A study of thermal behavior of fibrous insulation

An effort was made to understand the radiative properties of loose fill cellulose insulation. Using a FEI Quanta 200 Scanning Electron Microscope the radius of cellulose fibers was measured. The extinction coefficient was calculated using normal transmittance measured for a wavelength of 2 to 20 mum using a Bomem MB Series Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscope.; Twenty-four different types of opacified cellulose insulation were manufactured using eight different opacifiers in 3%, 6%, and 11% ratio by weight. Thermal conductivity of each of these samples was measured using ASTM C-518 standards by means of heat flow meter apparatus.; A nonlinear coupled conduction radiation heat transfer model was developed. Both steady state and transient heat transfer solution for this model were discussed. A numerical solution using finite difference method was developed to solve this model.