granular cork until we get a full
mold. Then we added clay (w/g= 0.25 by mass) in order to fill in the entire void existing between grains of cork. As
the apparent volume is all filled with granular cork, it is then the maximum cork content that may contain the
mixture. To prepare multilayer samples, we fulfilled mortar cement mixture with a thickness of 0.7 cm (w/g=0.2).
Then, we added the same clay-granular cork mixture used to prepare clay-granular cork sample until we get 1.4 cm,
1.2 cm or 0.7 cm of thickness corresponding to three different Multilayer material samples. To finish, we added the
last layer composed of cement mortar with a thickness of 0.7 cm. After that, we dry the samples in air ambient, we
weight them and we put them in a stove and each time, we weight them until we remark that the mass became
constant to remove all the moisture present into the pores of each one. Next, they were packed in plastic bags to
maintain uniform moisture content near zero. The experimental measurements will be performed on dry samples.
From the knowledge of dimensions and masses of the three samples, the apparent density ρ of each one can be
easily determined. We can deduce the granular cork volume fraction y in clay-granular cork mixture using the
relation (1) giving by the mass conservation law combined with mixture law for two components:

N° 1 N° 2 N° 3
mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (1.4 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (1.2 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (0.7 cm) + mc (0.7 cm)

Fig. 1. Multilayer material samples with different thicknesses of clay-cork.

 Fatima Zohra El Wardi et al. / Energy Procedia 157 (2019) 480–491 483
El Wardi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 4

𝝆𝝆𝝆𝝆𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄−𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 = 𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚 𝝆𝝆𝝆𝝆𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 + (𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 − 𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚 ) 𝝆𝝆𝝆𝝆𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 (1)

With ρco, ρc and ρc-co are successively the densities of granular cork, clay and that of the composite.

3.2. Asymmetrical Hot Plate method in steady-state regime for determining the thermal conductivity

As it's a complex material representing some heterogeneity, authors opted to use multiple methods of
measurement to characterize it and compare the obtained results by each method. So, the Asymmetrical Hot Plate
method in steady-state regime [15] is applied to calculate the thermal conductivity. Fig. 2(a) illustrates the
experimental device of this method; the sample is placed on a heater (100x100 mm2). Insulating foam of
polyethylene, having a conductivity of 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 and dimensions of 100 x100x10 mm3 is placed below the
heating element so that the majority of the heat flux emitted by the heating element passes to the sample. Then, the
set is placed between two aluminum blocks having dimensions 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 ; the role of these blocks is to
make reaching the system to the steady-state regime as soon as possible. With this shape, one can write:

𝜱𝜱𝜱𝜱 = 𝜱𝜱𝜱𝜱𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝜱𝜱𝜱𝜱𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 ; 𝜱𝜱𝜱𝜱𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 = 𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 (𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 – 𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 ) / 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 ; 𝜱𝜱𝜱𝜱𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 = 𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 (𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 – 𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 ) / 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 (2)
Φ the total flux emitted by the heating element, Φ1 the heat flux through the sample, Φ2 the heat flux through the
insulation foam. λ1 the thermal conductivity of the sample as we seek to determine,e1 the thickness of the sample;
𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 and 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦 are successively thermal conductivity and thickness of the insulating
foam. But the heating element is an electrical resistance R dissipating a heat flux by Joule effect when it is crossed
by an electric current (I) under the effect of a voltage (U), so:

𝜱𝜱𝜱𝜱 = 𝑼𝑼𝑼𝑼𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 / (𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹. 𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺) (3)

S is the heat exchange surface between the heating element and the sample. Combining equations (2) and (3):

𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 = 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 [ 𝑼𝑼𝑼𝑼𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 / (𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹. 𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺) − 𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 (𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 – 𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 ) / 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 ] / ( 𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 – 𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 ) (4)

Equation (4) allows to determine the thermal conductivity of the sample once the system reaches the steady-state regime.

3.3. Transient Hot Plate method to characterize thermal effusivity

The thermal effusivity (E) was measured using the transient hot plate method [10, 15] which device represented
in Fig. 2(b). That allows characterizing materials by using only one sample contrary to the classical and symmetrical
Hot plate transient method, which required two similar samples. The system is modeled with the hypothesis that the
heat transfer remains unidirectional (1D) at the center of the sample [15]:

(a) (b)

Fig. 2. (a) device of the Hot Plate method in steady-state regime; (b) Asymmetrical transient Hot Plate device.
484 Fatima Zohra El Wardi et al. / Energy Procedia 157 (2019) 480–491
El Wardi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 5

𝛳𝛳𝛳𝛳 1 0 1 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 0 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵1 0 0 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵1 0
�
𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙01
�=�
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶ℎ
��
1 0 1 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶
�� �� �� � = � 1
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙1
�� � ; �
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷1 𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙1 𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙02
�=� 1 �� �
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷1 𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙1
(5)
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶1 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶1

𝛷𝛷𝛷𝛷0
𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙0 = = 𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙01 + 𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙02 (6)
𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
Ch is the thermal capacity of the heating element per area unit: Ch = ρh ch eh ; R c the thermal contact resistance
between the heating element and the sample. P is the Laplace parameter.
𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌
𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠ℎ� 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 √𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝� 𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 = 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐ℎ � 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒�𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝�; 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 = 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸
; 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 = 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 �𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠ℎ � 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒�𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝� (7)
𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 √𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸
𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠ℎ�� 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 �
𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐ℎ �� 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 �; 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 = 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
; 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 = 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 � 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠ℎ �� 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 � (8)
𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 � 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 is the sample thermal effusivity 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 = �𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 , ρc the sample thermal capacity, 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 the sample thickness, 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 the
Polystyrene thermal conductivity,a i the Polystyrene thermal diffusivity, ei the Polystyrene thickness.
Combining those five equations, the system leads to:

𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙 (𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝)
𝛳𝛳𝛳𝛳(𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝) = 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷10 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 (9)
+ 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵1 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

The method’s principle is to estimate the value of the parameters (𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸), (𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 ), (𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 ) and (𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶ℎ ) that minimize the sum
2
of the quadratic error 𝛹𝛹𝛹𝛹 = ∑𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁
𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗=0�𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 (𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 )𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 (𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 )� between the experimental curve and the theoretical curve
calculated with relation using the Levenberg–Marquart algorithm [16]. The inverse Laplace transform is realized by
the use of the De Hoog algorithm [17].

3.4. Theoretical models to check the value of the composite clay-granular cork thermal conductivity

Authors use different theoretical models to confirm the thermal conductivity of the intermediate layer made on
the composite clay-granular cork, for instance :Series model [18][19] ,parallel model [18][19], Maxwell
model[18][19] ,Hamilton model[18][20] ,Woodside and Mesmer’s model [21] and Beck’s model[22]. For that,
authors calculate the equivalent thermal conductivity of materials of two components: a continuous phase (Clay) and
dispersed phase (granular cork).

1
• Series model : 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 ┴ = 1− 𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 (10)
+
𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝

• Parallel model : 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆ǁ = (1 − 𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦). 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 + 𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦. 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 (11)

𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 2 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
2�
𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
� (1−𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦)+(1+2𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦) 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆
• Maxwell model : 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 � 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
� (12)
(2+𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦) +1−𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦
𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐

𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 +(𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠−1) 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 −(𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠−1) 𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 �𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 −𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 �

• Hamilton model : 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 � (𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠−1) 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 +𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 +𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 �𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 −𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 �
� (13)

With (n=3/ξ ) ( (for ξ=1, we return the Maxwell model).

• Woodside and Mesmer’s models : 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 . 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 (1−𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦) (14)

• Beck’s model : 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = � 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆ǁ . 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆┴ (15)

 Fatima Zohra El Wardi et al. / Energy Procedia 157 (2019) 480–491 485
El Wardi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 6

3.5. Practical interest of this new composite material

To evaluate the results obtained from this material, we have done a comparison between a brick made of new
material and a classic hollow clay brick. The thermal transmittance calculated according to the ISO 6949. We know that:

1 1 1 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
= + + ∑𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 (16)
𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈 ℎ𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘

With ek and λk are successively thicknesses and thermal conductivities of different layers of the brick and we take
1 1
+ = 0.17 m2 °C W −1 [23].
ℎ𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒

4. Results and discussions

4.1. Density result

The density measurements of the samples were made by weighing each one and knowing their dimensions. For
granular cork, it was made using the water volume variation method. We can also determine the gain of lightness of
multilayer material samples compared with clay only or cement mortar only from the relationship (17) below:

𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
Gain_lightness = 100 ∗ �1 − � (17)
𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

The results are presented in table 2. At first glance, one can already see that the densities of all multilayer
samples are between the lower limit (composite clay-granular cork) and upper limit (cement mortar). Indeed, the
results indicate that for composite clay-granular cork the density is decreasing from 1774 kg m−3 (y=0 clay alone)
to 654 kg m−3 (composite with the granular cork volume fraction y=0.69 calculated using relation (1)). Note also
that the density of the multilayer material is decreasing from 1471 kg m−3 to 1220 kg m−3 when the thickness of
intermediate layer is increasing from 0.7 cm to 1.4 cm. we notice also when we increase the thickness of composite
clay-granular cork, the report of lightness increase and reaches its top (31% compared with clay alone and 36%
compared with cement mortar) according to 1.4 cm of clay-granular cork composite. We can conclude that more we
increase the thickness of the intermediate composite layer, the multilayer developed material become more and more
interesting in term of lightness.

Table 2. Density and report of lightness of all tested samples

N° Sample Series ρ (kg m−3 ) Lightness (%) / clay alone Lightness (%) / mortar alone
1 mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (1.4 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) 1220 31 36
2 mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (1.2 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) 1280 28 33
3 mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (0.7 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) 1471 17 23
4 Clay-Granular cork (c-co) 654 - -
5 Clay 1774 - -
6 Cement mortar 1918 - -

4.2. Thermal conductivity results

The results of the analysis of thermal conductivity obtained by the Hot Plate method in steady-state regime to the
samples allow concluding many observations. According to table 3, we remark that by adding cork thermal
conductivity for composite clay-granular cork decreases (𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 ) because cork has a small thermal
conductivity 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 compared with clay alone 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 and it creates air inside samples of
thermal conductivity 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 thing which decreases the thermal conductivity in samples. Besides, we
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can see that thermal conductivity of multilayer samples decreases with the increasing of the thickness of the
intermediate layer clay- cork for the same thickness of inner and outer layer cement mortar in all samples. This
result is perfectly logical since more we augment the thickness of clay- cork composite, more the sample contains
pores which are at the origin of this reduction. Note that, the thermal conductivity of all multilayer samples is
between the lower limit (composite clay-granular cork) which is 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 and upper limit (cement mortar)
with 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 .

Table 3. Result of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity measurement of all tested samples
N° Sample Series λAHP(W/m/K) Measurement error (%) 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 (J m−2 K −1 s−1/2 ) Measurement error (%)
1 mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (1.4 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) 0.29 5.2 673 1.5
2 mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (1.2 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) 0.32 3.1 699 1.5
3 mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (0.7 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) 0.35 2.9 727 0.8
4 Clay-Granular cork (c-co) 0.19 5.3 402 0.6
5 Clay 0.51 0.4 865 0.6
6 Cement mortar 0.7 2.9 1179 0.6

4.3. Thermal effusivity results:

The application of the transient hot plate method to the samples allowed characterizing their thermal effusivity
𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 (table 3). Or each obtained thermogram by the experiment, the Levenberg–Marquart method [16] was applied
to identify the parameters (𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬, 𝝆𝝆𝝆𝝆𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 , 𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 , 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉 ) which minimize the sum of the quadratic error between the experimental
curve and the theoretical curve as shown in Fig. 3(a). The reduced sensitivity curves
𝝏𝝏𝝏𝝏𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻 𝝏𝝏𝝏𝝏𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻 𝝏𝝏𝝏𝝏𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻 𝝏𝝏𝝏𝝏𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻
(𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬 ; (𝝆𝝆𝝆𝝆𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 ) ; 𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 ; 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉 ) related to the identification parameters is presented in Fig. 3(b). At the beginning
𝝏𝝏𝝏𝝏𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬 𝝏𝝏𝝏𝝏(𝝆𝝆𝝆𝝆𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 ) 𝝏𝝏𝝏𝝏𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 𝝏𝝏𝝏𝝏𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉
of the experiment, the theoretical model is with a good agreement with the experimental thermogram, except for
around time larger than 1400 s. This deviation is due to the lateral heat losses that can affect the temperature
measurement in the vicinity of the thermocouple located in the center of the sample (3D effect). The residues (the
difference between experimental and simulated curves) are dishes along the experiment, and this shows that the 1D
assumption is valid at the center of the sample during the time range used for estimation [0, 1400 s]. Thus, during all
time of the experiment, the thermogram is enough sensitive to the calculation of the parameter (E) as shown in Fig.
4, but the sensitivity of the (ρc) parameter being too small. We also note that the thermogram is not at all sensitive to
parameter Rc and Ch, this implies that the thermal contact resistance and the heat capacity of the heating element
have no influence on the thermogram. This means that only the parameter (E) can be identified during the time
range used for estimation.

(a) (b)

Experimental thermogram
Simulated thermogram
Residues

Fig. 3. (a) Experimental and modeled hot plate temperature curves; (b) reduced sensitivity curves of fitting parameters for Clay-cork
 Fatima Zohra El Wardi et al. / Energy Procedia 157 (2019) 480–491 487
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The thermal effusivity identification results are presented in table 3. At first glance, we can already see that the
experimental results are between the lower limit (clay-cork sample) and upper limit (cement mortar sample). We
can see also that the thermal effusivity of multilayer material is decreasing with the increase of intermediate layer
thickness (made on clay-granular cork). This result means that the material developed stores more energy and has a
weak ability to adjust its temperature with its external surroundings. Finally, note that the measurement error for all
tested samples does not exceed 1%, which shows the statistical validity of results and prove that the used experimental
procedure permits to give a good reproducibility of measurement even if it is a complex porous medium.

4.4. Theoretical models of the composite clay-granular cork thermal conductivity

These theoretical models were applied to the intermediate composite material clay embedded with granular cork
to confirm its experimental thermal conductivity. For that authors need to know the thermal conductivity of the
continuous phase 𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀 𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 . 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 and that of the dispersed phase (cork in this case). The thermal
conductivity of cork obtained by the Asymmetrical Hot Plate method in steady-state regime to a compressed cork
board sample is 𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀 𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 . 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 . According to the results represented in table 4, we can confirm that
the parallel model is the most representative of the experimental results for the composite clay-cork (error= 3%), this
can be explained by the strip of granular cork alternate with the strip of clay and they are parallel to heat flow. Then
it becomes the Hamilton model with error of 5%, this result because it calculated the equivalent thermal
conductivity according to the low parameter of sphericity (ξ €]0, 1]) it considers that the granular cork added
resembles to sphere or cylinder and gives a value near to the parallel model, and for its maximum value (ξ = 1), the
equivalent thermal conductivity of Maxwell model is obtained with present in error of 8%. Moreover, Woodside and
Mesmer’s models which consider that granular are dispersed in a similar way inside the matrix clay is far
(error=45%) to represent this composite. The series model is so far (error=64%) because it considers that the strip
of granular cork and clay are perpendicular to heat flow and the stratum are on series with each other, but this is not
the case for cork because it is a granulate and volume fraction of cork in the composite is so important (y= 0.69) so this is a
contact between them. The Beck’s model is also far (error=39%) because is a combination of the series and the parallel
model.

4.5. Theoretical approach to calculate the thermal conductivity of multilayer developed material

After confirming that the measured values of thermal conductivity of composite clay-cork are reliable and
correct, we calculate thermal conductivity of multilayer material using series model as shown in Fig. 4:
𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅1 + 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅2 + 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅3 ; 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 = (18)
𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆

Using relations (18) and (19), we can determinate the 𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆 of multilayer developed material by

𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒1 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒2 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒3

𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 / � + + � (19)
𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆1 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆2 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆3

et is the total thickness of multilayer material 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 = 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 + 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 .

According to results presented in table 5, the series model represents well the experimental values (the relative
error between the two methods does not exceed 6 %) which prove that the experimental values are reliable, correct
and the contact and the adhesion between layers of cement mortar and the composite clay-granular cork are perfect.

𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒1 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒2 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒3

Fig. 4. view of multilayer developed material with different layers
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Table 4. Theoretical thermal conductivity of clay-cork composite identified with their corresponding error
Theoretical model 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒_𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐−𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 (W m−1 K −1 ) Error %
Series model 0.069 64
Parallel model 0.197 3
Maxwell model 0.205 8
Hamilton model (for ξ = 0.5) 0.181 5
Woodside and Mesmer’s models 0.104 45
Beck's model 0.117 39
Asymmetrical Hot Plate method in steady-state regime AHP 0.19 -

Table 5. Experimental and theoretical values of thermal conductivity of multilayer developed material
N° Sample series 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 (W m−1 K −1 ) 𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 (W m−1 K −1 ) Errors (%)
1 mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (1.4 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) 0.298 0.29 3
2 mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (1.2 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) 0.336 0.32 5
3 mc (0.7 cm) + c-co (0.7 cm) + mc (0.7 cm) 0.369 0.35 6

4.6. Evaluation of thermal transmittance for multilayer developed material

Relation (16) was applied to calculate the thermal transmittance of different thickness and layer for an exterior
wall made on full bricks of the multilayer material as shown in Fig.5(a) and another wall made on classic hollow
clay bricks (with the thermal resistance is 𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 (giving that 𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹 = 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆/𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀) and the void percentage is
55-65%[23]) with an interior and an exterior protection layer of cement mortar with same thickness of cement
mortar layers of multilayer material presented in Fig.5(b). According to the results obtained, we can see clearly a
significant reducing in thermal transmittance of about 58% of a wall made on the new material 𝑼𝑼𝑼𝑼 =
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 instead of 𝑼𝑼𝑼𝑼 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 of the other made on classic hollow clay brick however the
percentage of void exceed 55%. The multilayer material may, therefore, be an interesting alternative compared to
the existing clay bricks.

(a) (b)

Fig. 5. View of an exterior wall made on full bricks of multilayer material (a) or classic hollow lay bricks (b)

4.7. Evaluation of cost for a full brick of multilayer developed material

In this paragraph, we calculated an estimated cost for a full brick of the new multilayer material taking into
account that raw materials without entering in any manufacturing process, as we now have in the research phase at
the laboratory level. So, we considered that clay is a free resource. For cork, we considered his cost in Morocco.
 Fatima Zohra El Wardi et al. / Energy Procedia 157 (2019) 480–491 489
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From the knowledge of the densities of clay, cork and cement mortar, the volume fraction of cork in clay-cork
composite, and the mass fraction of sand in cement mortar and dimensions of each layer of the full brick, we can
easily determine the quantity of clay (mc ), cork (mco ), cement (mciment ) and sand (msand ) used to prepare a full
brick of the multilayer material according to the relations cited below:
mco = ρco ∗ L ∗ l ∗ e2 ∗ yco ; mc = ρc ∗ L ∗ l ∗ e2 ∗ (1 − yco ) (20)

mmc = ρmc ∗ L ∗ l ∗ (e1 + e3 ) ; mciment = (1 − ysand ) ∗ mmc ; msand = ysand ∗ mmc (21)

ρco , ρc and ρmc are respectively the densities of clay (represented by sample 5), cork and the cement mortar
(sample 6) taken experimentally from the density values shown in table 2.
mmc is the total mass of the cement mortar used to make a full brick.
And yco = 0.69 is the volume fraction of cork in the clay-cork composite and ysand = 0.5 is the mass fraction
of sand in cement mortar.

L = 25 cm Clay-cork composite

Cement mortar

H = 20cm

e2 e3
e1
6 cm 0.5 cm
0.5 cm

Fig. 6. View of full brick made on multilayer material

So, let's know the unit price of each component, we can estimate the cost of a full brick of the new material
presented in Fig.6 as it is indicated in table 6:

Table 6. Estimation of cost for a full brick of multilayer developed material

Component Quantity Unit cost Total cost ($)
Clay 0.63 kg - -
Cork 0.0021 m3 84.2 $ / m3 0.177
cement 0.48 kg 0.13 $ / Kg 0.062
sand 0.48 kg 18.80 $ / tones 0.009
Unit cost for a full brick ($) 0.248

The cost of a classic hollow clay brick, with the same thermal characteristics as the brick taken in section 4.6, and
having the same dimensions as the studied brick made on multilayer material, is $ 0.19, that is less expensive than a
new brick of multilayer material which cost is $ 0.248 as shown in table 6. Therefore, the new brick is more
expensive than a classic hollow clay brick but the new brick is a thermal brick with high thermal performance.
According to the previous paragraph, this material consumes less heat energy houses with a gain of 58% which
reduce the cost of heating and cooling witch minimize energy consumption. Besides, it based on environmentally
friendly and natural materials, such as cork which is the only insulation material present in the market with a
negative carbon footprint, which decreases the environmental impact and transforms our village to efficient eco-
village.
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5. Conclusion

In this paper, an experimental investigation has been done in measuring thermal proprieties of a new multilayer
building material using the asymmetrical hot plate in transient and steady state regime. The new material based on
three layers; the intermediate is composed of clay-granular cork; the inner and outer layers made of cement mortar.
The obtained values clearly shows that the composite clay-cork permit to reinforce the thermal insulation of the new
material; thermal proprieties and density decrease from 𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 , 𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄 = 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 𝐉𝐉𝐉𝐉 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏/𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 and 𝝆𝝆𝝆𝝆 =
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 for 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚−𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 to 𝝀𝝀𝝀𝝀 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 , 𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐉𝐉𝐉𝐉 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏/𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 and 𝝆𝝆𝝆𝝆 =
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 for 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚−𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎. Then, the measured thermal conductivity of composite clay-granular cork
was compared with different theoretical models confirming that the measured values of this composite are reliable,
correct and are found to agree well with the parallel model. Moreover, a comparison between theoretical values
using series model and experimental values using the asymmetrical Hot Plate method of the developed material
thermal conductivity proves that the experimental values are reliable, correct and the contact between layers of
cement mortar and clay-granular cork composite material is perfect. Also, an evaluation of lightness of the new
multilayer material permit to deduce that the new multilayer material permit an interest gain in term of lightness
exiting 31% compared with clay alone. Finally, a comparison of thermal transmittance was conducted to
demonstrate that our material had the lowest value of thermal transmittance 𝐔𝐔𝐔𝐔 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 for 26 cm
wall’s thickness instead of 𝐔𝐔𝐔𝐔 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 𝐖𝐖𝐖𝐖 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦−𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐊𝐊𝐊𝐊 −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 for a classic hollow clay brick so this material consumes less
heat energy houses with a gain of 58% although the new brick is more expensive of the classic one.
Authors recommended the choose of the multilayer developed material for building construction especially in
rural areas where the houses are not adaptable for the harsh weather, for its high thermal performance and its
ecological quality in comparison with existing clay bricks.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks are sent from El Wardi Fatima Zohra to CNRST (Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique et
Technique, Maroc) for their financial support by offering an educational grant to her, which will make it possible to
focus on scientific research on a full time.

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